Stedelijk Museum Aarschot

Do you want to get an idea of the traditional Aarschot from the middle of the 19th century until the Second World War? Then step inside the Stedelijk Museum. The museum was founded in 1939, at a time when more and more people could benefit from an emerging prosperity, but in which cottage industry also began to decline. Tangible memories are staged with image and sound.

Here you will see and hear a testimony of market singer Rik Viool and you will get a vivid impression of the typical family businesses for which Aarschot was known in the region: shoemakers, knife workshops and clog workshops. The central town also fulfilled an important function as a printing company and publisher of local magazines. But also the rural and rich religious life is discussed. Poignant are the scenes depicting the destruction of Aarschot in the first days of the war in 1914.

Jan Rymenams