Welcome to Dr. Guislain Museum!
Plan your visit with your class here.
The museum is not just a place with paintings on the wall or objects in a display case. It is a space where people meet and discover stories in all their diversity. We challenge stereotypical ways of thinking about illness, health, and art. A guided tour sparks students’ curiosity and encourages them to reflect on mental well‑being. Mental health is not reserved for specialised hospitals, psychologists, or psychiatrists; It is a topic that deserves everyone’s attention.
NEW! History of psychiatry workshop (secondary education)
Guide Fees
Foreign‑language guide: €75
Guide for school groups: €45
Presentation on contemporary psychiatry: €45
Entry Tickets
Adults (group rate): €12
Students aged 26 or more: €12
Visitors under 26: €3
Visitors under 19: €1
Children under 13: free
Accompanying teachers: free
Enjoy your picnic at the picnic tables in the #GuislainGarden or in our café Het Badhuis.
Guided Tours
Primary education
Every class is different, which is why we fully tailor our guided tours for primary classes. Let us know what your class is working on at school – health, being different, emotions, or something else entirely – and we will build an active tour around it. Together with the teacher we ensure a child‑friendly experience in the museum.
Secondary education
“I saw the wonder on their faces as they walked through the 19th‑century psychiatric institution.” from KLASSE, about the interactive tour for the third grade of secondary education. ‘On a class trip to the Dr. Guislain Museum in Ghent’, 20 November 2025.
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History of psychiatry workshop
secondary education (1.5h / Max. 20 people)
Dive into the museum collection and explore objects – from witch balls to head crackers, straitjackets to the Gekkenkrant. What is it? How was it used? Why was it used? Investigate, ask critical questions and gain insight into the history of psychiatry.
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Guided tour of 'A Home of One's Own'
Discover a wealth of objects and stories from the museum collection in the exhibition A Home of One’s Own. Together with a guide, the students delve into the rich history of the Hospice Guislain – today the Guislain Psychiatric Hospital. Since 1857, people in need of mental healthcare have been welcomed here. The Ghent doctor Joseph Guislain was one of the very first to regard the mentally ill as patients, deserving of humane treatment. Walk past cabinets filled with medical instruments, monumental ladles, letters and diaries. What do these objects tell us about the history of psychiatry, and what questions do they raise today?
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Interactive tour of 'A Home of One's Own'
Upper Secundary Education
During an interactive tour, we go beyond simply transferring knowledge: the students become active researchers themselves. Using original patient files, they uncover the personal stories of people who once stayed at the Guislain Institute in Ghent. They work with the site’s floor plan and consider what a hospital needs. We examine objects, photographs and diary fragments: what do these pieces teach us, and what do they mean to the students themselves, to one another, and to the world around them? The interactive tour sparks curiosity and offers a safe space for pupils to talk about what they see and how it affects them. By engaging actively with the material, they are encouraged to reflect on the importance of mental well‑being, both in the past and today.
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Presentation on contemporary psychiatry
Secondary education
A teacher from the School of Psychiatric Nursing gives a presentation on contemporary psychiatric care.
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Guided tour of the site (1hour)
Dr. Guislain Museum is located in the historic heart of the Guislain site, but have you ever taken a look behind the museum’s walls? Take a guided walk around the site and discover the old Hospice Guislain.
Who was Jozef Guislain and how were the people taken care of in his Hospice? Discover how Dr. Guislain designed his hospital as a small community – separate from society – with a bakery, painting studio, function room, bathhouse, farm and kitchen. And yes, clear traces of this can still be seen today.
Higher education
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Guided tour of A Home of One's Own
Discover a wealth of objects and stories from the museum collection in the exhibition A Home of One’s Own. Together with a guide, the students delve into the rich history of the Hospice Guislain – today the Guislain Psychiatric Hospital. Since 1857, people in need of mental healthcare have been welcomed here. The Ghent doctor Joseph Guislain was one of the very first to regard the mentally ill as patients, deserving of humane treatment. Walk past cabinets filled with medical instruments, monumental ladles, letters and diaries. What do these objects tell us about the history of psychiatry, and what questions do they raise today?
Special education
We are also happy to create a guided tour for students in special education, fully tailored to their pace, interests and needs. We begin by listening to what the class requires and adapt our approach accordingly. Together with the teacher, we create a safe museum experience in which every student can participate in their own way.
Tour Conditions
Please book your tour at least 2 weeks in advance. A maximum of 20 participants per guide applies (including supervisors).
You may cancel your reservation free of charge up to 10 days before your visit. To do so, please contact our reception team at info@museumdrguislain.be. In case of a late cancellation, the guide fee will still be charged.