Regional museum in Veendam on peat extraction, seafaring, and industry in the Groningen Veenkoloniën, housed in a listed school building from 1910.
27. september 2026 – 29. marts 2027
Landscapes, portraits, and still lifes by Latvian artists from the late 19th century to the present, centered on works by the founders of the Tukums artists' colony – in exchange, objects from the Veendam storage travel to Latvia.
15. november 2026 – 18. april 2027
Survey exhibition of the painter and illustrator from Hoogezand-Sappemeer, whose finely executed oil paintings focus on women, nature, and ancient symbolism.
The museum grew out of the Vereeniging voor Veenkoloniale Oudheidkunde in 1939. The core of the collection had already been assembled by the Veendam mayors Eltjo van Beresteyn and later Fokke Jacobs de Zee. The objects first moved from the town hall to a local history room above the police station and were later housed in the library on the Kerkstraat.
In 1989, the museum was given the former building of the Rijks Hoogere Burgerschool (RHBS, a state secondary school). Rijksbouwmeester (state architect) J. A. W. Vrijman had designed the stately building in the neoclassical “Around 1800” style with Art Nouveau details; it served as a school from 1910/11 until 1987, and the school's founding went back to the Veendam pastor and encyclopedist Anthony Winkler Prins. After conversion, the museum officially opened in 1992. Since 2004, the national monument has been connected to the vanBeresteyn cultural center, which is also where visitors enter today.
On two floors, the museum tells how raised bog became a prosperous region: from prehistory through peat cutting and the canals to the heyday of Veenkoloniale seafaring in the 19th century, when a large part of the Dutch merchant fleet was registered here and many ships sailed to Riga and the Baltic region. Further focal points are the straw board and potato starch industries.
The museum also owns the peat barge “Familietrouw” from 1894, a spitse praam built at the Ten Horn shipyard in Veendam, which is considered the oldest original surviving ship in the province of Groningen and is still able to sail. Temporary exhibitions often focus on art from the region and the Baltic area.
| Voksne | 15 € |
|---|---|
| Nedsat pris | 4 €CJP cardholders |
| Børn og unge | 8 €gratis til og med 15 år · Children and young people up to and including age 15 free; 16- and 17-year-olds pay €8. |
| Pensionister | –No senior discount mentioned. |
| Studerende og elever | –Discount mentioned only with a CJP pass (€4). |
| Grupper (fra 10 pers.) | 10 € pr. person€10 per adult, ages 16–17 €5, up to age 15 free, nursing home residents €4; group guide €30, or a tour by the director/curator €50 per group (10 to about 15 people, book at least two weeks in advance). Individual discount cards are not valid in a group. |
| VriendenLoterij and ICOM cards | 10 € |
Free with the Museumkaart, likewise for members of the Vereniging Rembrandt and supporters of the museum. Tickets only at the museum ticket desk (cash or card), no online sales. Combination ticket with the Museumspoorlijn STAR heritage railway via its package page.
Elevator and adapted restrooms available; mobility scooters inside the building by arrangement. The Hertenkampstraat bus stop behind the museum is wheelchair-accessible.
Velegnet til børn og familier
| Entré for børn | gratis til og med 15 år |
|---|
According to the museum, there are interactive exhibition sections geared toward children. In the “Tiemo Tijdloos” craft corner, children work in small groups to make their own little boat after taking a look inside the peat barge; for the youngest visitors, there is a checklist booklet for a scavenger hunt through the museum. Strollers and buggies can go everywhere.
Hertenkampstraat · 2 min. til fods
Veendam station (Arriva trains from Groningen) is about a 15-minute walk away; by bus, about 10 minutes from the station to the Hertenkampstraat stop directly behind the museum.
Gratis parkering · 3 min. til fods til indgangen
Parking is free throughout Veendam, partly in blue zones requiring a parking disc. Nearby parking: Promenade and Kerkplein (each about a 3-minute walk), ABC Parkeerdak (about 5 minutes); according to the FAQ, also on the Museumplein.
Easily reached by car via the N33.
Planlæg ruteMuseum shop with books and gifts (accessible without admission during opening hours) and an online shop with the museum's publications. No in-house café or restaurant is mentioned; the museum refers visitors to places in the immediate vicinity.
Some rooms in the museum building can be rented for lectures, receptions, and educational events; inquiries via the contact form.
Forespørgsel & detaljer| Rundvisninger | ja |
|---|---|
| Tilbud til skoler | ja |
| Godt at vide | Guided tours for groups by reservation, including tours by the director or curator; coach groups can book a guide for a tour through Zuidwending, Pekela, and Ommelanderwijk. Occasional public town walks (e.g., through the Veendam cemetery), lectures, and museum trips. School programs for primary and secondary schools, with classroom lessons on request. |
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