Belgian Museum of Freemasonry, Masonic museum in Brussels, Belgium
The Belgian Museum of Freemasonry is housed in a late 18th-century neoclassical building and displays a collection of medals, badges, records, ribbons, and documents. These objects tell the story of how this worldwide brotherhood developed and organized itself over time.
The museum continues a Masonic museum created in 1833 by Théodore Verhaegen for the Les Amis philanthropes lodge. A members-only exhibition room opened at 79 rue de Laeken in 1985; the current museum was inaugurated in March 2011 in the Hôtel Dewez, built by architect Laurent-Benoît Dewez, listed in 1992 and renovated from 2007 at a cost of 12 million euros.
The museum's logo, designed by medal-maker André Wirix, sets the letters "mbm" beneath the three masonic dots "∴". Since April 2013 it has hosted Masonica, Brussels' annual masonic book day, and in October 2014 it joined the Nocturnes des Musées bruxellois, when some sixty Brussels venues open their doors in the evening.
The museum occupies the ground floor of the Hôtel Dewez at 73-75 rue de Laeken; the entrance is the round-arched door with a fanlight, marked 73. The building is listed, so step-free access is limited; ask staff about the lift. The Grand Orient's archive and documentation centre share the renovated house.
The museum's logo, designed by medal-maker André Wirix, sets the letters "mbm" beneath Freemasonry's three-point punctuation "∴". The museum belongs to the international association of Masonic museums, libraries and archives (AMMLA). In April 2013 it hosted the first Masonica, Brussels' Masonic book day.
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