All language & literature museums to visit in Belgium

Celebrate the power of words at 31 language and literature museums in Belgium. These museums explore the history of languages, literary works, and the lives of authors.

Are you a literature enthusiast? Here are the best language and literature museums in Belgium

  1. Plantin-Moretus Museum1

    Plantin-Moretus Museum

     Antwerp
    Museum Plantin-Moretus is the only museum in the world that is on the Unesco World Heritage List. It is a combination of a patrician house from the 16th to 18th century, a printing company that was founded in 1550 and active until the 19th century, a collection of art and a collection of manuscripts
  2. Bibliotheca Wittockiana - Museum of Book Arts and Book Bindings2

    Bibliotheca Wittockiana - Museum of Book Arts and Book Bindings

     Woluwe-Saint-Pierre
    The Bibliotheca Wittockiana, which bears the name of its founder, opened in autumn 1983. Michel Wittock had been an avid bibliophile since adolescence, and over his lifetime had built up an outstanding collection of books, manuscripts and autographs. He decided to share this with his bibliophile fri
  3. Royal Theater Toone3

    Royal Theater Toone

     Brussels
    The Maison de Toone is simultaneously a typical estaminet with its Spanish pink brick walls, blackened beams and tiled floor, and a puppet theatre in the attic, with its wooden benches, festooned, multicoloured cushions nailed into the raw wood planks, a workshop that manufactures puppets, a library
  4. Museum Huize Ernest Claes4

    Museum Huize Ernest Claes

     Scherpenheuvel-Zichem
    Museum Huize Ernest Claes is located in the Kempen farmhouse with an authentic 19th-century interior where the Flemish writer Ernest Claes was born. The museum is dedicated to the life and work of this writer who was among the most successful Flemish authors in the first half of the 20th century. Al
  5. Erfgoedbibliotheek Hendrik Conscience5

    Erfgoedbibliotheek Hendrik Conscience

     Antwerp
  6. Archives générales du Royaume6

    Archives générales du Royaume

     Brussels
    The General State Archives preserves more than 70 kilometers of archives. The State Archives regularly organizes exhibitions to involve a wider audience in its operations.
  7. Letterenhuis7

    Letterenhuis

     Antwerp
    Literary Museum The Literary Museum preserves literary heritage and makes it available for scholarly research. The museum presents a contemporary story of two centuries of Flemish literature, in three periods: the 19th century, the interwar period and the period after 1950. Among others, Conscience
  8. argos centre for audiovisual arts8

    argos centre for audiovisual arts

     Brussels
    Founded in 1989 in Brussels, ⓐⓡⓖⓞⓢ is an institution and resource for the presentation, production, and study of critical audiovisual arts, as well as for its distribution, conservation and restoration. 𝓪𝓻𝓰𝓸𝓼 considers the audiovisual as a primary means of looking at and understanding the world i
  9. Librarium - Royal Library of Belgium9

    Librarium - Royal Library of Belgium

     Brussels
    At the Librarium - Royal Library of Belgium, visitors will learn all about the history of books, notebooks and libraries.
  10. Marc Sleen Museum10

    Marc Sleen Museum

     Brussels
    The Marc Sleen Museum is dedicated to Flemish cartoonist Marc Sleen who is best known for his comic series The Adventures of Nero & Co.
  11. Gezellehuis11

    Gezellehuis

     Bruges
    This location revolves entirely around Guido Gezelle (1830-1899), a significant poet and linguist in the Dutch language. His personality and work come to life in the multitude of manuscripts, photographs, and books. You will also find his writing desk, his travel case, and rosary. Gezelle was born i
  12. Jules Destrée Museum12

    Jules Destrée Museum

     Charleroi
    Musée Jules Destrée is located in the attic floor of Charleroi City Hall. The museum is dedicated to Musée Jules Destrée. Through address cards, posters, his letter opener and glasses, his diploma and desk, exlibs, identity cards, letter books, publications, photographs, sculptures and paintings, am
  13. Aster Berkhofmuseum13

    Aster Berkhofmuseum

     Rijkevorsel
    The Aster Berkhof Museum is dedicated to Louis Van Den Bergh, known by the pseudonym Aster Berkhof (1920). Since 2008, the Aster Berkhof Museum has housed the impressive oeuvre of author Aster Berkhof. The author was born in Rijkevorsel-Centrum and raised in Sint-Jozef. Visit the museum and get t
  14. René De Clercqmuseum14

    René De Clercqmuseum

     Deerlijk
    The René De Clercq Museum is located in the birthplace of Flemish writer, poet, political activist and composer René De Clercq. The museum depicts the poet's life in words and images.
  15. Protestants Museum de Geuzenhoek15

