Pianola museum

About the museum

The Pianola Museum is devoted to the self-playing piano, which stood in many living rooms a good hundred years ago. With felt-covered fingers of wood or metal, a pianola plays the keys of a piano while the player pumps the pedals; there are also fully automatic, electrically playing grand pianos. The collection comprises more than 40,000 paper rolls, one of the largest in the world; in the music salon stand several historic instruments on which they are played, and more than a hundred further instruments are stored in other rooms and in the depot.

The collection began around 1970 as a joint project of the connoisseurs Theo de Boer and Kasper Janse. In 1981 they founded the Stichting Nederlands Piano Museum to secure the present and future of their collections, and in 1994 the museum opened in the former police station on Westerstraat in the Jordaan. The salon and museum café recall the heyday of the pianola between Art Nouveau and Art Deco (1900–1930).

The building belongs to the City of Amsterdam, and the museum can use only part of it, which limits exhibition, education and library. In 2018 the sale of the building was threatened; after major protests a solution was found. After the Covid closure the concert series is running again; founder and curator Kasper Janse received the Henny Hogenbijl Muziek Prijs in 2023. Concerts are also held under the name Geelvinck Pianola Museum in cooperation with the Geelvinck Museum.

Highlights

• Over 40,000 piano rolls – one of the largest collections in the world
• Historic pianolas and fully automatic grand pianos are played during tours
• Music salon in the style of the Roaring Twenties in a former police station
• Regular museum concerts from classical to jazz, as well as children’s concerts and pianola evenings
• Located in the Jordaan, a 15 to 20-minute walk from the central station

Founded

1994

Operated by

Stichting Pianola Museum

Admission & discounts

Prices include a tour; free with the I amsterdam City Card. Concert tickets are sold separately through the Geelvinck Museum.

Accessibility

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Family tours & workshops

Children pay €5; the programme regularly includes children’s concerts.

Getting there & parking

From the central station the museum is a 15 to 20-minute walk away.

Amenities & dining

• Café

Small museum café in the salon (coffee, tea, soft drinks), can also be used for events.

Events & venue rental

• Spaces for rent
• Private parties
• Corporate events

Up to 48 guests.

Music salon for concerts by musicians (space for just over 40 listeners), birthday parties, book and CD presentations and small corporate events with a maximum of 48 people; catering possible.

Plan your visit