Porte de Hal
The museum's first collections were assembled during the reigns of the Dukes of Burgundy and subsequently the Habsburg archdukes, and were placed in various locations in Brussels, their capital. In 1847, the newly formed Kingdom of Belgium acquired the artworks which were placed in the Halle Gate under the name of ("Royal Museum of Armour, Antiquities and Ethnology"). By 1889, the gate had become too small and the collections were relocated to the Cinquantenaire Park (except for the armour and weapons which still remain in the gate). The Cinquantenaire used to be a military training facility until the 1880 "National Exhibition" when the large iron, glass and steel Cinquantenaire Palace was built with a military museum in the north wing.