Zaans Museum facts for kids
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| Established | 1994 |
|---|---|
| Location | Zaanse Schans Zaandam, Netherlands |
| Type | Industrial heritage museum |
| Visitors | 56,498 (2013) |
The Zaans Museum is a cool museum in Zaandam, Netherlands. You can find it at the famous Zaanse Schans. It first opened its doors in 1998. Its main goal is to save and share the history of the Zaan region. In 2009, the museum got even bigger with the new Verkade Experience.
Later, in 2016, the museum added three more exciting spots at the Zaanse Schans. These places show how people lived long ago. They are the Cooperage, the Jisper House, and the Weaver's House. Another part of the Zaans Museum is the Tsar Peter House. This old house is right in the middle of Zaandam.
The museum has many collections about local life and industries. In 2015, the museum bought a special painting. It was made by the famous French artist Claude Monet. The painting is called 'The Voorzaan and the Westerhem'. Monet painted it when he visited the Zaan area in 1871.
The Zaans Museum is connected to the Zaanse Schans in two ways. It is physically close to it and its exhibits explain the area. The museum wants to help visitors understand the real history of the Zaan region. It links the famous Dutch look of the Zaanse Schans to the true stories of the area.
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What You Can See at the Museum
The museum is full of items about the culture and history of the Zaan region. Many of these items come from a collection started by a group called the "Society for the Preservation and Expansion of the Zaan Region Antiquarian Collection Jacob Honig Janszoon Junior." The Zaans Museum has two main types of collections. One shows how people lived, and the other shows how industries worked.
In the "residential culture" collection, you can see old clothes from the region. There is also furniture painted in the Zaan style. You can also find tools and items used in homes in Zaandam long ago. The "industrial collection" has items from big companies in the Zaan area. These include famous names like Verkade, Bruynzeel, Honig, Albert Heijn, and Lassie.
Museum Locations and Exhibitions
The Zaans Museum has five main exhibitions. These are 'De Zaanstreek maakt het' (The Zaan region really makes it), 'Typisch Zaans' (Typical of the Zaan region), 'Monet en het Zaanse Landschap' (Monet and the Zaan landscape), 'Monumenten Spreken' (Monuments Speak - The Zaan region in the Second World War), and the 'Verkade Experience'.
At the Zaanse Schans, the Zaans Museum also looks after three other locations. These are the Weaver's House, the Cooperage, and the Jisper House.
The Zaan Region: A Hub of Industry
The exhibition 'De Zaanstreek maakt het' tells the story of industry in the Zaan region. In the 1600s and 1700s, the Zaan area was famous for its many windmills and shipyards. Later, in the 1800s, the area changed a lot. Many factories were built along the River Zaan.
In the early 1900s, new canals and railways helped the Zaan factories grow. Between 1918 and 1965, the food industry here became very important. The Zaan region was even called 'the larder of the Netherlands'. This means it produced a lot of food for the country.
Step into the Verkade Experience
The Verkade Experience shows items from the Verkade family company. This collection includes old photos, displays, and product packaging. You can also see posters and three working machines. These machines used to make chocolate, biscuits, and tea light candles. There is also a special "treasury" room. Here, you can see the original paintings used for Verkade's famous picture-card albums.
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Monet and the Zaan Landscape
In 2015, the museum bought a painting by the French artist Claude Monet. He was a famous impressionist painter. The painting is called 'The Voorzaan and the Westerhem'. Monet painted it when he stayed in the Zaan region in 1871. The painting shows a view of the Voorzaan river. You can see ships sailing around an island called Westerhem. On the island, there are old sawmills turning.
Monet painted this scene three times. Later, painting the same scene multiple times became a key part of Impressionism. Monet was trying out this style in the Zaan region. He wrote to his friend, the painter Camille Pissarro, saying: "Zaandam is quite remarkable and there is enough to paint for a lifetime. Houses in all colours, hundreds of mills, and delightful boats."
