BRUSSELS | BELvue Museum of Belgium

In February 2023 I visited the BELvue Museum in Brussels. I had been to this compact museum next to the Royal Palace of Brussels, but that was pre-blog.

I was actually looking for royalty themed postcards which I would use as invitation card for a pre-coronation afternoon tea I gave in April, two weeks before Charles III‘s coronation as King of the United Kingdom.

The BELvue Museum focuses on the history of Belgium. It is managed by the King Baudouin Foundation (KBF). The museum is located in the Hôtel Bellevue, an 18th-century neoclassical hôtel (townhouse) between the Place des Palais /Paleizenplein and the Place Royale / Koningsplein, next to the Royal Palace of Brussels.

King Leopold I and a civic guard uniform.

In 1977, the Hôtel Bellevue was converted into a museum building, housing a collection from the nearby Royal Museums of Art and History. After 1992, two small museums opened in the building relating to the history of the Belgian monarchy: the Dynasty Museum and the King Baudouin Memorial.

In 2005, the Hôtel Bellevue reopened as a museum devoted to the history of Belgium, presenting a chronological display about the nation’s history since 1830.

Presentation

“Everyone knows what is typically Belgian”, BELvue asks on its website. “Or do they? Visit the BELvue to gain a better understanding of today’s Belgium in a contemporary and original way.”

BELvue organises Belgium’s presentation in seven themes.

Discover the country’s history through seven themes in seven rooms:

democracy,
prosperity,
solidarity,
pluralism,
migration,
language,
Europe.

It uses news clips, posters, charts or graphs and contemporary testimonies. Some objects are to be touched.

This overview of Belgium’s past and present is complemented by a gallery of more than 200 objects. Presented chronologically from the 19th century to today, the pieces embody Belgium’s ‘physical memory’. You’ll find everyday objects, works of art and design, well-known brands, scientific discoveries, references to great sporting achievements as well as objects that recall the richness of our popular culture.

The Provisional Government and the evolution of suffrage.

A tour

The Bellevue townhouse allocates two floors to BELvue. It starts at the very beginning, with the Belgian Revolution of 1830. The first decrees by the Provisional Government, the first Constitution, still not naming the monarch. It looks at the evolution of suffrage rights and offers biographies of Belgium’s seven kings and one regent

King Leopold I (°1790 – k. 1831 – d. 1865).
King Leopold II (°1835 – k. 1865 – d. 1909).
King Albert I (°1875 – k. 1909 – d. 1934).
King Leopold III (°1901 – k. 1935 – a. 1931 – d. 1983).
Prince Charles, Count of Flanders (°1903 – p.r. 1944-1950 – d. 1983).
King Baudouin (°1930 – p.r. 1950 – k. 1951 – d. 1993).
King Albert II (°1934 – k. 1993 – a. 2013).
King Philippe I (°1960 – k. 2013).

I found this section very interesting, as digital albums showcase some letters and speeches by our heads of states. The correspondence between Albert I and King George V of the United Kingdom, between Albert I and Emperor William or Wilhelm II of Germany and between Albert I and Tsar Nicholas II of Russia for instance.

Although the tone is overall positive and supportive of Belgium, the exhibits do not shy away from (more or less) contentious issues such as religion, same-sex marriage, migration, colonialism, war, Europe, language etc.