Collections Military History Museum
In 1930, the City of Tournai decided to set up a museum dedicated to Tournai’s rich military past and to commemorate the Great War.
The museum, originally called the “Musée d’Armes” (Arms Museum), was housed within the walls of the Henry VIII Tower. For 70 years, the museum was inseparably linked to this emblematic historic building, known to the people of Tournai as the “Grosse Tour.” Its collections were inspired by those displayed in the former Arms Museum at the Halle Gate in Brussels. Along the edge of the park stood an impressive collection of cannons captured from the enemy.
After the bombing of Tournai by the German Luftwaffe in May 1940, the museum was looted. After the war, the collections were gradually rebuilt, thanks to the generosity of local residents and a policy of public acquisitions.
In 2000, the museum was relocated to allow for major restoration work on the tower.
In 2010, a new exhibition design based on a pedagogical approach to the collections was introduced, integrating them into a chronological route retracing the history of Tournai and the Tournaisis region.
The museum’s mission is to preserve Tournai’s local heritage for the benefit of future generations.
