Musée du Verre de Charleroi

About the museum

For more than three centuries, Charleroi was an important centre for the production of flat glass. At the beginning of the 20th century, thanks to the region, Belgium was the world’s leading exporter of this product, and the glass industry employed more than 9,000 people. To preserve the memory of this past, a glass study association and the mayor of the time launched the idea of a museum after the war. The City acquired the collection of Raymond Chambon, who became its first curator, and the museum opened on 25 June 1973.

After more than thirty years in the city centre, the museum moved in 2007 to the Bois du Cazier site in Marcinelle, into the former lamp room of the colliery. There it developed its activities: an introductory glass-working workshop (lampworking, fusing, thermoforming), symposia, lectures, focus on contemporary artists and, in odd-numbered years, the Glass Days festival.

The initial collection numbered just over a thousand objects; today it comprises around 6,000, individual pieces or sets, complemented by an iconographic archive and enriched by donations and purchases. The permanent display presents nearly five hundred of them, from Antiquity (Mycenaean beads, Gallo-Roman glass) to Venetian and Bohemian glass, English crystal, Art Nouveau and Art Deco, with productions by Val Saint-Lambert, Gallé, Daum or Lalique, up to the creations of contemporary artists.

Highlights

• Nearly 500 works and objects in the permanent display, out of around 6,000 held in the collection
• From Mycenaean and Gallo-Roman glass to Venetian and Bohemian glass
• Art Nouveau and Art Deco: Gallé, Daum, Lalique, Val Saint-Lambert
• Contemporary glass artists such as Toots Zynsky or Erwin Eisch
• Housed in the former lamp room of the Bois du Cazier colliery

Permanent exhibition

• Exposition permanente du Musée du Verre – Chronological and thematic route through glass techniques, colours and artistic movements, from Antiquity to contemporary creation.

Founded

1973

Operated by

Ville de Charleroi

Admission & discounts

Free admission: Free admission on the first Sunday of each month.

The admission ticket to the Bois du Cazier site (€9) also gives access to the Glass Museum, according to the Bois du Cazier website. €1 reduction at reception on presentation of an SNCB train ticket. Nursery, primary and secondary schools of the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles have free access to self-guided visits.

Accessibility

• Wheelchair accessible: no information
• Elevator: no information
• Accessible restroom: no information
• Accessible parking: no information
• Service dogs welcome: no information
• Tactile models & exhibits: no information
• Sign language tours: no information
• Easy-to-read materials: no information
• Audio description: no information

The mediation service offers visits for visually impaired and hearing-impaired visitors and for people with Alzheimer’s disease, as well as tactile boxes.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Family tours & workshops
• Activity booklet, scavenger hunt or kids’ audio guide

Creative workshops for children, adults or families, and storytelling afternoons; playful booklets, playful bags and tactile boxes are available.

Getting there & parking

Navigation: Rue du Cazier 80, 6001 Marcinelle (Bois du Cazier site).

Amenities & dining

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Plan your visit