Six museums show different sides of the Second World War
From the Battle of Arnhem to persecution and resistance, each of these places invites a different conversation about war and remembrance.
At Airborne Museum Hartenstein in Oosterbeek, the permanent exhibition follows the Battle of Arnhem day by day. The underground Airborne Experience presents that history from the perspective of a British paratrooper. The museum is at Utrechtseweg 232 and opens daily from 10 am to 5 pm.
Adult admission to Hartenstein costs €16, while visitors aged eight to seventeen pay €11. Museumkaart holders enter free.
The Dutch Resistance Museum in Amsterdam tells the wartime history of the Netherlands and its former colonies through more than 130 personal stories. The exhibition Hella de Jonge – Dichter bij hun ziel runs from 18 September 2026 to 7 February 2027. The museum is at Plantage Kerklaan 61.
Kamp Westerbork Memorial Centre in Hooghalen tells the stories of more than 100,000 Jews, Sinti and Roma who were deported from the Netherlands and murdered. The former camp site is three kilometres from the museum. From 1951, it served for twenty years as Schattenberg, a residential settlement for thousands of Moluccans; that history also belongs to the place.
The Westerbork museum at Oosthalen 8 opens on weekdays from 10 am to 5 pm and at weekends from 11 am to 5 pm. Admission is €13.50 for visitors aged eighteen and over and €6.75 for children aged six to seventeen; Museumkaart holders enter free. The ticket includes the shuttle bus to the former camp site. Plans to renew the museum and site have been announced, but no closing date has been given.
Kamp Vught National Memorial at Lunettenlaan 600 opens on weekdays from 10 am to 5 pm and at weekends from noon to 5 pm. Its permanent exhibition presents the story of Kamp Vught in seven seasons. According to its website, tickets are bought at the desk on the day of the visit.
In Overloon, the War Museum presents seven exhibitions on the Second World War and liberation, including a Lancaster Pavilion. Amsterdam’s National Holocaust Museum belongs to the Jewish Cultural Quarter, which recommends a minimum age of ten for both that museum and the Hollandsche Schouwburg.