Musical Instruments Museum (MIM), Brussels (must see)

The Musical Instruments Museum (MIM) is part of the Royal Museums of Art and History and is internationally renowned for one of the world's largest collections of musical artifacts, over 8,000. The museum highlights Belgian musical history, including Brussels’ significant role in developing early synthesizers like the Ondes Martenot and instruments by Belgian inventor and musician Adolphe Sax.

The MIM was founded in 1877, initially as part of the Royal Conservatory. The collection began with Indian instruments from Rajah Sourindro Mohun Tagore and a significant assembly from Belgian musicologist François-Joseph Fétis. By 1924, the number of exhibits had grown impressively to over 3,500.

Post-World War I, the collection growth slowed but then saw renewed vigor in the 1950s. A major turning point came in the 1990s with the MIM's move to the former Old England department store. This Art Nouveau venue, completed in 1899, featuring girded steel and glass, reopened to the public in 2000.

The museum’s layout includes mechanical instruments in the basement, traditional instruments on the ground floor, and orchestral, keyboard, and stringed instruments on the upper floors. Visitors can explore sounds via infrared headphones and view notable items like the Rottenburgh Alto recorder, a unique set of giant Chinese stone chimes, and the only existing copy of the luthéal, an instrument used by the French composer, pianist and conductor, Joseph Maurice Ravel.

Additionally, the museum hosts temporary exhibitions and concerts featuring modern musical innovators.