Creation of the Brussels Musical Instruments Museum
The Brussels Musical Instruments Museum was originally founded on 1 February 1877 as part of the Brussels Royal Music Conservatory, with the didactic aim of giving students direct access to early instruments.
At the very beginning, two collections of instruments were brought together. One belonged to the celebrated Belgian musicologist François-Joseph Fétis (1784–1871). It was purchased by the Belgian government in 1872 and placed on deposit at the Conservatory, where Fétis was the first director. The other was a gift to King Leopold II in 1876 from Rajah Sourindro Mohun Tagore (1840–1914)...
The Brussels Musical Instruments Museum was originally founded on 1 February 1877 as part of the Brussels Royal Music Conservatory, with the didactic aim of giving students direct access to early instruments.
At the very beginning, two collections of instruments were brought together. One belonged to the celebrated Belgian musicologist François-Joseph Fétis (1784–1871). It was purchased by the Belgian government in 1872 and placed on deposit at the Conservatory, where Fétis was the first director. The other was a gift to King Leopold II in 1876 from Rajah Sourindro Mohun Tagore (1840–1914) and comprised about one hundred Indian instruments.
Victor-Charles Mahillon (1841-1924)
With these two original collections, the MIM was already remarkably rich for its time. Its first curator, Victor-Charles Mahillon (1841–1924), would go on to expand it considerably, placing the museum among the finest in the world.
In 1877, Mahillon established a restoration workshop at the MIM, employing and training a craftsman, Franz de Vestibule, to restore damaged pieces and to create replicas of instruments from other public collections when no original examples existed in Brussels.
Between 1880 and 1922, Mahillon documented the museum’s holdings in a monumental five-volume...
With these two original collections, the MIM was already remarkably rich for its time. Its first curator, Victor-Charles Mahillon (1841–1924), would go on to expand it considerably, placing the museum among the finest in the world.
In 1877, Mahillon established a restoration workshop at the MIM, employing and training a craftsman, Franz de Vestibule, to restore damaged pieces and to create replicas of instruments from other public collections when no original examples existed in Brussels.
Between 1880 and 1922, Mahillon documented the museum’s holdings in a monumental five-volume catalogue. This work also included the four versions of his Essay on the Methodical Classification of All Instruments, Ancient and Modern, which became the basis for the classification system developed by E. M. von Hornbostel and C. Sachs - still in use today. This achievement alone secured Mahillon’s reputation as one of the pioneers of organology, the scholarly study of musical instruments.
In the 1880s, historical concerts on early instruments or their replicas were organised by François-Auguste Gevaert, Fétis’s successor as director of the Brussels Royal Music Conservatory. Performed by professors and students of the Conservatory, these concerts enjoyed great success in both Brussels and London towards the end of the 19th century.
Through keen judgement, Mahillon enriched the collections by appealing to philanthropists, cultivating relationships with erudite amateurs - some of whom, such as César Snoeck, became generous donors - and maintaining friendly ties with Belgian diplomats abroad, including Jules Van Aalst in Canton (China) and Dorenberg in Puebla (Mexico), who returned with instruments from far beyond Europe.
As a result, Mahillon acquired not only individual pieces of great historical and organological value but also coherent ensembles whose importance today remains considerable. He followed all major public sales of musical instruments, acquiring the works he needed to complete the ideal collection he envisioned for the MIM.
At Mahillon’s death in 1924, the MIM held some 3,666 objects, including 3,177 original musical instruments. A collector, a maker of brass instruments, and a noted acoustics expert, Mahillon carried out his role with enthusiasm, skill, and dynamism - far exceeding what might have been expected from what was officially only an honorary position. Thanks to his dedication and connections, the museum quickly gained international renown, not only for the size of its collections but also for their diversity, quality, and rarity.
After Mahillon's death
The growth of the collection slowed sharply after Mahillon’s death in 1924. His successor, Ernest Closson (1870–1950), nonetheless shared the same scientific curiosity about musical instruments. He contributed several articles on Belgian makers to the Biographie nationale and devoted a substantial monograph to La facture des instruments de musique en Belgique, published on the occasion of the 1935 Universal Exhibition in Brussels. In addition to organological insights, this work provided statistics on the volume of Belgian instrument exports in the mid-19th century and lamented the reversal of fortunes in the 1920s and 1930s, when most instrument makers in the region disappeared.
With the arrival of Roger Bragard (1903–1985), curator from 1957 to 1968, the situation improved considerably. An eminent Latinist whose enduring interest in ancient music treatises led him to musicology, Bragard succeeded in attracting the attention of the then Minister of Culture, in particular Miss Sara Huysmans. Budgets increased significantly, exhibition rooms were renovated, guides and scientific staff were hired, and concerts of early music on original instruments or their copies were organised. Once again, rare pieces could be added to the collection.
Bragard’s efforts were continued by René de Maeyer (1968–1989), who assembled a team of around ten scientific collaborators, each specialising in a different branch of organology. Nicolas Meeùs served as acting curator from 1989 to 1994, initiating the project to relocate the MIM to the Old England building. The move was carried out under the leadership of Malou Haine (1994–2009), during whose tenure the new museum took shape and various projects were developed.
Since 11 January 1992, the Musical Instruments Museum – today known as MIM – has been part of the Royal Museums of Art and History as Department IV. By royal decree, the Belgian State recognised the scientific nature of its activities and divided it into two sections: the early music section, and the section of modern music (19th and 20th centuries) together with popular and traditional music.
Since 2009, the MIM has been managed by the Royal Museums of Art and History (RMAH). The current General Director of the RMAH is Géraldine David.