Het Scheepvaartmuseum - The National Maritime Museum of the Netherlands

The National Maritime Museum, or Het Scheepvaartmuseum in Dutch, is located on the east side of the centre of Amsterdam, adjacent to the River IJ  The building housing the museum is deeply connected to the Dutch maritime history, having been constructed in 1656 on a new, artificial island in the city's harbour.  Built for the Admiralty of Amsterdam, it was used as a supply depot to store weapons, food, and other provisions for the Dutch navy, as well as supplies for the shipbuilding industry.  In 1972, the building became the new home of the National Maritime Museum.  After an extensive renovation in 2007-2011, the museum re-opened on 2 October 2011.

Photos taken 28 April 2026

The National Maritime Museum, located on Kattenburgerstraat on the island of Kattenburg in Amsterdam harbour. 

The solid, 17th century stone building was once a storage depot for naval supplies.

The west side of the museum, as seen from Prince Hendrik Quay.  The replica East Indiaman Amsterdam, one of the museum's vessels, is moored alongside.

The north side of the National Maritime Museum, as seen from the poop deck of the replica East Indiaman Amsterdam, moored alongside the museum.

The interior courtyard of the National Maritime Museum.  The open courtyard is enclosed by a geometric glass roof consisting of approximately 1,200 panes of glass.  The intersecting lines of the roof were inspired by the lines on historic nautical charts.  The climate-controlled courtyard features special floor tiles to ensure optimal acoustics for music performances and presentations.

North Wing, Ground Floor: Republic at Sea

The museum's main gallery, opened in May 2019, is 'Republic at Sea', recounting the maritime history of the Netherlands.  The flat, watery geography of the Netherlands made the nation prone to flooding but also created opportunities for fishing and trade.  While kings and emperors ruled over the Netherlands, day-to-day governance was left to dukes and counts, or to the citizens of the many prosperous Dutch towns.  Trade and shipping brought great prosperity to the Netherlands in the 1500s, while Protestantism spread rapidly throughout northern Europe, including among the Dutch people, aided by the many trade routes criss-crossing the region. At this time, the Netherlands was governed by a Catholic king in Spain, Philip II, who sought to maintain his rule over a vast empire via centralised government.  This centralisation of power ran contrary to the wishes of the wealthy and independent people of the Netherlands who, in 1568, rebelled against their king.  The result was the creation of the Dutch Republic of the Seven United Provinces, a new state built on trade and shipping.

A large painting by Cornelis Claesz (c. 1577-1633) depicting the Battle of Gibraltar, 25 April 1607, when Dutch ships defeated a larger Spanish fleet.  This painting was commissioned by the Admiralty of Amsterdam in 1621, the same year that a 12-year truce with Spain formally ended.  The painting was gifted to Prince Maurice of Orange, leader of the war against Spain.  At this point, the initial goal of the Dutch rebellion, an independent republic, had not yet materialised.

A culverin manufactured for the Admiralty of the Meuse by Arendt van der Put in Rotterdam in 1618.  This shipboard naval gun could fire a 12-pound projectile over long distances to strike enemy vessels.

Another view of the Republic at Sea gallery, which features numerous paintings and artefacts.  Hanging on the wall in the background are paintings depicting Dutch colonial conquests in Asia, including the 1640 siege of the Portuguese outpost of Galle in Sri Lanka and the roadstead of Batavia in the Dutch East Indies in 1649.  Although early Dutch trade was concentrated on the Javanese town of Banten, competition from Portuguese and English merchants was not desirable for the Dutch East India Company (Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie, or VOC).  When the prince of nearby Jayacarta offered to build a trading post in his town, the VOC agreed.  After a conflict with the prince, Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies Jan Pieterszoon Coen destroyed Jayacarta in 1619 and, in its place, built Fort Batavia.  Fort Batavia soon became the hub of the VOC's Asian trade network.

A model of a 68-gun man-of-war, built in circa 1670-80.  In the war against Spain, there was no Dutch war fleet; instead, merchant vessels were temporarily hired and armed with guns.  From 1660 onward, when the Anglo-Dutch wars raged, purpose-built warships were constructed at the expense of the Dutch Republic.  The model is of a typical Dutch man-of-war, with guns situated on two decks.

