Huis van Alijn

What Huis van Alijn does

Huis van Alijn is a municipal museum of daily life located on Kraanlei in the historic centre of Ghent, Belgium, operated by AGB Erfgoed, an autonomous enterprise of the City of Ghent. The institution has been collecting objects documenting Flemish everyday life for approximately 100 years and presents them through the permanent exhibition 'Museum van het Dagelijks Leven' alongside rotating temporary exhibitions such as 'C'est Party!' (2026–2027). Core products include the Pierke van Alijn puppet theatre, the online collection database, Studio Alijn knowledge centre, guided tours in Dutch, English, French and Flemish sign language, and a museum café and shop.

The museum's technology layer is conventional interactive multimedia: a Beleef TV touchscreen displaying the digital collection (adapted for wheelchair users and dementia care), virtual tours such as 'Mijn Legerdienst', and a publicly searchable online collection. The differentiated offering is the Outreachlab programme, a heritage-and-wellbeing methodology co-developed with Arteveldehogeschool and Hogeschool Gent that delivers reminiscence kits, sensory activities, and portable exhibition packages to residential care centres, alongside on-site adapted tours for people with dementia.

Revenue is diversified but small in scale. Ticketing (€11 adult, €9 group, €5.50 youth, €2.20 UiTPAS holders, free for many categories), guided tours (€85–€100 per guide, multi-year pricing schedules), outreach package rental (€110/month excl. VAT), donations, sponsorships, café and shop sales, and room rental complement the institution's municipal subsidy. Distribution is via the museum website, Museum Bookings Ghent for groups, MuseumPASSmusées, Visit Gent, CityCard Gent, and direct relationships with schools and care sector partners. Customers include families, school groups (preschool through higher education), elderly and dementia populations, tourists, Ghent residents, and visitors with disabilities.

Name

Huis van Alijn

Legal name

AGB Erfgoed

Website

https://huisvanalijn.be

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Huis van Alijn is a municipal museum of daily life in Ghent, Belgium, operated by the City of Ghent via AGB Erfgoed. It preserves and exhibits a century of Flemish everyday-life heritage through interactive exhibitions, puppet theatre, guided tours, educational programmes, and outreach wellbeing activities for elderly and dementia care.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Cultural Heritage Museum

NAICS

Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions (712), Museums (71211)

SIC

Services-Miscellaneous Amusement & Recreation (7990)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYTHAJAAAC

Museum & Landmark Guided Tours (Skip-the-line/Docent-led)

Travel & Hospitality/Tours, Attractions & Experiences/Guided Tours (City, Cultural & Historical)

SECONDARYTHAJAAAB

Cultural Heritage & Historic District Tours

Travel & Hospitality/Tours, Attractions & Experiences/Guided Tours (City, Cultural & Historical)

Keywords

• Cultural heritage museum
• Daily life exhibits
• Public history museum
• Heritage collection management
• Community museum programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Ghent

HQ country

Belgium

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Museum Admission Tickets: Individual and group tickets granting access to both the permanent exhibition and temporary exhibitions. Revenue is earned from individual visitors, tourists, and casual visitors paying the standard or discounted admission rate.
2. Guided Tours: Paid guided tours of the main exhibition or temporary exhibitions, with additional fees for guide services on top of admission tickets. Groups of 15+ receive discounted group rates.
3. Huis van Alijn op bezoek - Outreach Package Rental: Loan of portable exhibition packages (Kermis, Bloemen en planten) to residential care centres for a monthly fee (€110 excl. VAT). Packages include self-installable banners and activities.
4. Museum Café: The museum café is run by the Vrienden van Alijn (Friends of Alijn) volunteers. Revenue from café sales supports the museum's volunteer work.
5. Sponsorships, Donations and Public Funding: The museum operates under AGB Erfgoed (Municipal Cultural Heritage Agency) of the City of Ghent, suggesting significant municipal subsidy. Private donations and sponsorship of exhibitions also contribute to revenue.
6. Museum Shop: Sale of museum merchandise including greeting cards, gifts and souvenirs.
7. Room Rental (Zaalverhuur): The museum's rooms, including the Katharinazaal in the courtyard, are available for rent.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels7 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Huis van Alijn is a municipal museum of daily life that preserves and exhibits 100+ years of objects, photos, sounds and videos documenting everyday life in Flanders from the early 20th century to today. It sells admission to a permanent exhibition ('Museum van het Dagelijks Leven') and rotating temporary exhibitions, alongside multilingual guided tours, school programmes, an Outreachlab wellbeing programme for elderly and dementia care, and loanable portable exhibition packages for care homes. Supporting offerings include a Pierke van Alijn puppet theatre, an online collection database, a knowledge centre (Studio Alijn), a museum café and shop, and room rental.

