Museums in the Netherlands (Swept Away)

There are so many museums, large and small, that it's necessary to set priorities for which ones to visit. We've toured a bakery museum in Medemblik, a prison museum in Enkhuizen, and town halls in several areas. We could have visited a ships-in-bottles museum in Enkhuizen, a toy museum in Hoorn, and a cooking museum in Alkmaar.

Medemblik's Radboud Castle was built by Count Floris V of Holland towards the end of the 13^th century as one of a series of castles built in North Holland.  The building, which is the only castle of the series remaining, and only as a part of its former grandeur, was strengthened by huge wooden beams. It has been used for governance, as a prison, and as a shelter, but not as a residence for nobility. Its name comes from an 8^th century king who once inhabited a castle on the same spot. This room is called the Great Hall.

The largest museum on the IJsselmeer is called the Zuiderzee Museum, located in Enkhuizen. Housed in the former buildings of the Dutch East India Company, the museum is huge, with collections describing the fishing, furniture, culture, architecture and other characteristics of coastal life. While the indoor museum is quite large, the outdoor museum is one-of-a-kind. About 130 original 17^th century buildings, including houses, shops, offices and a church were collected and placed in the outdoor museum. While you walk around, people make rope or baskets from plant fronds, work with wood, bake bread, or smoke herring. All of these products are available for sale. It's very reminiscent of Williamsburg, Virginia, of course, but here you can also read about where each house used to be and who owned it.

At right, the indoor museum holds the world's largest collection of Dutch sailing craft. Above, the town looks like many of the towns we see along the coast, but these houses are all imported. Below, the herring is smoked in an old, genuine smoker.

In Hoorn, the Westfrisian Museum is in a beautiful 1632 building where the delegates from the seven most important towns of West Friesland used to meet. These officials apparently liked to have their portraits painted to memorialize the meetings, and there are several striking examples here in the Assembly Room.