The Netherlands is a country full of history, old masters and artists who are still visited today in a large museum full of the most famous pieces. Over the years, more and more museums have been created especially for sciences that provide visitors with a bit of knowledge and education. All these museums on Dutch soil are well visited by the country's own residents as well as tourists. The tourists do have a preference for the art and historical museums that we have in our possession.
Because the Netherlands has so many museums, a list is given below with a top 10 museums in the Netherlands. This top 10 has been compiled on the basis of the most visited museums in the Netherlands, starting with the most visited museum in the country.
Renovated in 2013, this museum attracts the most visitors to the country. No fewer than 2.2 million visitors, including residents of the Netherlands, but also many tourists, visited this national museum in Amsterdam in 2018. The museum is full of works by 17th-century Dutch masters such as Rembrandt, Hals and Vermeer. In addition to these popular works, there are also collections of Southern Netherlandish and Italian masters. The most famous work in the entire museum, which hangs in a separate room, is Rembrandt's Night Watch.
The second most visited museum in the Netherlands is the Van Gogh museum with no fewer than 2.1 million visitors in 2018. The museum is, as the name suggests, entirely devoted to the works of art by Vincent van Gogh. After the collection remained in the family for a long time, they transferred it to the State of the Netherlands on the condition that the collection would be housed in a Van Gogh museum. At the time, the museum was still a national museum, but it became an independent foundation where the paintings are part of the national collection.
The Anne Frank House was established to preserve the house where Anne Frank and her family took shelter during the war. Here Anne wrote her diary, which became an important piece of history after her death. The foundation aims to bring out the ideals and life story of Anne Frank. The Anne Frank house is a public museum showing how Anne and her family lived during the war.
The special building in which the EYE film museum is located is located opposite the central station on the north bank of the IJ. The museum is dedicated to cinematography and is therefore full of modern but also older pieces of film heritage. The aim of the museum is to promote the lively film culture in the Netherlands. There are regular theme programs, but also other activities such as festivals, theatrical performances or open-air performances in or around the museum.
This museum has a theme of modern and contemporary art and design. Photography and design will also be included in the museum. The collection consists largely of works of art from the 20th and 21st century. Shapes such as Bauhaus, De Stijl, Pop Art and Cobra can be seen here. The museum exhibits paintings as well as prints, installations, graphic design, photography and many other modern art forms.
The motto of the NEMO science museum in Amsterdam is Hands On! Forbidden to stay off. The museum is in the theme of science and technology. The collection often consists of experimental set-ups where visitors can undertake an activity themselves. By performing, touching and thinking about the experiment themselves, the visitor learns more about the subjects of physics, chemistry, behavioral sciences and biology. 38% of the visitors are under 18 years old. The aim of the museum is therefore to make young people enthusiastic about science and technology.
This cultural-historical museum in Arnhem contains an indoor and outdoor museum. The museum presents an image of life in the Netherlands through the centuries. In the outdoor museum you can visit buildings such as old houses, farms, mills and workshops. Museum employees dress according to the old clothing and play a role as residents in the old buildings. The museum is divided into six sub-areas: village, countryside, yards, gardens, ribbon and estate. This museum is the most visited museum outside of Amsterdam and is visited by about 540,000 people every year.
The museum, which was founded as 'Museum for Modern art', is now called the Municipal Museum of The Hague. The museum's permanent collection includes works by Mondrian, Monet, and Picasso. In addition, there are also regular temporary exhibitions of other artists. In addition to the visual arts, there is also a collection of handicrafts that consists of works of porcelain, jewelry, fashion and musical instruments.
The officially opening 'Royal Picture Gallery Mauritshuis' is filled with paintings from the Golden Age. One of the most famous works in the museum is The Girl with a Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer. The Mauritshuis is divided into different rooms, each of which exhibits a different collection. Rembrandt, Potter and other artists each have their own room where their works are located.
The Hermitage museum in Amsterdam consists of a collection of various museum collections such as the Amsterdam Museum and the Hermitage museum in Saint Petersburg. The museum was moved to a larger location in 2009 where it was officially opened by Queen Beatrix. Soon after its opening, the Hermitage was well attended, making it one of the top attractions in Amsterdam.
In addition to these top 10, the Netherlands has many more special art, historical or scientific museums that are worth visiting.