Product overview

Huis van Alijn operates as a museum of daily life with a multi-product portfolio centered around its permanent exhibition 'Museum van het Dagelijks Leven' and rotating temporary exhibitions. Core offerings include Pierke van Alijn puppet theater, the Outreachlab heritage-wellbeing program, and 'Huis van Alijn op bezoek' mobile packages for care homes. Supporting services comprise an online collection database, Studio Alijn knowledge center, guided tours in multiple languages, and the Beleef TV interactive touchscreen. The museum also operates a café and shop, and runs special programs like Thursday Late evenings and school educational packages. The institution focuses on preserving and presenting 20th-21st century daily life heritage through interactive and reminiscence-based experiences.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Pierke van Alijn: The museum's puppet theater with weekly performances on Saturdays and daily shows during the Gentse Feesten. It presents a collection of theater puppets from the 20th century to today.
• Museum van het Dagelijks Leven
• Studio Alijn
• Outreachlab
• Huis van Alijn op bezoek
• (T)Huis van Alijn

Products and services

• Museum van het Dagelijks Leven (Museum of Daily Life) Permanent exhibition that uses interactive displays of objects, photos, sounds and videos to showcase everyday life, traditions, rituals, and customs from the 20th and 21st centuries. Included with museum admission and accessible to individual visitors, families, school groups and tourists.
• Pierke van Alijn (Puppet Theatre) Traditional puppet theatre with weekly Saturday performances and daily shows during Gentse Feesten, presenting historical puppet characters from a collection of more than 300 donated theatre puppets. Aimed at families and cultural visitors.
• Outreachlab Heritage-and-wellbeing programme that develops methodologies, activities and a collection library of objects to support elderly care and welfare. Co-developed with Arteveldehogeschool and Hogeschool Gent occupational therapy departments. Used by residential care centres and social sector organisations across Ghent.
• Huis van Alijn op bezoek Loanable portable exhibition packages (themes include Kermis, Bloemen en planten, and De Zesdaagse) that bring museum exhibitions and wellbeing activities into residential care centres. Available at €110 excl. VAT per rental period up to one month.
• Online Collectie (Online Collection) Digital database of the museum's collection of photos, documents, videos and objects, searchable by theme, period, type and rights status. Content can be downloaded for non-commercial use.
• Studio Alijn (Knowledge Centre) Knowledge centre for the heritage of daily life offering research services, high-resolution image requests, and archival access by appointment. Located at Kraanlei 69, 9000 Gent.
• Guided Tours Professional guided tours of the main exhibition or temporary exhibitions in Dutch, English, French and Flemish sign language. Priced per guide (€85-€100 depending on audience and period) in addition to admission tickets. Group and reduced rates available for kansentarief groups and schools.
• School Programs Curriculum-aligned educational programmes for preschool, primary and secondary schools, with guided tours and self-guided visits adapted to different age groups. Free admission for pupils/students under 18-19 and supervisors; reservations handled through Museum Bookings Ghent.
• Late Donderdag (Thursday Late) Extended evening openings on select Thursdays (until 22:00) featuring live music, special activities, and free admission for Ghent residents. Part of the museum's recurring community programming.
• Welzijnsactiviteiten (Wellbeing Activities) Set of reminiscence and sensory activities for use in care settings, including memory games, sound guessing games, seated gymnastics, a cycling quartet game and multisensory storytelling. Co-developed with Hogeschool Gent occupational therapy and Arteveldehogeschool.
• Museumcafé Authentic café in the museum's interior garden seating approximately 40 indoors and 60 in the garden. Operated by Vrienden van Alijn (Friends of Alijn) volunteers; café revenue supports the museum's volunteer work.
• Museumshop Gift shop selling cards, original gifts and souvenirs related to the museum's collections and exhibitions. Also sells the €3.50 Sound Game (Geluidenspel) booklet with city map.
• C'est Party! Temporary Exhibition Temporary exhibition exploring 100 years of nightlife culture in Flanders and Brussels, running from July 2026 through September 2027. Invites visitors to relive nights out across generations through dance, music and memorabilia.

