Straight ahead, you’ll spot a building that looks like the glorious meeting point of a glass palace and an intricate iron music box, crowned with a decorative turret and topped by a dome, with the words “Old England” just above the entrance-this is the Musical Instruments Museum.
Now, just imagine: it’s Brussels at the end of the nineteenth century. Carriages trundle past, ladies in frilly dresses twirl umbrellas, and right here rises a department store fresh from the wildest dreams of Art Nouveau architect Paul Saintenoy. If you step back, the façade almost shimmers-iron and glass curve and coil together, more like something you'd find in a fairy tale than in the middle of a busy city. But don’t let the beauty fool you-inside, things are about to get very loud… in a good way!
Today, this marvelous building isn’t selling hats or gloves, but instead holds a treasure trove of more than 8,000 musical instruments, all humming with stories from every corner of the world. That’s right, you’re standing in front of what is internationally known as the Musical Instruments Museum-the MIM for those in the know. It’s like a magical attic but for grown-ups (and very curious kids), brimming with everything from prehistoric bone flutes to the wildest synthesizers you could imagine.
But rewind for just a moment. The museum’s story started back in 1877, when it was more of a teaching toolkit for students at the Royal Conservatory than the world-famous collection you see today. It began with a hundred Indian instruments-a royal gift, no less, from Rajah Sourindro Mohun Tagore to King Leopold II. Add to that the collection of François-Joseph Fétis, a musicologist who loved instruments so much he practically adopted them, and voilà: the MIM was born. Its first curator, Victor-Charles Mahillon, was always on the hunt for musical marvels, charming diplomats and donors into handing over the world’s rarest pieces. By the time he left, the collection had exploded in size and diversity.
Picture Mahillon meticulously jotting down lists of every drum, horn, and stringed instrument, producing a five-volume catalogue way before anyone was paid to do data entry. His essays revolutionized the way people thought about what actually counted as a "musical instrument"-if he were around today, he’d probably classify your phone’s ringtone as a whole new section!
After him, the baton was passed through a line of devoted curators, each adding a sprinkle of magic-more exhibits here, a concert there-making the museum more vibrant, though sometimes with a dash of dust. Then came the roaring decades of restoration, as the old department store was transformed into a museum fit for the twenty-first century, complete with beautifully restored facades worthy of a royal parade. When the doors flung open in 2000, it was as if music itself was welcoming visitors (to the joy of everyone except for the people who had to dust 8,000 instruments).
Inside, the exhibit tells the story of music not just in Belgium-where inventors like Adolphe Sax, creator of the saxophone, practically changed the soundtrack of the world-but from every continent. You’ll discover instruments even Harry Potter would envy, such as the giant Chinese stone chimes, or the only copy anywhere of the luthéal, a keyboard that turns pianos into chameleons. Wandering from the basement’s mysterious mechanical marvels to the top floor’s delicate stringed wonders, you might find yourself humming along to the museum’s infrared headphones-which play nearly 300 musical extracts and, lucky for you, don’t judge your singing!
So, while you stand in front of this gleaming, fanciful landmark, imagine the melodies brewing inside-centuries of music waiting for their next listener, or maybe their next collector. And remember to thank the inventors, collectors, and visionaries who turned an old shop into every music lover’s wildest dream. Now, who’s ready to air-conduct an invisible orchestra?
