Museums & Archives

Museums and archives of note across the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and other regions with historic ties to the Low Countries.

(This particular list is very much a work in progress.)

Museums

Rijksmuseum (EN/NL, Amsterdam): Dutch national museum dedicated to arts and history.
Haags Historisch Museum (NL, The Hague): History of The Hague displayed in art, archives, and exhibits.
Jheronimus Bosch Art Center (EN/NL, ’s-Hertogenbosch): Dedicated to the life and otherworldly work of the early sixteenth century master.
Mauritshuis (EN/NL, The Hague): The 17th century building is home to a significant collection of art from the Golden Age.
Plantin-Moretus Museum (EN/NL, Antwerp): The original workshop of the storied printing and publishing family, complete with archives and extant books.
Royal Military Museum of Belgium (EN/NL/FR, Brussels): Belgian national museum with broad coverage of military history, including this era of study (e.g. the arms and armor collection)
Belgian Art & History Museum (EN/NL/FR, Brussels): Belgian national museum of art and antiquities – one of the largest art museums in Europe.
Westfries Museum (NL/EN/FR/DE, Hoorn): Museum with 30,000 artifacts dating back to the 16th and 17th centuries from the West Friesland region and of the VOC.

National Archives of the Netherlands (EN/NL): Over 3.5 million records, with many relating to the formation of the Dutch state and its subsequent colonial and mercantile period.
Brabants Historisch Informatie Centrum (NL): Historical and geneological sources for North Brabant.
Fries Archiefnet (NL): Provincial archives of Frisland and its cities.
Guelders Archive (NL): Largely Dutch-language-only but the archivists will scan documents and upload them for you.
Historisch Centrum Overijssel (NL): Provincial archives of Overijssel.
Zeeuws Archief (NL): Provincial archives of Zeeland.
Tresoar (EN/NL, Leeuwarden): Friesland museum which contain the archives of the University of Franeker (1585-1843) and a large collection of books from the personal library of Erasmus.

Het Geheugen (NL): Hundreds of thousands of searchable images (digitized documents and photographs of extant artifacts) from over a hundred Dutch museums, archives and libraries.
Veere Municipal Archives (NL): Fully digitized archives of charters, letters, receipts, and legal paperwork from 1349-1784.

AlleFriezen (NL): A collection of archives and genealogical sources from cities across Frisland, dating from the sixteenth century to the present.
Amsterdam City Archives (NL): Archives relating to the history of Amsterdam, with additional holdings relating to the broader Netherlands.
Regionaal Archief Rivierenland (NL): Collection of municipal archives from the western “riverland” region of Geulders.
Regionaal Archief Zutphen (NL, Zutphen): Archives of Zutphen and the surrounding region – formerly a county, this area now part of Geulders.
Utrecht City Archives (NL/EN, Utrecht): City and provincial archives with an extensive collection of church records