Plantin-Moretus Museum — Attraction in Antwerp

Wonderful museum - a highlight of our visit to Antwerp. Even if you have only a passing interest in print, typography, old buildings, history- totally worth a visit. We went with young children and the staff handled their liveliness very well and introduced the museum well to us. The animal hunt sheet went down well with my youngest and we were also given a parent sheet which showed where all the animals could be found which is a brilliant idea that every museum should do. The printing demonstration room has some interactive exhibits for children and a printer there who gave us a demonstration and my son helped print a sheet which we were given to take home. The little store room contains materials for children to draw a picture and sit on beanbags in the cool. My one suggestion for additional child-friendliness would be that a couple of the items that could be touched weren’t marked as such (was only on the audioguide). Although it might not seem the most child-friendly topic my children found it really interesting given they do interact with letters and typography - e.g. they liked seeing some familiar font names on the blocks. I also really enjoyed looking at the details of the building itself to see how it has been preserved...

We were really looking forward to visiting the Museum Plantin-Moretus and came all the way to Antwerp for it. Unfortunately, we had a very upsetting and unacceptable experience right at the entrance. A member of the security staff — an older man with glasses who spoke broken English — treated us in a very rude and disrespectful way.

One of the women in our group needed to use the toilet, which is located in the museum garden. Not knowing we had to get a (free) ticket first, we walked towards the area. The security guard started yelling at us aggressively saying this is not a bazaar. When we calmly explained that we didn’t know about the ticket rule and that we were actually planning to buy tickets to visit the museum anyway, he became even more disrespectful and refused to let us speak.

He even made inappropriate and racist remarks, telling us that “in Germany you behave like this” — which was completely uncalled for and discriminatory.

This encounter was deeply disappointing and left us feeling shocked and unwelcome. It completely ruined the visit for us. Based on this experience, I cannot recommend this museum at all. Such behavior has no place in any public institution, especially not in a place that celebrates history...

An impressive museum in the center of Antwerp. It is one of the most important gates of the process of bringing information into the service of humanity. Although it seems like a not very large building, do not pass by without reading the small information on the walls and digital panels while trying to visit the museum without getting lost. Copies of the anatomy atlas and geography atlas, which were printed in the printing house where the roots of fonts such as Times New Roman and Garamond, which are widely used today, emerged, should be reviewed before leaving the museum. If you can find the room where the printing technique of old times is shown live to the visitors of the museum, it will not be a surprise if they give you a unique copy of the poem printed as a sample. If the text they use in printing has not changed yet, the poem is a very cheerful text. If I remember correctly, he was explaining the secret of happiness for a man. So it's not a very long poem. If you are curious about printing, you can buy black aprons with the words “Labore et Constantia” written on them, worn by the printers in the museum, from the souvenir shop at the exit. Be sure to take...