Monet's painting is now part of the museum's display. It shows how the Zaan landscape inspired artists. You can also see all 25 paintings and nine sketches Monet made in Zaandam in 1871. They are shown in full size in an interactive display. The painting is placed next to a collection of portraits. These portraits show members of Zaan families who were successful in local industries. They also show mayors, factory owners, and artists.
What Makes the Zaan Region Special
The exhibition 'Typisch Zaans' (Typical of the Zaan region) shows a recreated exhibition from 1874. This old exhibition helped start the Zaans Museum's collection. Local historians and collectors wanted to save the history of the Zaan region. They wrote books and collected items. The original exhibition showed "Zaan antiquities and curiosities." It was held in Zaandam in 1874. This modern version shows what people back then thought was special about the Zaan region.
Monuments That Speak Stories
The 'Monumenten spreken' (Monuments speak) exhibition tells about Second World War in the Zaan region. It shares the stories behind the 28 war memorials and resistance memorials in the area. These monuments remind us of events from the war. In this exhibition, you can watch 28 short films. People who saw these events happen tell their stories. A group called the Monuments Speak Foundation made these films.
The Weaver's House
The Weaver's House is one of the Zaans Museum's locations at the Zaanse Schans. Here, you can learn about weaving sailcloth in the 1800s. Two families lived here in the 1700s, and they had five looms for weaving. The current exhibition shows how one family lived with two looms. The Weaver's House was used for weaving until the early 1900s. This house used to be in a nearby village called Assendelft. It was rebuilt at the Zaanse Schans in 2015.
The Cooperage
The Cooperage is another Zaans Museum location at the Zaanse Schans. This place focuses on the craft of coopery, which is making barrels. You can see what a cooper's workshop looked like around 1960. The inside of the Cooperage came from a real barrel-making company. The last cooper, Jaap Tiemstra, gave his whole workshop to the Zaans Museum. Barrels were used to hold many things. These included butter, milk, vinegar, oil, fish, fruit, vegetables, and different drinks like gin and beer.
The Jisper House
The Jisper House is also part of the Zaans Museum at the Zaanse Schans. This is a fisherman's cottage from the village of Jisp. The museum shows what life was like for a fisherman's wife before the Industrial Revolution in the mid-1800s. Kids and adults can step back in time. You can even dress up in traditional Zaan costumes from that period! This cottage is a copy of an original one. The real one is from 1860 and is at the Zuiderzeemuseum in Enkhuizen.
Honig Breet House
Some of the Zaans Museum's collection is shown at the Honig Breet House. Here, visitors can see how a family of merchants and paper makers lived in the Zaan region in 1830. This museum is located on Lagedijk in Zaandijk.
Czar Peter House
The Czar Peter House (Netherlands) in Zaandam is one of the oldest wooden houses in the Netherlands. It was built in 1632 using old ship wood. The Russian Tsar Peter the Great stayed in this small wooden house in 1697. He came to learn how to build ships. In 1823, a shell was built around the house to protect it. The stone shell you see today was built in 1895. Many important people have visited the Tsar Peter House. These include Russian Tsars, Dutch kings and queens, and even Napoleon. The many names written on the windows and walls show who has visited. The Czar Peter House is part of the Zaans Museum.
The Museum Building
The Zaans Museum is in a modern building that opened in 1998. The architect Cor van Hillo designed it. In 2009, the museum got a new part, the Verkade Experience. This new section opened on March 11, 2009. It holds the collection from the Verkade company. The Zaans Museum is located at the Zaanse Schans. It is next to the Kalverpolder, which is a nature reserve. This reserve is managed by Staatsbosbeheer, a Dutch government group.
In 2001, the museum received an honorable mention for the annual European Museum of the Year Award. The judges liked the building's modern design. They also praised how the building fit with the historic Zaanse Schans. The museum's educational programs and how it showed its collections were also praised. The lighting design in the museum also won two awards: the Edison Awards and the International Illumination Design Award in 2001.
See also
In Spanish: Zaans Museum para niños
- List of food and beverage museums