On the left is a portrait of Isaac Sweers (1622-1673) at age 32, shortly after his marriage to Constantia Bloemaert in 1654.  Sweers had worked in Spain, England, and Brazil before becoming a captain with the Admiralty of Amsterdam.  Fighting in three wars against England and promoted swiftly, Sweers eventually reached the rank of Vice Admiral.  He died in the Battle of Texel, 21 August 1673, when the Dutch fleet defeated a combined Anglo-French fleet in the last major battle of the Third Anglo-Dutch War.  On the right is a portrait of Constantia Bloemaert (1626-1694), the daughter of a wealthy and prominent Antwerp family that had moved to Amsterdam.  Her father was a merchant and director of the West India Company.  Constantia was 28 when she married Isaac Sweers and her family's wealth and connections provided Sweers with money and prestige.  Many sailors' wives rarely saw their husbands and Constantia occupied herself with charitable work in Amsterdam.  Both of these portraits were painted by Isaack Luttichuys (1616-1673).

A painting of the siege of the Portuguese town of Galle in Sri Lanka, 1640, in the manner of Johannes Vinckboons, circa 1669.  The route between Europe and Asia was at first known only to the Portuguese.  By the time the Dutch arrived in Asia, Portugal had built a vast trading network in Africa and Asia and it was with great force that the Dutch captured Portuguese forts and towns, such as Galle.  The monopoly of the Dutch East India Company was created mainly at Portugal's expense. 

A silver coin commemorating the death of Piet Hein, 1629.  Dutch admirals, such as Piet Hein, were revered as living heroes and their victories celebrated through song and poetry.  Hein (1577-1629) captured a Spanish silver flotilla off Cuba in 1628, an exploit that is still remembered by many Dutch people today.  The captured Spanish silver paid for the siege of Den Bosch, though Hein died in 1629 in a gunfight with privateers from Ostend.

A painting of a homebound fleet off Saint Helena, by Cornelis Verbeeck (1590-1637).  In the 17th century, the voyage from Europe to Asia took eight to nine months, with the return voyage taking seven months.  Sailing ships faced the dangers of storms, pirates, disease, and accidents.  Fresh food and water soon ran out or turned bad in tropical temperatures.  As such, from 1652, all Dutch ships heading to Asia resupplied at the Cape of Good Hope, halfway through their journey.  On the homeward voyage, ships stopped at the African island of Saint Helena to replenish their supply of fresh water.

In the 17th century, the struggle for Dutch independence from Spain shifted from the Netherlands itself to the lucrative overseas possessions of Spain and its ally, Portugal.  Warfare was outsourced to the Dutch East India Company (VOC) in Asia and the West India Company (WIC) in Africa and the Americas, with shareholders' money being used by the companies to wage war.  Once the enemy was defeated, the VOC or WIC took the place of the defeated power and began trading with the local population, with profits being returned to the shareholders.  In 1648, after 80 years of war, the Dutch Republic and Spain concluded a peace treaty; however, in the latter half of that century, the envious English, Swedish, and French fought battles with the Dutch over trade and shipping routes.  The three Anglo-Dutch wars (1652-54, 1665-67, and 1672-74) were notable as clashes between two maritime nations seeking secure control of the sea for their large merchant fleets.

A terrestrial globe made by the shop of Willem Janszoon Blaeu sometime after 1682.  The growth of shipping fuelled a great demand for nautical instruments and maps and Blaeu's shop in Amsterdam was the place to purchase sea charts and globes.  Amsterdam replaced Antwerp as the centre of cartography after the war against Spain drove many Antwerp merchants to settle in the new Dutch Republic, and especially in Amsterdam.  The knowledge, contacts, and wealth of these merchants boosted trade and scientific knowledge in the republic.

An ink drawing of two warships under sail, by Willem van de Velde the Elder, circa 1645.  The frigate emerged in the mid-17th century as a new type of warship that was fast, agile, and ideal for many tasks, including blockading enemy ports, chasing privateers, and accompanying merchant convoys.  Nevertheless, in the First Anglo-Dutch War (1652-1654), the frigate failed to match the firepower of the more heavily-armed two-decker men-of-war.

An ink drawing of the Battle of the Gabbard (1653) by Willem van de Velde the Elder, 1654.  Noticing the Dutch domination of shipping in Europe, England published the Acts of Navigation in 1649 to protect its own merchant fleet.  This led to conflict between the former allies.  Unlike the previous war against Spain, the Anglo-Dutch wars were mostly fought in the North Sea.

A painting, entitled 'View of the River IJ and the Arsenal', by Reinier Nooms, 1664.  As the First Anglo-Dutch War ended disastrously for the Dutch Republic, in 1660 the government ordered the construction of a permanent war fleet.  The majority of the new ships were built by the Admiralty of Amsterdam, with the materials required to construct and outfit the fleet being stored in the Arsenal, now home to the National Maritime Museum.  As depicted in the painting, the new warships were moored next to the shipyard, including the Spiegel, flagship of Michiel de Ruyter.

