All ethnology museums to visit in Belgium

Explore the cultural diversity and heritage at 20 ethnology museums in Belgium. These museums offer insights into the traditions, customs, and ways of life of various communities.

Are you interested in learning about different cultures and their histories? Here are the ethnology museums to visit in Belgium:

  1. Museum of Folk Life Bruges1

    Museum of Folk Life Bruges

     Bruges
    In the Volkskundemuseum (Museum of Folk Life) you learn about ordinary daily life in Bruges in the 19th and early 20th centuries. You enter an old classroom, an old pharmacy, a tailor’s workshop, a confectionery store, or grocery store. Time seems to have stood still in these restored labourer's dwe
  2. House of Alijn2

    House of Alijn

     Ghent
    The House of Alijn is located in the Children Alijn Hospital, a former place of worship. The museum is dedicated to the popular culture in the 20th century. The basis of the collection is formed from the collection of the Museum of Folklore. The collection includes thousands of objects, documents, p
  3. ABBY3

    ABBY

     Kortrijk
    Abby Kortrijk is a playful, accessible and multi-voiced museum of visual arts. Together with a diverse network of organisations, artists and communities, and with art as a universal language, we explore what defines and connects us as human beings across borders, generations and cultures.
  4. Musée et Château Fort de Logne4

    Musée et Château Fort de Logne

     Vieuxville
    Musée archéologique du compte de logne tells the story of the first inhabitants of the town of Logne: the Franks. Their treasures date from the 5th, 6th and 7th centuries.
  5. Hospital Museum St. Dimpna5

    Hospital Museum St. Dimpna

     Geel
    Hospital Museum St. Dimpna is located in the old hospital and monastic buildings of the Augustinians, of which the oldest parts date back to the 15th century. In the museum, the visitor learns about the everyday life in a hospital and the life of the hospital sisters. Also the memories of Saint Dymp
  6. Stadsmuseum Begijnhof6

    Stadsmuseum Begijnhof

     Dendermonde
    The Folklore and Beguinage Museum is located in the 1288 beguinage of Dendermonde. The museum is dedicated to everyday life of the late 19th and early 20th centuries: household, living, work, leisure. The museum includes three old houses: a small dwelling converted into a beguinage, the infirmary an
  7. Etnografische verzamelingen van de Universiteit Gent7

    Etnografische verzamelingen van de Universiteit Gent

     Ghent
    The Ethnographic Collections of UGent (EVUG) is the oldest ethnographic collection in Flanders. The first objects came from Java (Indonesia) and were acquired in 1825. The permanent display includes some 350 objects from Africa, Oceania, Indonesia and the Americas.
  8. 8

    Ghent university museum

     Ghent
    The gent university museum (GUM) opened on 23 oktober 2020 and collections of multiple smaller museums that existed before. It has collections related to all university activities including zoology, morphology, science, history, medicine, history and ethnographicism. It is located next to the "botan
  9. 9

    African Museum of Namur

     Namur
    Musée Africain de Namur is located in the guardhouse of the old Leopold Barracks from the late 19th century. The museum displays documents and objects that recall the Belgian presence in the Congo. The collection includes African art, pottery, ornamental ironwork, fabrics, musical instruments, weapo
  10. 10

    Musée Gaumais

     Virton
    Gaume Museums include the Museum of Virton, the Museum Papidaire and the Archaeological Park of Mountauban, the Museum of Rural Life of Montquintin and the Historical Military Museum of Latour.
  11. 11

    Museum of China - Scheut

     Anderlecht
    China Museum Scheut is housed in a missionaries' monastery. The museum paints a picture of the cultural, artistic and folkloric life of ancient China. The collection consists of ornate and striking objects brought to Europe by the Congregation of Scheutists, with the aim of familiarizing young missi
  12. 12

    Volkskundemuseum Jan Augustijns

     Wuustwezel
    Folk museum Jan Augustijns displays a private collection of old carriages and crafts. A shed houses the carriages of the past as collected by Jan over the years.
  13. 13

    Kunstgalerij De Mijlpaal

     Heusden-Zolder
    Art Gallery The Milestone seeks to create a dialogue between contemporary art, ethnic art and design.
  14. 14

    Museum of Louvain-La-Neuve

     Louvain-la-Neuve
    Museum of Louvain-La-Neuve is a university museum that displays over 20,000 works from the fields of art and civilizations. The collection is displayed in changing arrangements. The museum focuses on three themes. In "History of Civilizations," ancient cultures around the Mediterranean, traditional
  15. 15

    Centre de la marionnette de la communaute Française de Belgique

     Tournai
    Centre de la marionnette de la communaute Française de Belgique is entirely devoted to the marionette in all its forms.
  16. 16

    Museum of Zoology and Anthropology

     Ixelles
    The Museum of Zoology and Anthropology has a collection representative of all zoological groups. The permanent exhibition has some 3,000 specimens that collectively provide an overview of the evolution of animal species.
  17. 17

    House of Folklore and Traditions

     Brussels
    The House of Folklore and Traditions seeks to showcase the history, folklore and traditions of Brussels, as well as the rest of the world.
  18. 18

    Cultuurhuis De Scharbiellie

     De Panne
    Culture House The Scharbiellie is displaying Oceanic art from the collection of honorary solicitor Paul Simpelaere.
  19. 19

    Musée de la foire et du théatre itinerant

     Saint-Ghislain
    Musée de la foire et du théatre itinerant is dedicated to the history of the fair.
  20. 20

    Archief en Museum van het Vlaams Studentenleven

     Leuven
    Archives and Museum of Flemish Student Life paints a picture of student life and the student movement in the 19th and 20th centuries.