- Leopold II and the origin of the colony
The history of the Royal Museum for Central Africa began with King Leopold II.
Between 1865-1880 he became convinced that the small but rapidly industrializing Belgium needed a colony to support its industrial expansion.
Leopold II therefore employed the services of Henry Morton Stanley.
Neither his finding of the lost Scottish missionary and explorer David Livingstone in 1872 nor his discovery of the course of the Congo between 1874 and 1877 had gained Stanley much favour in Britain.
Leopold, on the other hand, could make very good use of his expertise, and he sent Stanley off to explore the heart of Central Africa. The upshot of all this was the recognition of the Congo Free State at the Berlin Conference in 1884-1885.
- A showcase in the Palace of the Colonies
To give the development and ‘civilization’ of Congo a higher profile, and also to give the Belgian public a better idea of the economic possibilities of the area, Leopold decided to establish a kind of museum to ‘showcase’ his Congo.
The original idea was to add colonial wings to the Natural History and Jubelpark Museums, both in Brussels. But when these plans failed to take shape quickly enough the king determined to have a separate exhibition on his royal estate at Tervuren, which he’d known well as a young prince and duke of Brabant.
- The World exhibition of 1897
In 1897 the World Fair was held in Brussels, and King Leopold II seized the opportunity to open a Colonial Section.
In the specially-built Palace of the Colonies the principal import and export products to and from Congo were exhibited next to ethnographic objects and stuffed animals, all in a splendid Art Nouveau setting.
In the ‘Hall of the Great Cultures’ three important products were on display – coffee, cacao and tobacco.
The Belgian architect and interior designer Georges Hobé (1854-1936) provided the hall with an impressive wooden construction: its sinuous Art Nouveau curves evoked luxuriant tropical growth.
This construction was not merely decorative; it also promoted the use of Congolese woods.
Hobé chose Bilinga wood, which comes from the African rainforest.
With a trunk 1.5 metres in diameter the tree can grow up to 50 metres tall. The aesthetic and technical qualities of this acajou jaune du Congo (Congolese yellow mahogany) were particularly appreciated by Art Nouveau architects.
And in the park, besides many other attractions, fascinated visitors could gaze at the several Congolese villages that had been built there.
In addition, weird and wonderful freshwater fish from Congo were exhibited in an underground corridor.
The exhibition was a huge success – in six months it had attracted over 1.2 million visitors.
The 1897 World Fair also aroused scientific interest in the peoples and fauna of Central Africa. So King Leopold II decided to keep the Colonial Section at Tervuren.
Thus, in 1898, the Palace of the Colonies was transformed into the Musée du Congo, designed as a permanent museum and scientific institution charged with mounting didactic exhibitions for the Belgian public, as well as the study of Central Africa.
- A smaller Versailles : the present museum building
But it quickly became clear that the Musée du Congo was too small to contain its rapidly growing collections.
In 1901, Leopold II conceived the notion of turning Tervuren into a smaller Versailles, with an Africa Museum, Chinese and Japanese pavilions, a World School, Congress Centre, French gardens and so on, all to be built in the park at Tervuren and linked with the centre of Brussels by a handsome, two-lane highway: the Tervurenlaan.
Leopold II was a great admirer of French neoclassical ‘palace’ architecture. So for his own project the king chose French architect Charles Girault, designer of the Petit Palais in Paris.
The first stone of the imposing new museum building was laid in 1904. The impressive flight of steps, domed rotunda and marble-clad galleries were all intended to enhance the prestige of the Belgian state.
The museum building was completed in 1909.
In this park we are building a museum that will be worthy of containing all these fine collections, and that will, I hope, effectively contribute to the colonial education of my countrymen.
King Leopold II in a conversation with Charles Girault, 1903.
- 1910 : The Museum of the Belgian Congo
In 1908, the year before he died, King Leopold sold his colony to the Belgian State. In 1909, the Congo Free State was transformed into the Belgian Congo and the government put a stop to further building at Tervuren.
The Museum of the Belgian Congo, as it was now called, was officially opened by King Albert I in 1910, albeit not every gallery had been embellished with the murals envisioned by architect Charles Girault.
- 1960 : Royal Museum for Central Africa
In 1952 the Museum of the Belgian Congo received its ‘Royal’ appellation. And in 1960, when Congo gained Independence, the name changed yet again, and the museum became the Royal Museum for Central Africa.
Thenceforth both the working spaces and the collections took up a much greater area.
The main building houses the exhibition galleries, cafeteria and museum shop, the Museological Service, the Communication Team, the Educational and Cultural Service and the Publications Service.
The libraries and scientific services are spread throughout several buildings.
Meanwhile, in 1957, a large building was constructed for the reception of African personnel during the 1958 Expo – the Centre d’Accueil du Personnel Africain. In 1992 this CAPA building was partly taken over by the Museum and now houses offices, laboratories and reserves.
