Musée des ondes Emile Berliner 🇨🇦

Located in the historic 1907 Berliner Gram-o-phone Company factory on 1001 Lenoir Street in Saint Henri, Montreal, Canada, the Musée des ondes Emile Berliner was a technical history museum focused on music recording, broadcasting, and related industries. Emil Berliner, who invented the flat disc, gramophone, and lateral cut disc recording system, moved his headquarters to Montreal in 1900. The factory later became part of RCA Victor Canada, where Canada's first satellite, Alouette 1, was finalized.

Founded in 1992 by five citizens, the museum housed roughly 30,000 items from the pioneering era of music to digitization. Visitors could explore phonographs, gramophones, radios, shellac records, satellite objects, and 24 early mechanical televisions added in 2024. The museum earned a Governor General History Award in 2020 for its Centennial of Broadcasting project.

While the museum hosted annual temporary exhibitions, a permanent exposition since 2019, and the weekly Club des vieilles lampes workshop, it closed its doors to visitors in summer 2025 with no reopening date set. However, some archive material and the museum's reference library catalogue remain accessible online.

What to see at Musée des ondes Emile Berliner

• Located in the historic 1907 Berliner Gram-o-phone Company factory headquarters
• Collection of approximately 30,000 items, including phonographs, gramophones, and radios
• Exhibits detailing early broadcasting and space technology like the Alouette 1 satellite
• 24 early mechanical televisions acquired in 2024
• Winner of a 2020 Governor General History Award for the Centennial of Broadcasting project

Visiting tips

Although the physical location permanently closed in summer 2025, you can still explore portions of the museum's archives and reference library online.

How long: 1-2 hours · Best time: N/A (Permanently closed)

How to get there & what’s nearby

Musée des ondes Emile Berliner is easy to reach on Montreal’s public transport, and pairs naturally with Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and Chapel of Our Lady of Help, Montreal. For where to stay, the weather and full itineraries, see our Montreal travel guide.