A tow yacht dating from circa 1760-1780.  Tow yachts could be rowed or towed from the shore by means of a line attached to the top of the small mast.  In favourable winds, a sail could also be attached to the mast.  The yacht, which was purchased for the museum in 1924, measures 7.18 metres in length, with a beam of 2.22 metres, and a height of 1.84 metres.

The pair of large, wing-like boards on the yacht's hull amidships are leeboards.  As traditional Dutch flat-bottomed vessels lacked a deep central keel, the leeboards were lowered into the water to prevent sideways drift and to provide the lift necessary to sail upwind.  The leeboards allowed wide, flat-bottomed boats to navigate the Netherlands' shallow inland waterways, with the boards able to be fully retracted when docking or running aground at low tide.  Additionally, leeboards also allowed the vessel's interior living or cargo space to be maximised, as they avoided the need for a centreboard trunk housing a centreline keel.

A model of a stern yacht, circa 1675-1700.  A yacht was a small and fast ship used by the navy for reconnaissance and for carrying messages to the fleet.  Over the 17th century, ships used to ferry officials from the admiralties, provinces, and towns were also called yachts.  The Dutch distinction of 'stern yacht' comes from its ornamental stern, featuring depictions of mythical sea creatures.  The Dutch elite bought such yachts to indulge their passion for sailing, to journey to their country homes, or to stage mock battles for visiting heads of state.  Indeed, water played an important role in the lives of many Dutch inhabitants, leading to the flourishing of a maritime culture that saw the rise of maritime art, the enrichment of the Dutch language with nautical expressions, and the popularity of travel stories.

A painting depicting a mock naval battle on the River IJ by Abraham Storck, circa 1700.  Important visitors to Amsterdam were greeted with a mock naval battle on the river.  Storck's painting shows one such mock battle, held in honour of the visit by Tsar Peter the Great of Russia in 1697.  The Tsar's yacht flew a white, blue, and red flag with a crowned eagle, as shown in the lower left of the painting.

A singed wooden beam displays evidence of the massive fire that ravaged the Arsenal on 5-6 July 1791.  The fire was fed by the large quantities of flammable naval supplies stored in the Arsenal, with the flames spreading to ships moored in the river next to the building.  While the Arsenal's stone walls survived, they had to be reinforced in several places.  Traces of the 1791 fire can still be found throughout the building.

This room of the Republic at Sea gallery addresses the contact between Dutch and foreign cultures as a result of trade and colonialism.  From the 1400s on, developments in shipbuilding and navigation led to greater contact between different cultures across vast distances.  First contact was seldom peaceful, with European merchants fighting their way into Asia and coercing local traders into disadvantageous agreements.  As with many of the museum's sanctimoniously woke exhibits, the displays here focus on the 'everyday violence, extortion and racism' linked to European colonial expansion, asserting that the Dutch Republic was 'deeply complicit in this'.  Global shipping networks created demand for foreign products, influenced the arts, and increased knowledge of exotic foreign customs and cultures.

A portrait of Lieutenant Admiral Cornelis Tromp by Ferdinand Bol, painted circa 1676.  In the painting, Tromp poses next to a globe and sea charts, while an African man presents him with a plumed helmet.

A porcelain plate made in China in circa 1700-1710 and depicting a ship.  The arrival of European ships in Asia elicited different reactions from local populations.  Japan and Korea closed their borders to keep out unwanted cultural and religious influences, with European trespassers being captured or killed.  Other countries welcomed the opportunities for trade and knowledge exchange, but kept foreign merchants at a safe distance.  The European sailing vessel thus became a symbol of both cultural exchange and danger.

