Begijnhofmuseum

In the Kempen you will find various beguinages with a collection of beguine houses. Beguines were single men and women who were part of a community within the Roman Catholic Church. In this museum you will learn everything about the beguinage in Turnhout. The museum is located in 'Begijnhof 56', an authentic beguine house. Here you can see how the beguines used to live. All objects in the museum were once the property of the Turnhout beguines. A beguin only took the lifelong vow of chastity, but not, for example, of poverty. Poor beguines had to work, while rich beguines could buy whatever they wanted. You can see that in the stuff of the beguines. The old beguine house has been used as a museum since 1953. In addition to the permanent collection, you can also view changing exhibitions in the museum. The museum is open almost every day, except on Mondays. Be sure to take a look to learn more about Turnhout's religious history.