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Who was Fritz?

The museum bears the name of Fritz Mayer van den Bergh. Who was he?

Who was Fritz?

The museum bears the name of Fritz Mayer van den Bergh. Who was he?

Living for art

You’re the son of a wealthy German businessman and a mother from Antwerp. How do you become Antwerp’s leading art collector of the late 19th century?

Henriëtte van den Bergh, Fritz’s mother

Fritz Mayer van den Bergh had a close relationship with his mother. After his death, she realised his life’s dream of setting up his own museum. Henriëtte van den Bergh also had a strong social conscience.

The collector and his collections

Fritz Mayer van den Bergh bought art and historical objects for around twenty years. The resulting museum collection numbers around 3,100 items, and is surprisingly diverse.

A fascination for Bruegel

Bruegel’s works are the undoubted high points of the museum collection.

The man behind the collector

Who was Fritz Mayer van den Bergh? Who was the man behind the collector?

Discover Bruegel

At the museum you will come face to face with the work of Pieter Bruegel and his Mad Meg.

A shadowy life

We know much less about the great Pieter Bruegel than we do, for example, about Rubens, who lived two generations later. We have many of Rubens’ letters and he left a very extensive body of work. This is not the case with Bruegel. So what do we actually know about him?

Mad Meg

A horror film in painted form

You never grow tired of looking at Pieter Bruegel’s world-famous painting Mad Meg. There’s always something new to see and experience.