Wheelhouse, paper cutting and paintings
Visitors can imagine steering a boat in the wheelhouse, see Jantje de Knipper's cut-paper art and view paintings by Ernst Leyden. Jan Visscher, nicknamed Jantje de Knipper because of his stature, was born in 1855 and died in 1938. Leyden set up a studio on Urk and worked there for two years; his major painting Biddende Visser hangs in the museum. The temporary exhibition In het voetspoor van Jan de Knipper has been extended due to its popularity and expanded with new works and techniques.
A modest island life
Luxury is absent. The museum shows the austerity of life in small, draughty fishing cottages through household objects, tools and goods once sold in Urk's small shops. It also covers traditional dress and fishing on the Zuiderzee and North Sea in sailing botters. Its art collection depicts Urk through the eyes of artists who visited while it was still an island.
With children
Children explore with a question bag; the youngest can play the Botterspel search game around the museum. On the deck of a modern fishing vessel you can pose for a photograph with a large halibut. Holidays bring extra activities such as walking on stilts and skipping, and a treasure trail around the lighthouse.