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Newsletters archive Find recent electronic newsletters of the MOT in pdf format (only Dutch-speaking). They offer you an information update on the Museum and its activities as well as interesting background information on all sorts of technical subjects.

Proverbs and sayings: Household Sayings This text can only be consulted in Dutch.

Proverbs and sayings: AgricultureThis text can only be consulted in Dutch.

Proverbs and sayings: Animals This text can only be consulted in Dutch.

Which wood to use?

Placing the pump Water was a necessity in every yard and house, in land cultivation and craftsmen's workshops... Before constructing a new house, a well had to be dug to supply water for making the mortar, certainly in remote places. The location of a pump was well thought about, usually not far from the kitchen. Sometimes a pump was installed in or at the side of a building in the form of a small pump house or lean-to. Water pumps only protrude low above the ground (approx. 60-100 cm). There are strong regional differences in wells and pumps. We made a model as shown in the drawing on the right. In areas with shallow water, such as the Meetjesland, short pumps with a fixed handle transverse to the pump rod were found. Elsewhere, a long, pivoting hand crank was used.

Prince's castle measured up by UCL students In the autumn of 2016 and spring 2017, a groupe of students of the UCL (Faculty of Architecture, Architectural Engineering and Urban Planning - LOCI Brussels) used the Prince's castle site as a location for a practical internship. Under the motto "many hands make light work" they completely removed no less than two trucks of vegetation from the castle's walls and foundations. This allowed them to accurately measure, describe and draw out the entire site and environment. Based on all these surveying plans, detailed drawings and sketches, they made reconstruction drawings and described in detail the technical and architectural characteristics. In addition, one of the students, Sébastien van Naemen, made a 3D virtual drawing of the whole. This UCL project will be of inestimable value for the further restoration of the site.