Toy Museum (Brussels)
Display case exhibiting vintage Lego sets | |
Interactive fullscreen map | |
| Established | 4 November 1990 |
|---|---|
| Dissolved | 1 July 2018 |
| Location | Rue de l'Association / Verenigingstraat 24, 1000 City of Brussels, Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium |
| Coordinates | 50°51′07″N 4°21′57″E / 50.851944°N 4.365833°E |
| Type | Children's museum |
| Collections | Toys, Games |
| Collection size | 25,000 |
The Toy Museum (French: Musée du jouet; Dutch: Speelgoedmuseum) was a museum of toys and games in Brussels, Belgium. It was opened on 14 November 1990. The core collection was amassed by a family of amateur toy enthusiasts and grew through public donations as well as purchases.[1]
The museum was housed in a former mansion with 1,000 m2 (11,000 sq ft) of exhibition space on three floors, located at 24, rue de l'Association/Verenigingstraat, in the City of Brussels. It housed over 25,000 historic toys and games, mostly from the 1950s to the 1980s, with the oldest dating back to 1830.[1][2][3] It was owned and operated by the late André Raemdonck.[4]
Closure
The museum closed at the beginning of July 2018,[5] following a negative advice from the Brussels Fire and Emergency Medical Service (SIAMU), stating that the building was no longer safe for visitors.[6] It never reopened. In June 2020, the museum's director, André Raemdonck, died,[7] leaving his daughter Dominique to seek solutions.[8] That same year, the building's owner, the French Community Commission (COCOF), withdrew its subsidy because it wanted the institution to move, in order to renovate the building.[9] In January 2026, the Raemdonck family began a clearance sale to vacate the premises.[10]
See also
References
- ^ a b "History". Musée du jouet. Retrieved 29 May 2016.
- ^ "Toy Museum". Brussels' Museums. Archived from the original on 7 August 2016. Retrieved 29 May 2016.
- ^ "Toy Museum Brussels". Brussels.info. Retrieved 29 May 2016.
- ^ "hobbyDB Advisory Council Members". hobbyDB, March 28, 2017
- ^ "Arts & Publics: Attention, depuis le début du mois de juillet 2018, le musée est fermé.". Artsetpublics.be s.d.
- ^ "Le Musée du jouet en danger" BX1, 2020-12-11.
- ^ "Le Musée du Jouet, menacé de disparition" BX1, 2020-12-09, updated 2020-12-10.
- ^ "Bruxelles: le musée du jouet menacé de fermeture" Eva Seker, RTBF.be, 2020-12-11.
- ^ "Sluiting dreigt voor speelgoedmuseum door conflict met Franse Gemeenschap". Bruzz, 2020-12-10.
- ^ "Speelgoedmuseum houdt grote uitverkoop: van houten vliegtuigen tot tinnen soldaatjes". Bruzz, 2026-01-15, updated 2026-01-16.
External links
- Media related to Toy Museum, Brussels at Wikimedia Commons
- Les tribulations du Musée du Jouet - undated article by François Samin for the Cercle d'Histoire de Bruxelles, featuring 4 images
- Article in The Bulletin about the clearout sale (2026-01-18)