The museum
Mission of this museum
It is the Army Museums wish to keep alive the history of the Dutch soldier throughout
the centuries by creating a bridge between society and armed forces. For this
reason the Museum has been building its collection since 1913. Currently its
collection contains more than 200,000 objects. This makes the Museum the visual
memory of Dutch military history par excellence.
The Museums foundations were laid by Frederic Adolphe Hoefer, a former officer.
Hoefer brought together a number of Dutch military collections and added his
own private collection. He bought the castle of Doorwerth, close to Oosterbeek,
and in 1913 the new museum was openend there. It grew rapidly. During the war
it was decided to move the museum to the former Plague Hospital in Leiden. In
1944, during the move, at a time when a great deal of the collection was still
in Doorwerth, the castle was bombed, destroying a large part of the collection.
After its stay in the Leiden Plague Hospital, the collection was moved to the
Armoury in Delft in 1984, where the Army Museum opened its doors to the public
in 1986.
The history of the building The Armamentarium starts in 1601. In the middle of
the war with Spain Holland built a central Armamentarium, a place to store weapons.
During the centuries to follow the building was expanded and enlarged and is
the home of the Army Museum since 1983.
The collection
The Museum contains and manages more than 500.000 objects. These include
weapons and uniforms, but also personal books, handwritten documents,
paintings, prints and photos; the Museum also has a large collection
of vehicles, including tanks, and even rockets the Second World War V-weapons.
The Museum can call itself a centre of knowledge and information with
some justification. The Museum has a library, which includes not only
the museum's collection but also the old libraries of the Ministry of
War and the Royal Archives.
The Army Museum library is the largest military-historical library in
the Netherlands and it is open to everyone on appointment.
The collection is photographed, recorded and restored. Dozens of staff
are busily occupied with the objects describing them, protecting them
from the ravages of time and collecting information about them. Their
knowledge and expertise are also at the disposal of everyone involved
in the preservation of our military heritage.
The periods of time covered by the various galleries are the following:
• Romans (57
BC-450 AD)
• Middle Ages (500-1500)
• Fire Weapons (1350-1550)
• Prince Maurits (1567-1625)
• Eighty Years
War (1584-1647)
• Republic (1672-1714)
• The age of elegance (1714-1792)
• States, Patriots and Batavians (1785-1804)
• The French Period (1806-1814)
An estimated 15.000 Dutch took part in the expedition to Russia in 1812, and
but a few hundred ever returned.
• Waterloo (1815)
The Dutch detachment fought -allied with the British- under the leadership of
the Prince of Orange, later to become William II, at Quatre Bras (16th June)
and
Waterloo
(18th
June).
It
was here that Napoleon was finally defeated.
• Belgian Troubles (1830-1839)
There was a great deal of fighting at first. There were street fights in Brussels
in 1830; in 1831 there were open battles during the ten-day expedition; in 1832
a Dutch garrison was besieged in the Antwerp citadel. However French intervention
in favour of the Belgians led to a return to the previous state.
• KNIL (1825-1949)
After the Napoleonic era, the Dutch army fought mainly in the East Indies. Java
was subjected during the first Java War (1825-1830). Subsequently the KNIL was
repeatedly called on to put down rebels or to undertake expeditions designed
to mete out punishment. To a certain extent, this is the situation that prevailed
with the exception of the Japanese occupation (1941 1945) until Indonesian independence
was achieved in 1949.
• World War I (1914-1948)
There were hundreds of thousands of Dutch men under arms during the First World
War. The armys function was to preserve neutrality. But it was also called on
to combat smuggling and to guard internment camps. Despite all these tasks, boredom
was a major enemy.
• In between wars (1919-1939)
• World War II (1940-1944)
Dutch soldiers were active on a variety of fronts during the Nazi-Germany occupation
of the Netherlands in the period between 1940 and 1945. Soldiers who had fled
to England formed the Princess Irene Brigade, which was to take part in the liberation
in 1944. At the same time, Dutch soldiers were to be found in various special
British units. Uniform and equipment were completely British. The Germans succeeded
in recruiting approximately 20.000 soldiers from the occupied Netherlands to
serve in the Waffen-SS..Of those who fought on the Eastern Front, many were killed
or died from the cold and malnutrition.
• Reconstruction (1945-1955)
• Cold War (1949-1989)
During the Cold war the army was organised as part of the contribution to the
work of NATO. The emphasis lay on great mobility, independent units and an advanced
front line. The latter meant, in practical terms, that many soldiers were stationed
in West Germany. Technology grew in importance; the army was almost completely
mechanised. The army consisted of a small core of professional soldiers, large
numbers of conscripts and an even larger group of reserves.
• Peace Missions (1951-the present)
The Dutch army has been taking part in United Nations peace missions since its
participation in the Korean conflict. However these missions have increasingly
been assuming a greater role. With the disappearance of the communist power block
as an opponent, there was in fact no longer any need for a large land army. The
emphasis came to be placed on rapid and flexible intervention everywhere in the
world, with the aim of managing conflict.
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You
may contact museum authorities there.
The official website
of the National Army Museum stands here.
Location information
Army Museum
Korte Geer 1
2601 CA Delft
The Netherlands
+31(0)152150500
Opening Hours : Tuesday till Friday 10.00-17.00 hrs
Saturday, Sunday, holidays (including the ones on monday!) 12.00-17.00
hrs
Personal photography with flash is not permitted.
The museum kindly granted me an exceptional authorisation for the purpose
of this website.
