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Poster for the opening of the Volkshuis in Brussels, Jules Van Biesbroeck, 1899 - AMSAB-ISG, Ghent

Socialism in Pictures and Bread

In 1885, Flemish, Walloon, and Brussels socialists united to form the Belgian Workers’ Party (BWP). The party leadership deliberately avoided the loaded term “socialism.” They feared that otherwise they would scare off the workers. The main issue they fought for was universal suffrage. The first step in the right direction was the introduction of single

Gallic coin hoard from Vechmaal, ca. 58–51 B.C. – © Gallo-Roman Museum, Tongeren

The Gallo-Roman Treasure

As a child, you’re happy when you find a coin on the street—the start of a fortune. Fruit grower Raf Jansen was even luckier. In 2000, he found 102 Gallic gold coins in his orchard in Vechmaal. Twenty years later, he found another 65. Two-thirds of them were minted by

Portrait of a Man with a Roman Coin, Hans Memling, ca. 1474 - © KMSKA, Antwerp

The Man with the Roman Coin

In the 15th century, Bruges was the commercial hub of Western Europe. The city was teeming with foreign merchants, bankers, and politicians. Hans Memling found clients here for his elegant portraits. He succeeded like no other in portraying his subjects attractively against a sunny landscape in the background. One of

The Beggars, Pieter Bruegel, 1568 - Musée du Louvre, Paris - © Wikimedia Commons

Begging

Since 2021, begging has been recognized as a human right. For centuries, however, it was treated as a crime that disrupted public order. In 1993, begging and vagrancy were removed from Belgian criminal law. The exploitation of beggars, however, remains a criminal offense. In the Middle Ages, beggars were regarded as outcasts who made no contribution

The Boerentoren in Antwerp, 1930 - © KIK-IRPA, Brussels

The Farmers' Tower

In 1919, the city of Antwerp was looking for a suitable use for a vacant lot on the Eiermarkt. A large, modern building was to be erected overlooking the Meir. Together with city architect Emile Van Averbeke, Jan Vanhoenacker and Jos Smolderen designed Belgium’s first skyscraper. The steel skeleton was built at lightning speed between

Digital reconstruction of the Old Stock Exchange, Bruges - © Westtoer, Ghent University, Timescope

The Bruges Stock Exchange

The financial heart of the medieval trading city beat on the Oude Beursplein in the center of Bruges. This square was home to the guildhouses of the Italian city-states of Venice, Florence, and Genoa. Italians worked in Bruges as merchants or bankers. Their guildhouses served as the commercial hub for their fellow countrymen. Take a stroll past them

Miners protest the closure of Zwartberg - "Memory of Genk" Collection, Emile Van Doren Museum - Photo by J. Harsch

The mine in Zwartberg is closing

In the years following World War II, the Limburg mines experienced an unprecedented boom. Coal was the driving force behind Belgium’s booming economy, so the government stepped in to support the mining sector. Miners were portrayed in carefully crafted campaigns as saviors of the nation. As a tribute, their likeness appeared on the coins of