Zeeuws Museum

Key items include its world famous series of 16th century tapestries, fine collections of silver and paintings, a spectacular array of fashion and traditional Zeeland costumes, and cabinets containing works of art from East and West.The museum provides inspiring video guided tours that deal not only with the highlights but also with specific themes including animals and passion.

The museum features an exclusive museum shop. The museum café has a spacious terrace on the picturesque Abbey Square.

Guided tours can be arranged by appointment. The museum also offers special programmes and activities for children.

The Zeeuws Museum has been housed in the Abbey in the center of Middelburg, the beautiful capital of the Dutch province of Zeeland, since 1972. The Abbey also includes Zeeland’s provincial government offices, several churches and the 86-metre Lange Jan (‘Long John’) tower. Norbertine friars, knights, Princes of Orange, Beggars (as the first Dutch rebels against Spanish rule were known), governors and iconoclasts have all played a part in the Abbey’s 850-year history. The entire complex, which was heavily bombarded during the Second World War, was restored and partly rebuilt once the war was over.

The first stones were laid on the site of the Abbey around 1150. Earthen ramparts had been erected 250 years earlier to help protect Zeeland against Viking raids. The Middel-burcht (‘central fort’), measuring over 200 meters across, overlooked the banks of what was then the River Arne. After the Viking threat had receded, the fort became home to herdsmen, farmers, merchants and later the Norbertine friars. The circular shape of the fort is still visible on the map of Middelburg.