    Protestants Museum de Geuzenhoek

     Horebeke
    In the museum, you will discover the history of the Geuzenhoek, the Protestant community in and around Horebeke from 1550 to the present. What was life like throughout the centuries in this enclave? And what is happening in the Protestant church today? In addition, the history of the Protestant scho
  16. Adolphe hardy's House16

    Adolphe hardy's House

     Dison
    Maison Adolphe Hardy is a small authentic museum exhibiting various objects from the personal life of poet Adolphe Hardy.
  17. Herbert Foundation17

    Herbert Foundation

     Ghent
    Herbert Foundation is a space for contemporary art in Ghent, holding the collection and archives of Annick and Anton Herbert. Their art collection and archive focus on the artistic developments in the periods around 1968 and 1989. Herbert Foundation’s heritage site, surrounded by a green garden, is
  18. Suske en Wiske Kindermuseum18

    Suske en Wiske Kindermuseum

     Kalmthout
    At the Suske and Wiske Children's Museum, groups of children between the ages of 8 and 12 can follow a 3-hour program centered around the cartoon and the work of Willy Vandersteen, especially Suske and Wiske.
  19. Het Lijsternest: Streuvelshuis & schrijversresidentie19

    Het Lijsternest: Streuvelshuis & schrijversresidentie

     Ingooigem
    In the Lijsternest: Streuvelshuis & writers' residence, visitors discover the life and work of Flemish writer Stijn Streuvels, aka Frank Lateur (1871-1969). The Lijsternest is the house he had built in 1904-1905 and where he lived and worked for more than sixty years. A photo exhibition shows an ove
  20. 20

    Provinciaal Museum Emile Verhaeren

     Sint-Amands
    Provincial Museum Emile Verhaeren is a literary museum dedicated to the French-speaking Flemish author Emile Verhaeren (1855-1916). He is considered one of the most prominent figures of Belgian Literature. On the basis of various letters, manuscripts, bibliophile editions, photographs, realia and wo
  21. 21

    Literair Museum Hasselt

     Hasselt
    At the Literary Museum Hasselt, books and reading take center stage. Each room has a different theme and atmosphere. In the fairy tale room, the theme is "eating and drinking. In the peep boxes, information is given about children's authors and illustrators. In the mine cellar, visitors go back into
  22. 22

    Guillaume Apollinaire Museum

     Stavelot
    The Guillaume Apollinaire Museum is dedicated to the French-speaking writer and poet Guilaume Appollinaire. The museum recalls the poet's stay in the Stavelot area and introduces visitors to the artistic world of the author of the "Chanson du Mal-Aimé.
  23. 23

    Maurice Carême Museum

     Anderlecht
    Museum Maurice Carême is dedicated to the life and work of Belgian Francophone writer and poet Maurice Carême (1899 - 1978). The museum is located in his old residence. The museum shows how he lived with original furniture, the antiques, and contemporary works of art by befriended painters and sculp
  24. 24

    Printing Museum - Imprimarium

     Brussels
    The Museum of Printing is located in the underground floors of the Royal Library. The museum displays a European collection of printing presses and printing equipment and highlights the evolution from the Industrial Revolution at the end of the 18th century to the advent of the computer circa 1980.
  25. 25

    André Demedtshuis

     Sint-Baafs-Vijve
    The André Demedts House is a combination of a static display with information about the life and work of writer and poet André Demedts and a library.
  26. 26

    Michel de Ghelderode Library-Museum

     Ixelles
    Museum-Library Michel de Ghelderode displays books, book bindings and printed matter. The museum also covers the following themes: editions of the 19th and 20th centuries, Belgian literature, popular and avant-garde literature, press and journalism.
  27. 27

    Maison de l'Imprimerie et des lettres de Wallonie

     Thuin
    The "Maison de l'Imprimerie et des lettres de Wallonie" is a museum dedicated to all crafts that have some connection with paper and printing.
  28. 28

    Archief OCMW Gent

     Ghent
    The Archives OCMW Gent runs from the French era (1796 - 1815), spans the Dutch era (1815 - 1830) and ends in 1925. In addition, the Archives has a library of historical and legal works that can be consulted in the reading room. Exhibitions are organized from the Archives on a regular basis.
  29. 29

    Musée Paul Gérardy

     Burg-Reuland
  30. 30

    Espace muséal Emile Verhaeren

     Roisin
  31. 31

    Jaak Ballingsmuseum

     Vollezele
    The Jaak Ballings Museum is dedicated to the poet, author and playwright Jaak Ballings (1881). The museum displays what Ballings left his Flemish people. Exhibits deal with his writing life, the fruits of his writer's pen, the contents of the legacy and various commemorative events.