MUSEUM VAN LOON

Open daily from 10 am to 5 pm. Admission: €13.

The Museum

In the heart of Amsterdam's canal district is the Museum Van Loon, a magnificent private residence built in 1672 by the architect Adriaen Dortsman. The first resident was the painter Ferdinand Bol, a student of Rembrandt. The interior of the house has remained largely intact over the past few centuries and still evokes the splendor of the 17th century. In the rooms, a large collection of paintings, fine furniture, precious silverware and porcelain from different centuries is on display. Behind the house is a beautiful garden, an oasis of calm in the modern city center. The garden is laid out in a formal style and is bordered on the other side by the classic facade of the coach house. This original unity of canal house, garden and shed is not visible anywhere else. If you want to get a glimpse of the world behind the facades of the world-famous canals, a visit to the Museum Van Loon  is definitely worthwhile.

The collection

Museum Van Loon houses the collection that the Van Loon family has assembled over the past five centuries. Various objects are displayed in the rooms of the house, showing the visitor how a wealthy merchant family lived in Amsterdam. This lifestyle is illustrated by the large living rooms filled with family portraits, furniture, silverware and porcelain objects. In the basement, the life of the former family staff is illustrated by original uniforms, kitchen objects and other everyday utensils. Historic carriages, sleighs and harnesses are on display in the carriage house. The family archives, consisting of documents and photographs, are also housed in the museum. Exceptionally, the museum acquires objects or commissions new portraits of family members from contemporary artists.

The Van Loon family

The museum is named after the Van Loon family, the last residents of the house and founders of the museum. This family originated from the town of Loon op Zand, near the town of 's Hertogenbosch, in the southern Netherlands. In the 17th century, they moved to Amsterdam and became involved in the trade and governance of the city, like other leading families of the Golden Age. In 1602, Willem van Loon was a founding member of the V.O.C., the Dutch East India Company, and his grandson was the first Van Loon to become Mayor of Amsterdam. The Van Loon's were elevated to the peerage in the 19th century.

The canal house on the Keizersgracht came into the family's possession in 1884, when Hendrik van Loon bought it for his son Willem Hendrik as a wedding gift. Willem Hendrik and his wife Thora lived in the house at Keizersgracht 672 with their two children and staff. Willem Hendrik ran the bank Hope & Co, which later became Van Loon & Co. His wife, Thora van Loon-Egidius, was the representative of Queen Wilhelmina in Amsterdam. The rich history of the family is illustrated by the museum's large collection of portraits, the oldest of which dates back to the sixteenth century.