The Kotmadam, the Flemish name for a landlady who let student rooms, is a statue on the old market square of the city Leuven. The statue is made by Luc De Blick and was inaugurated on May 16, 1985. It was a gift from the VVV, the Tourist Office organization of Flanders to the city. The inauguration more than twenty years ago was attended by Maria Swerts, the then oldest student landlady of Leuven and also the godmother of the statue.
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| Picture by Harry Fabel |
Despite the amusing nature of the landlady sitting on a bench and holding a coffee pot, the statue initially evoked mixed feelings among the students. One of the things was that the figure depicted did not correspond to the typical image of the landlady they had, old and obese. On the contrary, the Kotmadam on the Oude Markt square is a youthful and attractive lady.
However, over the years the statue became an eye-catcher and many people have already taken a seat next to her for the perfect selfie of a family portrait with this famous figure from the world praised student city Leuven.
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| Picture by Harry Fabel |