How it started
In his early days, some forty years ago, André had a love for jumping and everything related to it. He himself was a show jumping rider who was fully committed.
Week after week, he went to competitions, training, gatherings, etc.
After a while he exchanged riding for another activity: driving.
André's first carriage was equipped with two wheels, one of those used by doctors or, for example, notaries to drive around with, but now completely destroyed, ready for the scrap heap. "For the scrap heap, what do you mean, for the scrap heap?"
Exactly yes André does not deteriorate for a problem. As a result, he began to document the various techniques used in the manufacture of carriages.
It soon became apparent that “documentation” was not enough, in order to reduce costs, but above all because he wanted to do it himself, André rolled up his sleeves and went to seek advice from experienced craftsmen. He learned through trial and error.
Woodworking, blacksmithing, welding, painting, leather working, etc. nowadays hold little or no secrets for him.
In the following years, it went from a two-wheeler to a four-wheeler, one for the week, one for Saturday and one for Sunday. André and his family had a taste for it.
The carriage business became a passion that would continue to influence his life and that of his family to this day . It goes without saying that people with the same interest will visit each other, André became a member of the driving club "De limburgse spanning".
Colleagues saw that André, through his unremitting enthusiasm and diligence, could turn the almost impossible into something beautiful with a lot of patience and the necessary knowledge.
it was not until he was asked for a repair here and a job there.
From then on he started to spend more and more time restoring antique carriages.
After a while André had collected a nice collection of carriages that he had kept in his now oversized workshop.
André noted that people who were not in the driving world were also interested in his carriages. This gave him the idea to open his private collection, which has now grown to sixteen pieces, to the public.
After obtaining information from the necessary authorities about the operation of museums, the foundation of “Het Rijtuigmuseum” became a fact in 1996.
The sixteen restored carriages supplemented with curios from the time, make the museum very popular with the visiting public. The fact that his museum contributes to the cultural and tourist activities in his city gives the founder additional satisfaction.
Restorations and conservations
In order to restore a carriage of more than 100 years old to its full glory, it is often decided to carry out a thorough restoration.
We have chosen to restore all horse-drawn carriages in our museum. In this way we can show the carriages to our visitors how they were used in the past.
If the carriage is still in good condition, you can also opt for conservation. The object is then mainly cleaned and as little material as possible is replaced. In the photo album on the left you can find an overview of the carriages that have been overhauled in recent years.
Current restauration
At the moment, the volunteers of the carriage museum are working on the restoration of a carriage of the "coupé de ville" type. It is a covered carriage with coach seat.
The carriage was built around 1860 by the Jones company from Brussels. This was an important purveyor to the royal family in Belgium and the Netherlands.
Interesting about this carriage is that there are matching lamps and that the full history is known
Visit our museum
The carriage museum can only be visited after making an appointment.
Individual visit
The entrance fee is € 3.00 pp. This includes a guided tour of approximately 45 minutes. Afterwards there is the possibility to have a drink in our charming cafeteria.
Group visit
It is also possible to visit our museum with a group of maximum 50 people. This group is then divided into two parts. The first group gets the tour while the other group can enjoy a cup of coffee and a piece of cake in our cafeteria. Then the groups are swapped.
Builder: Hurel - Paris