This final room in the Republic at Sea gallery is themed around continuity and change.  After three naval wars in the 1600s, the Dutch Republic and England signed a peace treaty, after which time the ties between the two countries strengthened.  These connections were further cemented when Stadtholder Willem III of Orange and his Scottish wife Princess Mary Stuart were crowned King and Queen of England in 1688.  Fearful of the growing power of French King Louis XIV, Willem united the English and Dutch fleets and armies to fight together against France.  Although the age of prosperity in the Dutch Republic ended by the early 1700s, Dutch shipmasters retained their control of the vitally important Baltic grain trade.  While the Dutch East India Company remained profitable, competition was rising from other European traders and the West India Company struggled to maintain its monopoly in Africa and the Americas.  In 1734, the West India Company surrendered its control over the Atlantic trade to private companies and became primarily a keeper of forts and trading posts.  In 1780, war with Great Britain broke out again and the Dutch fared poorly, being unable to prevent the British from blockading ports and capturing Dutch forts around the world.  Sympathy for Revolutionary France grew in the Dutch Republic and, in 1795, French forces invaded, forcing the Stadtholder to flee to England.  Dutch merchant vessels were captured on the high seas and in ports and the Dutch East India Company collapsed in 1799.  A new state, the Batavian Republic, superseded the Dutch Republic in 1795 but took its orders from France.  On 30 November 1813, Willem VI of Orange arrived in a small boat on the beach at Scheveningen and was soon crowned Willem I, the first King of the Netherlands.  Willem energetically pursued the reconstruction of his country, which had been impoverished by the Napoleonic Wars, promoting trade and industry and ordering the construction of canals and railway lines.  The Dutch Trading Company was created to replace the Dutch East India Company and the Indonesian archipelago, Suriname, and the Dutch West Indies became Dutch colonies.  The Dutch shipping industry also flourished under Willem I's economic policies and the dockyards and ports were hives of activity.

A model of a saw mill, made in 1795.  A prominent industry in the Dutch economy, shipbuilding required a large quantity of cheap timber.  Raw logs were transported to the Dutch sawmills from German and Scandinavian forests by ship or raft.  Sawing planks in windmills proved much cheaper than sawing by hand, and the windmills could also be used to mill grain, paint, oil, and gunpowder, as well as drain lakes.

A painting depicting the bombardment of Dunkirk in 1695, painted around 1700.  During war, privateers or corsairs from the French port of Dunkirk attacked the many lightly armed English and Dutch merchant vessels passing through the English Channel.  As Dunkirk was known to be an impenetrable fortress, a combined Anglo-Dutch fleet shelled it from a great distance.

A portrait of Vice Admiral Jan Hendrik van Kinsbergen, attributed to the artist Johan Friedrich Bürckman and painted circa 1790-1810.  Van Kinsbergen (1735-1819) earned fame for his actions in the Battle of the Dogger Bank, 5 August 1781.  Beginning his military service in the army, van Kinsbergen transferred to the Admiralty of Amsterdam and the Russian navy.  After returning to the Dutch Republic, he promoted naval reform and served as adviser to the Stadtholder on maritime affairs.  As a Lieutenant Admiral, van Kinsbergen played an important role in the new Kingdom of the Netherlands, founded in 1815.

A ceremonial sword made of steel, gold, and copper and manufactured in Solingen, Germany sometime between 1750 and 1775.  The sword was gifted by Dutch Stadtholder Willem V of Orange to Rear Admiral Johan Arnold Zoutman (1724-1793) following the 5 August 1781 naval engagement at Dogger Bank between a British fleet and a Dutch squadron under Zoutman.  The Battle of Dogger Bank was part of the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War (1780-1784), which erupted as a result of Dutch support for the rebellion in Britain's American colonies.

A glass goblet made in the Hague in 1784.  It is engraved with the portrait of Rear Admiral Johan Arnold Zoutman, commander of the Dutch squadron at the Battle of the Dogger Bank, 5 August 1781.  Although the naval battle was inconclusive, it was celebrated as a major victory in the Dutch Republic and many different objects, from Dogger Bank ribbons to a Dogger Bank game, were made to commemorate it.

An oil painting of the Battle of Camperdown, 11 October 1797, by British artist Robert Dodd in 1798.  After leaving port to engage a British squadron in the North Sea in 1797, the navy of the Batavian Republic was attacked off Camperdown.  During a bloody battle, the entire Dutch fleet was lost, marking both the end of the Batavian Navy and the last ever naval battle that the Dutch Navy fought independently.

A longcase clock manufactured by Amsterdam clockmaker Johannes Elias sometime between 1750 and 1775.  The clock is made from oak, walnut, burr, and metal and features an ornate depiction of whaling.

A closer look at the dial of the luxurious longcase clock, with a moving mechanism showing whaling ships at work.  Clockmaker Johannes Elias used a series of well-known engravings for the images on the clock's dial.  The expensive clock was likely manufactured for a shipowner or captain who made his fortune from hunting whales near Greenland.

An ink drawing of the whaling fleet of the Doornekroon family, by Adriaen van Salm, circa 1701.  From the 16th century onward, Dutch ships sailed to Iceland and Greenland to hunt whales.  Whale blubber was boiled down to be used as lamp oil and lubricants.  The hunt soon brought several whale species to the bring of extinction; however, because of the huge profits to be made from whaling, the trade continued.

