National Museum of Ethnology — Attraction in Leiden

Widely considered to be the first such museum in the world – rather than merely a collection of curiosities – Leiden's National Museum of Ethnology (Rijksmuseum Volkenkunde) is handily located near the Molen de Valk windmill and is a pleasant way to spend an hour or more. Founded in 1837, the museum was originally housed in a number of buildings spread across the city until a new home was found for it in 1937 in the former University Hospital.

Its extensive collections come from all over the world, with an emphasis on artifacts from Indonesia and Japan. Of particular interest is the Buddha Room with its collection of statues depicting the prophet in a variety of poses.

One-hour English-language guided tours are available and can be tailored to specific interests and collections. Fun and educational workshops are also among the top things to do here, from learning traditional dances to exploring cultural activities and crafts. If visiting on a Sunday, try to time your visit to coincide with one of the regular weekly music programs.

A good place to learn more about the connection between the Netherlands and its former Asian colonies can be experienced at the SieboldHuis museum, which features numerous artifacts and artworks collected during its namesake's time in Japan during the early...

I had wanted to visit this museum for a long time and accordingly had high expectations. The special exhibition about maps was an additional incentive. The experience on site was then unfortunately sobering. Yes, the permanent exhibition consists of extraordinarily impressive objects, most of which are also very well presented. But even here, there were problems with poorly contrasted lettering or unhappily placed explanations that I would not expect in a very well curated museum. The special exhibition on maps is in principle very good, but spread over two non-contiguous rooms and unfortunately disappointingly small. The particular misfortune of my visit, however, was that a Djoser marketing event was taking place at the same time, turning the entire museum into a fairground. Really all areas of the museum had promotional videos of the travel company, one huge area was virtually a travel agency, and the noise of the events permeated the entire building. Probably this gave the museum a nice big donation check - we still had to pay admission - not too shabby at 15 euros. We expected excellence and what we...

By definition, a museum in ethnology informs on the characteristics and relationships between various cultures. Sadly, that’s not the case at the Wereldmuseum Leiden. It seems the curatorial team values a political and religious agenda over historical clarity. In the Asia Regions gallery that compares practices in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, one text label states that Muslims pray toward Mecca, but omits the fact that Jews pray toward Jerusalem: why mention one and not the other? The following information furthers the erasure of foundational Judaic roots by shockingly describing “Abraham’s sacrifice of Ishmael”. The biblical narrative of Abraham willing to sacrifice his beloved son ISAAC is central to Judaism as it represents Abraham’s unshakable faith in God and the establishment of their covenant. Is the Wereldmuseum trying to rewrite the Hebrew Bible by erasing its roots? By doing so, is it trying to please certain segments of its public? Whatever the reason, it’s reprehensible, and what is also disappointing is the museum’s lack of answer to my questions. This museum lost my trust, hence the one...