Yeb Hettinga Museum

About the museum

The Yeb Hettinga Museum is housed in the former village school of Firdgum, a small terp village on the Wadden Sea coast. Built around 1900, the school was in use until the 1930s and then served for a long time as a potato store.

The museum is named after the farmer and amateur archaeologist Yeb Hettinga (1938–1999), who bought the dilapidated manor farm Camstra State in 1986 and set up a small museum there. He collected old farm implements and, together with a companion and a metal detector, found coins, 18th-century coat hooks and other objects. He bought the school to house the collection. After his death, his family and the Stichting Yeb Hettinga Skoalle, founded in 2001, completed the project; the museum opened in 2001. The Barradeel antiquities association is also based here.

Today the building shows school items from the time of our grandparents, historic farm equipment and archaeological finds from the region, and serves as an archaeological base. Next to the museum stands the Zodenhuis, a replica of an early medieval terp house with sod walls, which volunteers completed in 2013. Firdgum is part of the "Terpenland" route with four archaeological museums on the Wadden Sea.

Highlights

• Zodenhuis: reconstructed sod house from the terp period
• Archaeological finds from the terp region around Barradeel
• Historic farm equipment
• School items from grandparents' time
• Film in which the founder himself guides visitors through his collection and the manor farm

Permanent exhibitions

• Heimatmuseum in der alten Schule – School items from grandparents' time, old farm implements and archaeological finds from the former Barradeel area.
• Zodenhuis – Replica of an early medieval terp house, whose sod walls carry the entire roof; the first attempt failed because of the rain.

Founded

2001

Operated by

Stichting Yeb Hettinga Skoalle

Admission & discounts

Admission €4 per person.

Accessibility

• Partially wheelchair accessible
• Elevator: no information
• Accessible restroom: no information
• Accessible parking: no information
• Service dogs welcome: no information
• Tactile models & exhibits: no information
• Sign language tours: no information
• Easy-to-read materials: no information
• Audio description: no information

According to an information portal, the Zodenhuis and the first floor of the museum are accessible by wheelchair.

Kids & families

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Getting there & parking

The museum lies on the ANWB node-point cycle network on the Wadden Sea coast; arriving by bicycle is expressly welcome.

Amenities & dining

Coffee and tea are available; there is a restroom stop for cyclists. ANWB cycling maps are available on site. Nearby dining: Waddenherberg The Friezinn in Westhoek.

Events & venue rental

• Spaces for rent

The divisible room on the first floor is suitable as a meeting room for clubs and for exhibitions.

Plan your visit