A painting of the warehouse and yard of the Dutch East India Company in Amsterdam, by an unknown artist in circa 1700-1750.  The Dutch East India Company constructed a vast shipyard on the island of Oostenburg along the river IJ in Amsterdam.  Several ships could be constructed simultaneously in the yard and its enormous warehouse stored all of the company's trade goods.  For more than 100 years, the warehouse was the largest building in Europe.  After the demise of the Dutch East India company in 1799 due to massive debts, widespread corruption, and military conflict, the warehouse was used as a granary until it collapsed in 1822.

An oil painting, entitled 'The Secret Navy in the Port of Flushing', by artist Engel Hoogerheyden in 1805.  French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte was planning an invasion of Britain and, as an ally of France, the Batavian Republic built hundreds of ships to carry the French army across the English Channel.  This fleet was called the Secret Navy, and was assembled in the port of Flushing before sailing to Boulogne-sur-Mer, where the French army would embark.  Ultimately, Napoleon abandoned his invasion plan after the loss of the French fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar, 21 October 1805.

A model of the Royal Barge.  Although for centuries, Europe's kings and emperors used richly ornamented rowing barges for short voyages on the water, the Dutch Republic had no king and, therefore, no tradition of royal barges.  Like the Dutch elite, the Stadtholder (the Republic's head of state) sailed in a yacht.  It was King Willem I of the Netherlands (1772-1843) who commissioned the construction of a royal barge in 1816, with its design based on the barge of the French emperor Napoleon.  The barge was a fitting symbol of the new kingdom and of the Netherlands as a maritime nation.

East Wing, First Floor

The entrance to the gallery displaying some of the museum's collection of ship models.  Ship models have been built for centuries, to be displayed in public buildings, offices, or homes.  Some models were made by sailors as keepsakes from a life at sea, or by shipwrights to try new designs or to thank clients for important orders.  Other models have simply been made by enthusiasts after a lot of research of original building plans and images.  The National Maritime Museum has a collection of hundreds of ship models,  only a fraction of which are on display, offering a fascinating overview of the development of ships and the craftsmanship needed to re-create them in miniature.

Models of keel yachts, including many of modern, late-20th century racing yachts.

Models of round bottom and flat bottom yachts.

A model of the traditional Dutch flat-bottomed Lemsteraak sailing yacht De Groene Draeck, 1957.  Lemsteraaks originated in the fishing town of Lemmer, in the Dutch province of Friesland, and are recognisable by their round, voluminous hulls and curved leeboards.

Models of spiegeljachten (square sterned yachts), a general Dutch term for 17th- and 18th-century yachts with flat, often strikingly decorated sterns.  The elaborate decorations often depicted sea creatures, such as dolphins.  The owners of square sterned yachts were the well-to-do upper class of the population, as well as organisations like the Admiralties and the Dutch East India Company.  Dutch East India Company directors used square sterned yachts as official vessels for inspecting the fleet or receiving important guests.  Johann Wilhelm of Palatine, the elector of Brandenburg in Germany from  1690-1716, was so impressed by the splendid yachts he saw in Holland and Zeeland during a tour that he commissioned the construction of a square sterned yacht, named Elector of Brandenburg, in 1711 for use in sailing on the Rhine and Neckar rivers. 

A rigged model of a wooden centerboard yacht, circa 1870.

A rigged model of the Frisian yacht Kikker, circa 1900-1925.

Models of various types of vessel, from rowing boats and towing craft to catamarans and keel yachts.

The entrance to the gallery housing the museum's Solebay Tapestries.  On 7 June 1672, the Dutch navy engaged an Anglo-French fleet off Solebay on the east coast of England.  The battle involved 168 warships and dozens of smaller vessels and fireships.  Despite a ferocious battle at sea, the result was inconclusive; however, both sides celebrated it as a victory.  The English King, Charles II, saw the Battle of Solebay as revenge for the previous war against the Dutch Republic, when English forces had been forced to withdraw from the conflict.  In 1673, Charles II commissioned his new naval artist, the Dutchman Willem van de Velde the Elder, to design six large tapestries depicting the Battle of Solebay.  The artist was able to deliver on this commission, as he had witnessed the battle when he sailed with the Dutch fleet.

