The Rijksmuseum is the largest art museum in the Netherlands. It showcases objects spanning over 800 years of Dutch art and history. The museum is over 200 years old and currently displays over 8000 objects, with some of them dating back to the early 13th century. The museum also displays masterpieces by renowned artists such as Frans Hals, Johannes Vermeer, Van Gogh, and Rembrandt. There is also an Asian pavilion at the museum, which features art from Indonesia, India, Japan, Vietnam, and Thailand, dating back to 2000 BC.
The Rijksmuseum houses an extensive collection of Dutch art from the Middle Ages to the 20th century. Visitors can see works by famous Dutch masters such as Rembrandt, Vermeer, and Van Gogh. The artworks are spread across multiple galleries at the Rijksmuseum.
1798: The government decided to establish a national museum as a ‘prestige project’ to inspire patriotic feeling and to store important objects.
1800: The National Art Gallery is inaugurated in The Hague with more than 200 paintings and historical objects from both the Stadtholders’ collections and national institutions.
1808: Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte moves the national collections to the Royal Palace on Dam Square in the new capital, along with other important paintings, including Rembrandt’s 'The Night Watch'.
1809: The Royal Museum officially opens on the palace’s top floor.
1813: King Willem I relocates the museum and the national print collection from The Hague to Trippenhuis, a 17th-century city palace, and christened it the ‘Rijks Museum’, or ‘national museum’.
1876: The construction of Netherlands' own national museum building. Pierre Cuypers is commissioned to be the architect.
1885: The Rijksmuseum is opened to the public housing almost all of Amsterdam’s collection of older paintings, in addition to the existing collections.
1904-1950s: A series of renovations, including the construction of the Philips Wing and the new Asian Art department.
2003-2013: The museum was restored to Cuypers’ original architectural plan where paintings, applied arts, and history are no longer displayed in separate parts of the building but rather tell a chronological story.
The Rijksmuseum was designed by Pierre Cuypers, combining the Gothic and the Renaissance styles. Although the Rijksmuseum underwent several rounds of renovation between the 1900s to the 1950s, the museum was restored to Cuypers’ original architectural plan in the 2003-2013 renovation.
Designed by Pierre Cuypers the Rijksmuseum is built in true Gothic and Renaissance style. The building consists of two squares with an atrium in the center of each. The central axis has a tunnel with entrances at the ground level and the Gallery of Honour on the first floor. The Philips Wing, a wing that was added in the 1904-1916 renovations, contains building fragments that show the history of architecture in the Netherlands.
The latter years saw several rounds of renovation, but the original architectural design of Cuypers was adopted in the 2003-2013 renovation.
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The Rijksmuseum is one of the most popular art museums in the Netherlands, showcasing over 8000 objects dating from the Dutch Golden Era to the 20th century.
Yes, you need to purchase tickets to enter the Rijksmuseum. You can purchase Rijksmuseum tickets online to ensure a hassle-free experience.
Yes, you can purchase Rijksmuseum tickets online to enjoy skip-the-line access, the best discounts, and combo offers.
The Rijksmuseum is open daily from 9 AM to 5 PM. The shop and gardens are open until 6 PM. It is open throughout the year.
The best time to visit the Rijksmuseum is early in the morning on a weekday. The temperatures are pleasant and there are comparatively lesser crowds.
The Rijksmuseum is located in the southern borough of Amsterdam. It is situated on Museumstraat 1 1071 XX Amsterdam.
The Rijksmuseum is famous for housing paintings by some of the most famous artists in history, such as Rembrandt, Van Gogh, Vermeer, De Hooch, and more.
The Rijksmuseum is nearly 225 years old, having been established in 1798 in The Hague. It was then moved to Amsterdam in 1808.
You can find paintings and works of art from numerous eras inside the Rijksmuseum, including famous ones like the Night Watch, Woman Reading a Letter, and the Merry Family. They also organize guided tours, workshops, and lectures to educate the public about the Dutch Golden Era. They also have sections featuring artworks from different regions across the world.
There are over 8000 artworks on display at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. This includes sculptures, paintings, furniture, applied arts, and ship models and weapons.
Yes, you can book your guided tours of the Rijksmuseum online. These skip-the-line tickets come with expert guides in English, Spanish, German, Italian, and French.
The Rijksmuseum is wheelchair accessible and provides sign language and tactile guided tours. Service dogs are also allowed. The Rijksmuseum also has accessible restrooms, Wi-Fi access, and cloakroom facilities available. Inside, you can also dine at the cafe or restaurant, or shop at the gift shop.
Yes, the Rijksmuseum has a cafe and a restaurant. The cafe is open on all days from 9 AM to 6 PM. However, the Rijks restaurant is only open from Wednesday to Sunday during lunch hours and from Tuesday to Sunday during dinner hours.
You can take photos at the Rijksmuseum only using hand-held equipment. Tripods, props, and additional lighting is strictly prohibited. However, photography professionals are free to take photos or videos for domestic or international audiences provided their applications have been approved by the museum.
You can also plan your visit to the Anne Frank House, the Stedelijk Museum, the Van Gogh Museum, or the MOCO Museum.