Quantifiable outcome

• Museum collection accessible online with search by theme, period, type, and rights status
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• ArteveldehogeschoolcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Arteveldehogeschool (Ghent University of Applied Sciences) collaborated with Huis van Alijn on the development of wellbeing activities for the outreachlab programme. Specifically, the occupational therapy programme co-developed reminiscence and multisensory storytelling activities for elderly care settings.
• Hogeschool Gent (Arteveldehogeschool - opleiding ergotherapie)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe occupational therapy department of Hogeschool Gent (together with Arteveldehogeschool) co-developed wellbeing activity kits including memory games, sound guessing games, sitting gymnastics, quartet games, and reminiscence activities for use in residential care centres, drawing on the museum's heritage collection.
• OCMW GentcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOCMW Gent (Public Centre for Social Welfare of Ghent) partnered with Huis van Alijn on the outreachlab programme, co-developing heritage-based wellbeing initiatives for elderly and vulnerable populations in Ghent's care sector.
• Woonzorgcentra Gent (residential care centres)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerResidential care centres across the Ghent region are partners in the outreachlab programme, receiving loaned exhibition packages and using Huis van Alijn's heritage-based wellbeing activities with their residents.
• Vrienden van Alijn (Friends of Alijn)coreOthersThe volunteer organisation Friends of Alijn runs the museum café and courtyard garden, organises the Livemuziek@Alijn concert series (every last Thursday of the month), supports museum events during Gentse Feesten, and contributes to the museum's social and community mission.
• City of Ghent / AGB ErfgoedcoreOthersHuis van Alijn is operated by AGB Erfgoed (Autonoom Gemeentebedrijf Erfgoed), a municipal cultural heritage agency of the City of Ghent. The city provides institutional funding, manages infrastructure (including the 2021–2022 roof renovation project), and coordinates press and communications through its central press room.
• MuseumPASSmuséesminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorThe museum participates in the MuseumPASSmusées network, allowing pass holders unlimited annual access to Huis van Alijn alongside 170+ Belgian museums.
• Visit Gent / CityCard GentminorGTM or Marketing PartnerListed on the Visit Ghent tourist portal and included in the CityCard Gent package, which provides free museum admission and free public transport in Ghent to tourists.
• Iedereen Verdient Vakantie (Everyone Deserves Holiday)minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPartnership enabling visitors with UiTPAS kansentarief (preferential tariff) to access museum visits at the reduced rate of €2.20, facilitated through social welfare organisations.
• Enchanté VZWminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorEnchanté VZW's 'Hartelijke Plekken' (Welcoming Places) scheme enables deferred/donated museum tickets for visitors in vulnerable situations. Huis van Alijn participates by selling tickets at €1.80 for distribution to social partners (OCMW, homeless organisations, psychiatric institutions).

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Den Gamle By: Denmark's national open-air museum of urban daily life and cultural history in Aarhus. Directly comparable as a peer focused on everyday-life heritage using historic buildings, immersive exhibits, and a curatorial approach centred on how ordinary people lived.
• Musée de la Vie wallonne: Liège-based museum dedicated to the everyday life, traditions and material culture of Wallonia. Directly comparable as a Belgian regional museum focused on everyday-life heritage with educational programming and a community/identity-oriented mission.
• Skansen: World's first open-air museum, located in Stockholm, dedicated to Swedish daily life and traditions across several centuries. Comparable as a heritage museum anchored by everyday-life collections, historic buildings and immersive cultural programming.
• Huis Van Gijn: Dutch museum housed in a historic merchant's house in Dordrecht presenting daily life and material culture of a 19th-century Dutch household. Comparable as a peer centred on everyday-life material culture within a historic building, with comparable audience and curatorial scale.
• Museum of English Rural Life: UK museum dedicated to the everyday life and culture of the English countryside, famous for its digital and social-media engagement of everyday objects. Comparable as a peer curating 20th-century everyday-life objects with strong educational and digital outreach.
• Bokrijk (Flemish Open Air Museum): Belgium's open-air museum of Flemish daily life, crafts and heritage buildings, operated by the Flemish government. Directly comparable as a Flemish heritage museum focused on everyday life, traditions and crafts, with educational and family visitor audiences.
• Openluchtmuseum Arnhem: The Netherlands' leading open-air museum of Dutch daily life heritage from 1700 onwards, with living-history buildings, object collections and educational programmes. Highly comparable as a peer dedicated to everyday-life cultural heritage with strong educational and family programming.
• St Fagans National Museum of History: Wales's national open-air history museum presenting Welsh daily life through historic buildings relocated to a single site. Highly comparable as a publicly funded heritage museum that curates everyday-life experiences and operates educational/community programming.

Broad incumbents

• MAS (Museum aan de Stroom): Antwerp's flagship broad-portfolio museum covering city, maritime, and global heritage. Comparable as a large Belgian municipal museum competing for the same Flemish tourist audience and bundled into regional tourism offerings, but operating at materially greater scale and breadth.

Regional players

• STAM (Ghent City Museum): Ghent's municipal city museum covering the history of Ghent and its inhabitants. Directly comparable as a city-funded cultural heritage museum operating in the same city, sharing the same tourist audience pool and competing for CityCard Gent and MuseumPASSmusées visits.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/huisvanalijn
• Instagraminstagram.com/huisvanalijn
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/huisvanalijn

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Huis van Alijn