The inside of the Solebay Tapestries gallery.  The Dutch artist Willem van de Velde the Elder and his son moved to England in 1672 to work at the court of King Charles II.  One of their first commissions was to create designs for six large tapestries depicting the Battle of Solebay, which were then woven by Francis and Thomas Poyntz.  A second series of tapestries was produced ten years later (1685-1688), possibly as a gift from King James II to Admiral George Legge.  Two tapestries from that second set were purchased by the National Maritime Museum in 2020 and are now displayed here.

The Solebay Tapestries tell the story of the 7 June 1672 Battle of Solebay from the English perspective in six scenes.  Five large tapestries show key moments during the battle, such as the successful Dutch fireship attack on the English flagship, while there is one smaller tapestry intended to fill the space around a door or window.  The scenes depicted in the two sets of tapestries that were produced, the second one ten years after the first, are identical, with only the border decoration being different.  This is Scene 4, showing the burning of the English flagship, Royal James, later in the day.  The Royal James, on the left, is largely obscured by billowing clouds of black smoke.  Various English ships are seen sailing in the foreground, while in the background the battle rages on between the opposing lines of the Anglo-French and Dutch fleets. 

Scene 6 shows the fleets drawn up for battle on the morning of 8 June 1672.  In the foreground are the ships of the joint Anglo-French fleet, while smaller vessels are sailing back and forth.  The Dutch ships, commanded by Lieutenant Admiral Michiel Adriaensz de Ruyter, are shown as tiny dots on the horizon.  While the fleets prepared to resume fighting, this did not occur and the Dutch retreated.  Artist Willem van de Velde the Elder had observed the battle in person and had recorded the events from the Dutch side; for the design of the tapestries, he switched the perspective to the English side. 

The entrance to the 'Charting the Sea' gallery, devoted to the history of Dutch nautical charts, and the work of the Dutch Hydrographic Service.  The earliest printed nautical charts bringing together information on the depths of water, locations of buoys, compass points, coasts and lighthouses were produced in the 15th century.  These charts opened up areas of the globe to trade and fishing, as well as war.  Reliable charts were critical in preparing a voyage, guiding the vessel while sailing, and recording the voyage and the area visited.  The first nautical charts were the work of private publishers, with governments later taking over the task and producing increasingly detailed and complete charts.

The gallery begins with displays on chart making and examples of the earliest Dutch nautical charts.  In the late 16th century, Dutch shipping and commerce expanded rapidly, with Dutch ships sailing along the coast of western Europe to the Mediterranean and, after 1600, to areas beyond Europe.  To aid this expansion of Dutch trade and power, sailors needed charts and descriptions of seas and coasts.  Willem Janszoon Blaeu became widely known as a publisher of maps and other works for seafarers and maritime companies, with his maritime atlas and sailing directions of 1608 intended to replace all previous versions.  Blaeu's atlas contained 41 charts of the coasts of western Europe with descriptions of the area.  A supplement of 1618 provided charts and descriptions of the Mediterranean Sea.  By the mid-17th century, the Netherlands was the leading producer of nautical charts and maritime atlases, though until 1800 it was principally larger publishers that were able to acquire the detailed information required to produce charts.

A terrestrial globe, made in Amsterdam in 1700.  Depicting the round earth on a flat map produces distortions.  These distortions are eliminated when applied to a globe.  In the first half of the 1600s, both nautical charts and terrestrial globes, such as this one, were taken on long sea voyages to aid in accurate navigation.

A look at some of the displays in the Charting the Sea gallery, including several nautical charts produced for the Dutch East India Company and the West India Company.  Such charts were critical aids in the companies' efforts to claim territory in America and Asia, being used to deploy soldiers and military goods during the companies' military campaigns.  During the 17th and 18th centuries, nautical charts were published almost exclusively in atlases, with the exception being charts for the route to and from Asia: before the first printed maritime atlas of Asia appeared in 1753, the Dutch East India Company issued its ships' captains with individual charts hand-drawn on parchment.

A 1903 Dutch Hydrographic Service chart of the Dutch Windward Islands in the Caribbean: St Maarten, Saba, and St Eustatius.  The individual islands are additionally depicted separately in detailed inserts, and coastal views and charts of island harbours are also included.  Dutch nautical charts of the Caribbean soon came to rely on the cartographic work of other nations, with much of the data on this chart taken from the publications of the British Hydrographic Department.  Nautical charts played a vital role in the Dutch overseas colonies in the Caribbean, Suriname, and especially in Indonesia.  The enormous growth in European shipping and commerce in the 19th and 20th centuries made the Dutch colonies increasingly important to the Netherlands, both economically and strategically.  Reliable nautical charts were thus critical to ensuring continued control over the colonies.

