Diana Bentley, BGTW, on a museum to the creator of Tintin

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I visited the Hergé Museum in Belgium when it opened on 2 June 2009 and thought it was great - entertaining and absorbing and housed in a stunning new building. Half an hour south east of Brussels in Louvain-la-Neuve, the Museum celebrates the life and work of Georges Remi (1907-83) who worked under the name of Hergé .

Hergé was the famous illustrator and storyteller who created the legendary Tintin and the Museum is very much in keeping with the verve and dash of Hergé’s youthful imagination. Its lofty glass-clad central atriums look out onto the surrounding forests and the five exhibition halls are connected by steel footbridges, so being in the Museum is rather like being on a ship that is floating in a sea of trees.

On display is a great array of material related to Hergé’s most famous creation - Tintin - the young reporter who travelled to exotic places. But the Museum covers all aspects of Hergé’s work. He first worked in advertising in the 1930s and he created other comics apart from the Tintin series. Then there are the objects he used in his work - like an Egyptian mummy, his various sketches and drawings, photos of his travels and drawings and photos of cats (one of his great passions). Hergé also had an art collection which is on display and there are some videos of him sketching - amazingly quickly and with great results!

Many people grew up with Tintin and you can relive your childhood here in the Hergé Museum. But everyone should enjoy the experience of feeling that they are a little closer to the man who created one of the best-loved characters of the 20th century - a journalist(!) - and who loved creating and amusing people all his life. So far the Museum has attracted over 100,000 visitors from all over the world. Being in Belgium, the Museum naturally has a great bar and bistro.
 

This was one of the projects proposed by members for the 2011 BGTW Tourism Awards. It did not make the final shortlist, which can be seen under Awards/Tourism Awards Voting.