Westfries Museum

The Westfries Museum will be closed until mid-2025 due to major restoration, renovation and renewal. Follow it on www.westfriesmuseum.nl and on Facebook and Instagram. Online and in the city, however, they continue to tell the story about the history of Hoorn and West Friesland. Follow the architectural and archaeological progress in the Bouwblog. Discover the online exhibitions Pala and Slag op de Zuiderzee. And visit the museum halfway through 2023 in our temporary museum location Statenpoort: the starting point for discovering the city. Our educational activities continue in our Workshop on the first floor of the Boterhal.

Since 1881, the cultural-historical Westfries Museum has been housed in the former States College: a national monument from 1632 in the heart of the historic port city of Hoorn. Together, the collection and the building tell the story of the cultural history of Hoorn and Westfriesland, with the emphasis on the most exciting period in that history: the 17th century. Just like in our temporary exhibitions, we like to mirror the present to the past.

From January 1, 2023, the museum will be closed for a large-scale renovation, sustainability and renewal of the monumental buildings. From mid-2025, everyone is welcome in the renovated museum, including visitors with reduced mobility. Then a new basement floor offers space for temporary exhibitions, a freely accessible catering area is created and you can be inspired by a new museum concept.

In the renovated museum we retain the monumental strength of the building. We will also continue to tell the story of the cultural history of Hoorn and Westfriesland, with an emphasis on the 17th century. But we will soon tell that story from more than 20 story rooms, each with its own theme and atmosphere. And from different perspectives. In this way we are in line with the questions that society today asks of the past.