BELvue Museum

BELvue Museum

Bellevue Hotel, home of the museum.
Location within Brussels
Location	Place des Palais 7, B-1000 Brussels
Coordinates
Type	History museum
Owner	Fonds BELvue
Website	belvue.be

The BELvue Museum in Brussels, Belgium, is a museum about the national history of Belgium. Exhibitions divided over twelve rooms explore the major periods in Belgium's history, such as the Belgian Revolution, the country in World War I and in World War II. Exhibitions in the hallways discuss the various monarchs of Belgium.

The museum is located in the Bellevue Hotel, a luxury hotel built in the 18th century. It is on top of the Coudenberg and offers an entrance to the archaeological excavations beneath.

The Bellevue Hotel

In 1977, the hotel became a museum and was totally transformed for this new function. The Royal Museums of Art and History shows some of the collections of furniture and porcelain of 1700. The "Dynasty's Museum" will be installed at the second floor, in 1992.

After the Royal Museums of Art and History's departure in the 1998, the Hotel allows the "King Baudouin Memorial" and an atrium and a big glass window, with view on the royal palace’s park, were constructed.

In 2000 the access for the underground, and so to the archaeological vestiges of the old Coudenberg Palace, are realized after different archaeological excavation realized in different steps; the last one of these was in meantime of the survey by Royal Archeological Society of Brussels in collaboration with the Université libre de Bruxelles.

Museum

The "Dynasty's Museum" and "King Baudouin Memorial" were in the Bellevue until December 2004.

For the 175 anniversary of independence, the King Baudouin Foundation decided on the transformation of the hotel into a new museum dedicated to history of Belgium.

After a total reorganization, the "BELvue Museum" opened its doors in July 2005. Twelve room are dedicated to the most important period of the Belgium's history. These one are documented by different original historical documents, films and audiovisual testimonials.

In this way any visitor can discover the country's history through the different documents. There are three levels of reading, that can help to go from a general context, to the most important moments necessary to understand the Belgium's reality of today, as the fight for Universal Suffrage, the World Wars, Royal Question and the "Golden Sixties" or the recent State reforms.

In the meantime of this exhibition, a continual trail will show the reign of each of Belgium's Kings, through different Royal family's artistic opera.

The BELvue Museum is managed by the Fonds BELvue (BELvue Fund) of the King Baudouin Foundation.

External links

• Official English-language site of the BELvue Museum
• Official English-language site of the King Baudouin Foundation