Two charts of Dutch coastal waters by the Dutch Hydrographic Service.  With the establishment of the new Kingdom of the Netherlands in 1815, the government took a more systematic and professional approach to producing nautical charts.  From 1816 to 1850, Dutch naval officers were tasked with mapping the Dutch coast and coastal waters.  The resulting charts and descriptions were increasingly accurate.  While the cartographers initially focused on the principal shipping routes, their work extended to other areas over time.  Dutch naval officer Abraham van Rhijn was tasked with producing and updating the nation's nautical charts in 1848 and in 1874 the Dutch Navy established a dedicated Hydrographic Department to take over this responsibility.

A hand-coloured chart of the Zuiderzee (Southern Sea), a vast, shallow bay in the northwestern Netherlands, with sea channels, circa 1682.  A key maritime route in the Netherlands linked Amsterdam across the Zuiderzee to the North Sea, with the northern section across the Wadden area being the most treacherous.  This chart marks the shoals and narrow channels, with the depths given in numerals.  As the course of these channels could change rapidly, new charts were continually being made from the 16th century on.  This chart was made by the Amsterdam firm of Johannes van Keulen, with adjustments being made from around 1680 to 1735.

A hand-coloured chart of the West Indies by Amsterdam's Johannes van Keulen, printed on parchment in 1726.  The first West Indies plain chart of the Atlantic Ocean produced by Willem Janszoon Blaeu in 1630 was one of the earliest charts to use the Mercator projection and was intended for ships sailing to Africa and America.  This 1726 version by van Keulen shows the route recommended for ships of the Dutch East India Company to avoid the doldrums around the equator, where there was often no wind at all. 

A chart of the entire Caribbean Sea produced in circa 1704-1720 by the Amsterdam firm of Johannes van Keulen, the leading nautical cartographer of the 18th century.  The chart's compiler, Jan Sikkena, was a mathematician who personally made many of the observations used to create the chart.  The chart is dedicated to the directors of the Dutch West India Company, a potential customer.

This part of the gallery explains how nautical charts are made and displays some of the technologies employed in chart making over the centuries, up to around 1965.  Making a chart was a time-consuming, complicated, and expensive process involving many different specialists, and it remains so to this day.  Taking measurements at sea is crucial to the task, and the countless measurements taken by sailors at sea and along coastlines laid the foundation for the nautical charts of the 17th century.  Later, special instruments were developed to aid in taking these measurements.  The Dutch Hydrographic Service continues to be responsible for producing nautical charts, both in printed and digital formats, for the seas around the Netherlands and the Dutch Caribbean territories.   Reliable charts require precise measurements of depth, tides, and various hazards, such as shallows and shipwrecks.

Part of an original copperplate for a chart of the Atlantic Ocean, circa 1683.  Few of the copperplates used in the 17th and 18th centuries to make nautical charts have survived.  This original plate survived because it was reused in the 19th century to make compass dials.  Around 1975, the National Maritime Museum commissioned a modern print of the image engraved on the plate as an experiment.  Because the seabed and beacons placed for mariners often change, nautical charts need constant updates.  Different tools were required to make and adjust engravings on a copperplate.  Out-of-date information needed to be removed and new elements needed to be inserted.  While the Dutch Hydrographic Service stopped making copperplate engravings in 1950, each chart continued to be revised for decades until an entirely new edition was published.  The Maritime Museum acquired more than 185 copperplates of nautical charts from the Dutch Hydrographic Service in 2013, which forms one of the world's largest collections of copperplates used for printing nautical charts. 

A collection of nautical instruments used to take measurements required in the preparation of charts, including a compass (circa 1800-1825); a reflection circle (circa 1850-1870); and a quintant (circa 1900-1925).

A display of mid-20th century nautical measurement devices, including a Kelvin & Hughes recording echo sounder Mk I (circa 1950-1955) on the upper left and a tide gauge on the lower right.  While depth soundings were historically taken using a plumbline with knots tied in the rope at intervals to denote depth, this method of measuring was replaced in the 20th century by electronic instruments, such as the echo sounder displayed here.  Since the speed of sound in water is known, the echo sounder sends a sonar pulse to the sea bottom and measures the time it takes for the signal to bounce back, thereby establishing the depth of water.

A tide gauge used by the Hydrographic Department of the Royal Netherlands Navy, circa 1970.  An understanding of the rise and fall of the tides is required to make a functional nautical chart.  In the 1950s, an automatic tide gauge to measure water levels was developed.  The device sits on the seabed and measures the pressure of the water above it.  The result indicates the height of the water column, and thus the water level, at that moment.  The watertight cap that protects the instrument's measuring device is missing from the tide gauge on display.

