Permanent Collection
The Zuiderzeemuseum is a fascinating day out for the whole family. The Zuiderzeemuseum allows you to take a stroll through time. Both indoors and out. In the open air museum you can see, hear, smell, feel and taste how the people of this region lived from 1880 to approximately 1930. You will certainly encounter the smell of fresh tar, smoked fish and peat-fired stoves. Wander along Harderwijker Street where the smith has his forge or sit in on a history or handwriting lesson at the local school in Kollum. Have a chat with the inhabitants of the island of Urk or drop in on a typical housewife in 1930. You never know, she might invite you to stay for a bite to eat.

In the indoor museum are many permanent exhibitions that present a vivid record of the turbulent history of the Zuiderzee. In the fully renovated and extended indoor museum, you can explore exhibitions in the life of fishermen and skippers from the Zuiderzee region and the reclamation of large tracts of land by famous Dutch hydraulic engineers. Other exhibitions deal with trade and transport with the hinterland as well as the history of the VOC and the whaling industry. Numerous paintings, ship models, everyday utensils, clothing and historic film footage help to carry you back through seven centuries of Zuiderzee history.

And for children.... Younger visitors will be in their element at the Zuiderzeemuseum. They can dress up in the traditional costumes worn in Volendam or Marken, play with hoops and have a go at walking on stilts.