Heritage registers in Belgium


Heritage registers in Belgium include immovable heritage such as World Heritage Sites, and National heritage sites, but also intangible cultural heritage. The agency responsible for keeping and updating inventories of immovable heritage is dependent on the region, as is the name for the object, which is called Beschermd erfgoed, Biens classés or Kulturdenkmal depending on the language of the municipality of the location.

Three National heritage organizations

In 1835 the Commission royale des monuments et des sites was created to advise the government on conservation and historic preservation. This committee was split in 1968 into a Flanders committee and a Wallonian committee, and in 1993 a third committee was formed to administer the area of Brussels.

Walloon region

In the Walloon region, the organization of the European Heritage Days is done by the Institut du Patrimoine. The classification of objects is done by the Department of Spatial planning.

East Belgium

The German-speaking Community of Belgium, part of the area known as "East Belgium" also hosts the European Heritage Days, and calls them "Tage des offenen Denkmals". The heritage protection of East Belgium falls under the jurisdiction of Liège province.
In Flanders, the European Heritage Days are organized by the Erfgoedhuis Den Wolsack in Antwerp, which is also where Erfgoed Vlaanderen meets.
One agency, the Flemish organization for Immovable Heritage and three of its subdivisions are responsible for protection; the VIOE, the Organization for KCML. Ruimte en Erfgoed, Onroerend Erfgoed, and the agent for inspection, the RWO.

Heritage lists of Flanders

The Brussels-Capital Region has their own protection agency called Monuments & Sites. They publish the inventory of protected heritage sites and coordinate the European Heritage Days as well as the marking of local heritage sites with their own logo. See the List of protected heritage sites in the Brussels-Capital Region for the protected objects.