Volkskundemuseum (Museum of Folk Life)

As if time has stood still

In the Volkskundemuseum (Museum of Folk Life) you learn about ordinary daily life in Bruges in the 19th and early 20th centuries. You enter an old classroom, an old pharmacy, a tailor’s workshop, a confectionery store, or grocery store. Time seems to have stood still in these restored labourer's dwellings. All the rooms have a treasury of old items: tobacco products, neatly cut pipe heads, pilgrimage pennants, old children’s games, and cake and chocolate moulds.

Aristide, the black cat, is the museum mascot. Perhaps our cat will come and purr at your feet as you enjoy a cool Bruges beer in the museum inn.

For our younger visitors the Volkskundemuseum is a discovery, whilst for the elderly generation it’s a nostalgic glance back to the times of yesteryear.

Activities and exhibitions

The upstairs floor of the museum is reserved for temporary exhibitions. Every first and third Thursday of the month, the sweet maker fills the museum with deliciously sweet aromas. You can take part in folk games in the temperate indoor gardens or come to the friendly Mid-winter Festival in December.