Royal Museum of the Armed Forces and of Military History

Historical information

Tanks
Wedged between the IRPA-building, the 1914-1918 gallery and the Air department there used to be a little courtyard full of rubble, weeds and rusty bits of military equipment. With the help of a host of volunteers, this woeful sight metamorphosed into a Tank Section of exceptional richness, which opened on 9 May 1980. The collection comprises not only the majority of the armoured vehicles used by the Belgian army from 1935 to the present, but also a large number of foreign tanks including the British Churchill and Centurion, the French EBR-Panhard, the Russian T-34 and the American Sherman. There are more than 250 tanks overall, thirty something of them on display in this section. The other remaining vehicles and a stock of spare parts are stored in the hangars of the Kapellen fort in Antwerp, one of the Museum’s storage facilities. This collection is one of the most important in Europe, representing production from 1917 to the present.

Aviation
The “Machine Gallery” of the national exhibition in 1880 had quite a way to go before becoming the splendid aviation museum we know today. 170 metres long, 70 metres wide and no less than 40 metres high, this immense glass and iron construction has been the background for an extraordinary variety of activities, ranging from trade fairs to early aviation exhibitions, from equestrian events to warehouse for miscellaneous objects such as German bunkers or building debris.

In 1972, the edifice started a new life as an air museum open to the public.

A large-scaled international exchange and publicity campaign enabled the department, which only possessed some thirty aircraft at the time, to collect and display an impressive 130 aeroplanes and about a hundred obsolete engines. This broad array of machines, from countries as diverse and unexpected as Canada or Sweden, is truly exceptional and turns this section into one of the most important air museums in Europe.

Alongside the ‘lighter-than-air’ craft, the Air section also boasts an exceptional collection of planes from the First and Second World Wars or the interwar and post-war periods. With the precious support of numerous volunteers and of the Belgian Air Force, many machines have been restored and are now veritable little gems. Some of them, including the Nieuport 23, the Schreck seaplane and two German observation planes from the First World War.

Visitors with a true pilot spirit will enjoy sitting at the controls of the Hunter MK6.

Other prestigious planes such as the Spitfire and the F-16 trace the international evolution of aviation.

The official website of the museum stands here.

Royal Museum of the Armed Forces and of Military History - Brussels (Belgium)

Location information

The Royal Museum of the Armed Forces and of Military History is located in Brussels (Belgium).