Fighting the Cobbles - My trip to Belgium in 2018, Part 31 - In Louvain-la-Neuve - Musée Hergé

This blog continues the previous Part 30,
https://gerdiwanninger.blogspot.com/2018/11/fighting-cobbles-my-trip-to-belgium-in.html

Thursday, June 28, 2018

   

“by believing in his dreams, man turns them into reality”

Hergé, Belgian Cartoonist

   Standing in front of the Musée Hergé, or Hergé Museum, let me realized that this building contained one of the dreams why I came to Belgium at the first place. 

   Coming from a broken family cartoons have been a very important part of my life from a young age. My father was a trucker and one of his jobs was to be courier for printing houses in Germany. All international cartoon publishers had their character licensed to the German-speaking countries (Germany, Austria and Switzerland) and many companies were based in the largest market of them, at that time called 'West Germany'. From some tours my father brought all kind of magazines with different contents from gossip to literature, from children, youth and adult entertainment and everything in between. I was a time before the internet and smart phones and people bought magazines and dime novels on newspaper stands for entertainment.

   When I was small my father told us that these magazines and 'Mickey Mouse booklets', how non-English speaking Germans called comics in general, were "gifts from customers". Unfortunately during some of my trips during boring summer holidays with him I've discovered that these were 'forced' gifts, 'stuffed under the jacket' during a visit of the warehouse and I was pressed 'to cooperate' as a child! 

   We children would read the comics in our rooms and later, due to high quantity, stored them in the basement. Some of these cartoons were for very small children, some just plain fantasies but some represented actually art by itself. Marvel was from the visual point of view a 'must' but I was also very much interested in historically based comics (like Asterix) or general in the 'foreign' world, something my parents as good Nazis never quite understood.

   Comics were a way of 'small escape' from my world dominated by an alcoholic male Nazi and a very restrict female Nazi, both of them created a very violent family atmosphere.

Inside the Musée Hergé

   When I went through the main gate of the Hergé Museum (inaugurated in 2009) I stepped into a big bright hall, or ‘Atrium’, as the museum calls it, with a reception desk in its center. The employees were very friendly; one of them had recently visited Berlin and was enthusiastically telling me about the 'kind' Germans. It was nice to hear that and quite a difference from the very disturbing German Neo-Nazi news on TV. The ticket of Euro 9.50 included a free Audio-Guide which I used extensively.

    First I had to lock my trusted ‘sports bag on wheels’ in a large locker, the money was returned to me later. First I went to the very clean toilet and was ready to explore!

   Hergé was actually born as Georges Prosper Remi (22 May 1907- 3 March 1983) but adapted later his pen name. He was a Belgian cartoonist best known for creating the ‘Adventures of Tintin’, a series of comics with are considered one of the most popular in the 20th century.

   The museum has three levels; the real visit begins at the top level by taking an elevator and enjoyed the clear layout of the atrium. There are rooms explaining Hergé’s family background, his education, his career, his working environment and many details about his works beside ‘Tintin’ I was fascinating to see some of his private and working material, from his own Leica with his private photo album to his office desk.

Cabinet with Leica and Private Photo Album

   There were many details of his research to the different comic stories, the many places he visited and the news inspired the ‘Adventures of Tintin’. Hergé wanted to be a reporter; the dream came true in his creation. “Tintin is me wanting to be heroic and perfect…” “Tintin is me… my eyes, my feelings, my lungs, my guts!... I believe I am the only person able to animate him, the only person able to give him a soul.” (Hergé)
   Back to the 1st Level there are also temporary exhibitions, a bookshop with memorabilia, which I visited, and a restaurant. 
   Everything great comes to an end one time and I was surprised that I spent over two hours (!) in this museum on my own! I felt a little sad to leave this place. I returned my Audio guide, visited again the free and very clean toilet, and took my luggage and some last pictures from me and Tintin from the outside of the glass door.

Byebye, Tintin!

(to be continued@
https://gerdiwanninger.blogspot.com/2018/12/fighting-cobbles-my-trip-to-belgium-in.html)

Disclaimer: I traveled Belgium by myself, I am not sponsored by anyone. Interested subscribers and/or followers in traveling an in this small but beautiful country are more than welcome! If not convenient to subscribe on Blogger.com, I've started my own homepage @ https://gerhardwanninger.wixsite.com/travel