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Exposition Universelle et Internationale Gand, 1913

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Exposition Universelle et Internationale Gand, 1913

The Exposition Universelle et Internationale de 1913 Gand* (Dutch: Wereldtentoonstelling van 1913 Gent) opened on April 26, 1913, inaugurated by King Albert I and Queen Elisabeth, and closed on November 3, 1913. It was held in Gand [Gent], Belgium, on a site of roughly 130 hectares laid out around the Citadelpark and the newly completed Gent-Sint-Pieters railway station, under the motto “Peace, Industry and Art.” More than twenty nations took part, although France ran the largest and most prominent foreign section and set much of its tone. Germany, which was not officially invited, appeared only through private and commercial exhibitors. The exposition drew roughly 9.5 million visitors and was the seventh world’s fair held on Belgian soil. (Editor’s note: Sources are inconsistent on attendance and area, I have used the BIE’s figures here.)

The exposition traded heavily on Gand’s identity as a centre of horticulture: its celebrated quinquennial Floralies flower shows filled the Palais de l’Horticulture, and banks of flowers ran throughout the grounds. Other principal draws were the Palais des Beaux-Arts, the circular Belgian Congo pavilion with its vast painted panorama, and a range of colonial displays. A reconstructed “Old Flanders” (Oud Vlaanderen / Vieille Flandre) quarter recreated a sixteenth-century Flemish town, while the amusement zone offered what was billed as the world’s highest water chute, a scenic railway, a “joy-wheel,” and Bostock’s menagerie, alongside historical pageantry such as the Ommeganck procession. The closing weeks were troubled by a series of fires that destroyed several pavilions and much of the Old Flanders quarter.

This was one of the last world expositions with a “human zoo.” At least one of the unfortunate tribe members brought from the Phillipines and Senegal for display perished of TB. The exposition ended in the shadow of World War I with serious debts, and only a few of the original buildings have survived.

Incubator Exhibit

Among the attractions were two pavilions housing infant incubators (couveuses d’enfants), one on the Belvédèrelaan (Avenue du Belvédère) and one within the Old Flanders quarter, evidenced by surviving souvenir postcards that are readily found on Internet auction sites. Additionally, a surviving printed invitation for the Old Flanders pavilion, held by the Ghent University Library, identifies its operator as the “Œuvre maternelle des Couveuses d’enfants” — Alexandre Lion’s charitable incubator enterprise founded in 1891, based at 26 Boulevard Poissonnière in Paris. As we have seen, Lion had mounted comparable couveuse pavilions at expositions across Europe over the preceding two decades, from Berlin in 1896 through Paris 1900, Marseille 1906, and Nancy 1909. His exhibits typically cared for infants at no cost to the parents, but charged an admission fee to the public to support the staffing and other expenses.

I was not able to find any mention of the incubator exhibit in either the French or Belgian press archives except in accounts of the fire on the evening of 29 October 1913, which swept the Old Flanders quarter. Press accounts record that the incubator pavilion, established in the quarter’s “Chapelle” near the Grand’Place and close to the Water-Chute, was directly threatened and that its six infants were carried to safety at the first alarm; the fire was contained before it reached the building, just five days before the fair closed. Unfortunately, I have not been able to locate any copy of the official Belgian rapport général or guide officiel online as yet that would record the pavilion’s operator, dimensions, or terms directly, but as additional documents continue to be digitized, these may turn up in time.

* Ghent, Gand, and Gent all refer to the same city in Belgium. Ghent is the common English spelling, Gand the French spelling, and Gent the Dutch or German spelling. The majority of people in Gent speak Flemish (Belgian Dutch).

Map of the exposition. Source: KBR Belgica.
General Sources
  • Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), “1913 Ghent,” https://bie-paris.org/site/fr/1913-ghent
  • John E. Findling, “Ghent 1913,” in John E. Findling and Kimberly D. Pelle, eds., Encyclopedia of World’s Fairs and Expositions (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2008), 213–215.
  • Fien Danniau, “1913: De Gentse Expo,” UGentMemorie, Universiteit Gent. https://www.ugentmemorie.be/gebeurtenissen/1913-de-gentse-expo
  • “Ghent International Exposition (1913),” Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghent_International_Exposition_(1913
  • worldfairs.info, Exposition de Gand 1913 (expo_id 36), including the French-section pavilion list. https://www.worldfairs.info/expohistoire.php?expo_id=36
  • Gent1913Virtueel (Stad Gent), item 1969, “Pavillons des couveuses d’enfants,” and item 677, “Vieille Flandre – Œuvre maternelle des Couveuses d’enfants” (invitation; Universiteitsbibliotheek Gent, shelfmark rug01:001484768). https://gent1913virtueel.stad.gent
  • Exposition Universelle et Internationale de Gand en 1913, Plan général (BnF/Gallica, ark:/12148/btv1b8459882v).
  • KBR Belgica. Maps, poasters. and other graphics. https://belgica.kbr.be/belgica/
Press Sources
  • General coverage: Excelsior, La France, and La République française, 27 April; New York Times, 27 April (p. 67); Le Matin, 6 May, 25 May, 22 July, 10 September, 27 September; Le Gaulois, 13 May, 16 May (colonial section), 3 November; Le Petit Parisien, 7 June; New York Tribune, 3 August (p. 57, Clara Matchette); Les Nouvelles, 27 October; Le Soir, 28 October.
  • Old Flanders fire and incubator evacuation: Gazette de Charleroi (30 October); Journal de Charleroi (30 October); Le Patriote (30 October); Journal de Bruxelles (31 October); Le Peuple (31 October); Le Courrier de l’Escaut (31 October and 1 November). Retrieved from KBR BelgicaPress.
More Information about Alexandre Lion

French primary sources were machine-translated, then checked against the originals and edited by the author. Portions of this page were drafted with machine assistance; the final text was reviewed, verified, and edited by the author.

Last Updated on 09/04/26