On September 16th, I visited the Stedelijk Museum Alkmaar (SMA). According to it’s website, the museum claims to be the memory of Alkmaar where one can experience and discover the history and art of this city and its surroundings. The museum has several permanent and temporary exhibitions. I paid a visit to Victorie! Het Beleg van […]
In 1995, during archaeological research a skeleton was found near the Dutch city of Castricum. The skeleton was more than 1600 years old and turned out to be a woman from the 4th century. She was probably between 24 and 30 years old and she originally came from East Germany. After further research the University […]
It is cold, you are descending into a dark, damp, cave-like cellar, you do not see much, everyone around you is silent. Can you still turn around? Yes! But don’t, because you are entering a museum called DOMunder: a fascinating place that promises to teach you all about 2000 years of history in Utrecht, the […]
Bringing together the entire history of the Netherlands in one exhibition: that sounds almost impossible. Nevertheless, a brave attempt has been made. Exactly a year ago, the permanent exhibition De Canon van Nederland (the Dutch Canon) opened in the Nederlands Openluchtmuseum (Dutch Open Air Museum) in Arnhem. About fifty windows showing the historical and cultural […]
Outside the museum that once started with one of the earliest public collections of the ethnographic type, the Volkenkunde Museum in Leiden, hangs a huge poster with different photographs on it of all kinds of people from all over the world. Pronto the attention of the soon-to-be-visitor is drawn to the different faces on the […]
The Japanese people have evolved greatly since abandoning their isolationist attitude originating from 1854. Their isolationist attitude caused Japan to be a rather closed society that did not accept any foreign intervention, cultures and influences. However, the Dutch Republic was allowed to establish a trading post on the artificial island Deshima, near Nagasaki. This trading […]
Leidsche Rijn, by archaeologist and poet Esther Jansma (English version is my own translation) This poem by Esther Jansma is on one of the walls in the exhibition “3000 jaar wonen en werken in Leidsche Rijn” (3000 years of living and working in Leidsche Rijn). I think a lot of people would agree […]
Oertijd Museum is a museum in Boxtel about the prehistory and dinosaurs for children. The museum is focussed on bringing prehistoric times back to life in an educational way. In the summer of 2017 the museum launched a new app for mobile devices where you need to hunt dinosaurs that are broken out of the […]
Digital is hot! Nowadays nearly everything and everyone is online. Within public history digitalisation seems to be the new fancy plaything, which is used more frequently. Many museums and archives started to create digital catalogue that showcase their objects. During the research for my Bachelor’s thesis last year, which was about the representation of Ganymede’s […]
Recently, I moved to Amsterdam and, so far, I don’t know my neighborhood very well. So I thought it was high time get to know my nearest environs. What could be more suitable than a walking tour through my district? After a quick search on the internet, I was sure: I was going to go […]