A CABINET OF HUMAN CREATIVITY & INNOVATION
Dear visitors,
It is with sincere regret that we inform you that the museum is temporarily closed due to personal circumstances. We understand that this news may be disappointing for those who were looking forward to visiting us.
For many years, the museum has enjoyed an established reputation as a top attraction, where visitors were enchanted by the rich collection and unique experience it offered. Bizarium was more than just a museum; it was a journey through the wonders of human ingenuity and the power of creativity, where visitors encountered the realization that failure and experimentation are inherent to innovative progress.
We appreciate your understanding and hope to welcome you back soon to Bizarium – Cabinet of Human Creativity & Innovation.
Bizarium is a surprising showcase of human creativity—a true "cabinet of wonders" filled with the brilliant inventions of visionary minds. It's a place where boundless imagination, technical ingenuity, and, above all, unrelenting passion come to life. This extraordinary private collection captures humanity’s constant drive to enrich life on Earth through innovation and creativity.
The collection delves deep into the limitless power of human imagination, highlighting the essential role that failure and experimentation play in progress. At Bizarium, you’ll be inspired and amazed by a mix of genius, science, and whimsical inventions—like a flying bicycle, a walking submarine, a hair-growth helmet, and a swimming umbrella. You’ll also encounter designs from great thinkers like Leonardo da Vinci, Athanasius Kircher, and Nikola Tesla.
Bizarium isn’t just a museum—it’s a celebration of the inventive spirit that pushes us forward.
The Bizarium opens its doors a limited number of days/year to unveil its unique private collection to the public. The Bizarium has a limited visitor capacity, due to its size and the many objects on display. To offer visitors a comfortable and unique museum visit, we work with 15-minute time-slots. Please book your ticket in advance online as there are only a limited number of tickets available per time-slot/day.
"Imagination is the beginning of creation."
G. B. Shaw
"Imagination is more important than knowledge"
Albert Einstein
Bizarium calls genius and crazy ideas, which for centuries existed only on paper, to life, forming not only a tribute to all the inventors of the past but also an appeal to all creative thinkers today.
HUMAN CREATIVITY
This surprising cabinet of curiosities in the old tradition of a Wunderkammer is a private collection by Marc De Jonghe and Ann Geerinck. Their aim was to create a universal reflection on human creativity, which is the heartbeat of human progress. A force capable of changing the course of history, solving problems and realising dreams. This creativity is like an inexhaustible source of energy that people harness to improve and transform the world around us in ways that previously seemed unthinkable.
STRUGGLE FOR LIFE
Throughout history, humanity has faced an ongoing struggle with nature and the world around us. What makes Bizarium so inspiring is the way it shows that, despite every challenge, people have always found creative, ingenious solutions to survive and keep moving forward. The world we live in today is the result of centuries of passionate effort—driven by inventors, scientists, creatives, naïve dreamers, and fearless idealists—who all worked to make life better on Earth. It’s a celebration of the human spirit’s endless drive to push boundaries and turn imagination into reality.
IMAGINATION
In this cabinet of human imagination you’ll encounter stories of wild ideas, daring innovators, and the breakthroughs that changed everything. You’ll see how failure is not something to be feared but embraced as part of the process. And most importantly, you’ll be reminded that no idea is ever too bizarre to explore. The world’s most game-changing innovations often begin as “foolish” ideas.
AMAZING STORIES
Each invention has its own fascinating story. The text labels and audio stories are informative, educational and sometimes humorous. They highlight the technological links with nature and science, but also with history and the future. The texts encourage the visitor to think or to enter into a dialogue. The Bizarium 'audio guide' offers visitors an extra experience. The operation of the audio guide is contactless (NFC) and very easy to use. The audio guide is offered in 4 languages (NE-DE-FR-EN). All hall texts are also in 4 languages.
EXPERIMENT & FAILURE
The Bizarium provides insight into man's constant creative quest and gives the message that failure and experimentation are the basis of progress. Bizarium is a 'wunderkammer' where you begin to believe that as long as you dare to fail, as long as you dare to look beyond your nose and even your own life, nothing is impossible.
"I have not failed. I've just found 10 000 ways that won't work" - Thomas Edison
CABINET OF CURIOSITIES
The Bizarium is a 'Wunderkammer' of creativity - a cabinet of curiosities - The museum is overflowing with ingenious and bizarre inventions. Curiosity is constantly aroused and the eclectic arrangement takes you from one surprise to another. Bizarium presents a dazzling collection of inventions of extraordinary creativity and innovation, and tells a story of man's ingenuity and his quest to improve life on earth.
"It's not a museum. It's not a place of artifacts; it's a place of ideas."
DIGITAL DETOX
Meanwhile, for many it has become unthinkable to be disconnected from the technological gadgets that surround us today. We are addicted to our smartphone, a little swiping, scrolling through the social media, checking the newspaper or the mail again. ... Yet it is healthy to give priority to an "unplugged" moment once in a while.
A visit to the Bizarium unplugged becomes a Mindfulness experience. Enjoy it!
DEGROWTH
The inspirers of the Bizarium Collection, choose to focus on the quality of the collection and its more powerful experience, this to make a lasting and indelible impression and impact on the visitor. They seek to make this experience not broader for the general public, but rather more intense for a limited audience. Therefore, the Bizarium is open for a limited number of days/year to reveal this unique private collection to the public.
It is a personal search for a quality, disconnected from the obsession with growth and consumerism.
EUROPEAN MUSEUM OF THE YEAR
Bizarium has been nominated as European Museum of the Year 2020. An international recognition for the private initiative of Marc & Ann, the inspirers, creators and makers of the Bizarium.
The EMYA awards have been organized for over 40 years and are considered one of the most prestigious museum awards in the world. The winners of the EMYA awards, which have been held since 1977, include leading museums such as the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, the Rijksmuseum in the Netherlands and the Design Museum in London.
The Travellers' Choice Awards, are the most important awards presented by TripAdvisor. These awards are based on millions of opinions and findings from travelers all over the world and reflect 'the best' in terms of service, quality and customer satisfaction. The Bizarium can be proud of this important recognition'. The winners of these awards are highly valued for their exceptional service and quality.
Visitors' testimonials (tripadvisor)
If you are a person who does not like to walk on well-trodden paths, then maybe this is for you. In this 19th century building, this couple has put imagination, the urge to always surpass oneself, the human ability, back on the map with a contemporary vision! Based on past research and with their technical knowledge and creativity, they have put the Bizarium on the map!
Congratulations!!!!
What an incredibly fun, friendly, interesting and bizarre museum this is. Unforgettably impressive! We all (father and mother, boy of almost 8 and two girls of almost 11 and almost 14) walked around with our mouths open in amazement and admiration. The museum contains a colourful collection of bizarre and/or ingenious inventions that mankind has produced in the course of history. These have all been collected or recreated in detail (per-fect!) by the creator of the museum. Hats off to this man. And thank you, because we have enjoyed ourselves magnificently. Really a must. Groutnis oet Grunnen! Or warm greetings from Groningen.
Ingenious! What a lot of work, enthusiasm, creativity and perseverance there is in this museum! All praise for the administrator! Definitely visit this museum; you will walk around with a smile all the time!