A model of HNLMS Tydeman, pennant number A906, a Dutch Navy oceanographic and hydrographic research vessel in service from 1976 to 2007.  The Dutch Navy operates several ships that are constantly taking measurements and conducting research for nautical charts.

Unlike regular naval vessels, oceanographic and hydrographic research vessels like HNLMS Tydeman are painted white instead of grey.  Because of this, they are sometimes referred to as the 'White Fleet'.

East Wing, Second Floor

The entrance to the gallery displaying historical nautical instruments.

This gallery displays the range of instruments developed over the centuries to help seafarers find their way at sea.  A constant stream of new, more accurate instruments and methods were developed to determine a vessel's location, course, and speed, as well as the depth of water under its hull, all pieces of information vital to a successful voyage.  These instruments made use of the sun, the moon, the stars, and the horizon to ensure ships reached their destinations quickly and safely.

Separate display cases hold instruments designed to determine a ship's latitude, longitude, direction, and speed.  In the 15th century, Europeans discovered a way of measuring latitude (the north/south position of a ship) using an astrolabe and later a cross-staff or back-staff to measure the angle formed between the horizon and the sun or a star; this information was then inserted into a table to calculate the latitude.  A means of measuring longitude (the east/west position of a ship) took until the mid-18th century to develop.  With the invention of an accurate timekeeper and improved astronomical tables, it was possible to also determine longitude and thus for the first time in history to accurately fix a vessel's position at sea.  The invention of the octant improved longitudinal observations, and the subsequent development of the sextant in 1757 and, later, the quintant and the reflection circle provided a wider range and thus allowed measurements to be taken of the distance between many more celestial bodies.

Two compasses made in Amsterdam.  The one on the left was made by the firm of Weduwe G. Hulst van Keulen and dates from 1840-1860.  The one on the right was likely made by Arnoldus van Vastenhout and dates from circa 1775-1880.  Compasses were introduced in the late Middle Ages and, as their needles always pointed to the magnetic north, they allowed mariners to determine their direction of travel, even when visibility was poor or there were no stars or other points of reference to navigate by.  A compass could also help determine a ship's position when the coast was in sight, as a sailor could take bearings from two or more points on the coastline that also appear on a chart to identify the ship's location off the coast.

A display of steering compasses to measure a vessel's direction and the wood and brass binnacles in which they were mounted.  Over the course of the 19th century, ships became larger and began to be constructed of iron rather than wood.  Iron causes a compass to deviate and, to counter this, magnets were positioned in the binnacle and iron spheres placed on either side of the binnacle.  The middle binnacle is from the armoured cruiser HNLMS Zeeland (1897) and features small compasses on the sides to compensate for the deviations caused by the ship's iron hull.  On the right is a compass designed in Glasgow around 1880 and featuring an azimuth mirror for taking a bearing.

The entrance to the 'Ship Decorations' gallery.  In the age of sail, ships were often decorated from stem to stern with impressive figureheads, finely-carved rudder heads, and wooden scrollwork.  Symbolism was important in these decorations, with carvers taking inspiration from the Bible, heraldry, or Greek and Roman mythology.  Many small boats in Dutch waters today still feature decorations.

The Ship Decorations gallery, showing a wide range of ornate and colourful decorative elements installed on ships during the age of sail, including figureheads, rudder heads, stern decorations, taffrails, mast decorations, gangway boards, and inboard decorations.

A display of wooden figureheads.  A figurehead was mounted on the cutwater, a beam attached to a ship's prow, and sometimes referred to the ship's name.  Mythological characters were popular subjects for figureheads, as well lions and historical figures.  With developments in shipbuilding in the 18th century, large figureheads gave way to smaller ones.  The figureheads in this display include a woman with corkscrew curls wearing an elegant dress; a woman wearing a necklace and with a clenched left fist; the mythological character Ajax, installed on a warship named Ajax in 1832; a woman wearing a beret on her head; a woman wearing a Roman tunic, installed on the corvette Heldin in 1842; and the Dutch naval hero Michiel de Ruyter, installed on the frigate HNLMS De Ruyter in 1853.

A display of rudder and helm decorations.  The rudder head was a decoration found on the top part of the rudder, usually in the shape of an animal or person's head.  Rudder heads were usually replaceable to allow the captain to fit a different head on special days.  The rudder heads displayed here include those depicting turban-wearing men; Flora, the goddess of spring; and a man wearing the winged helmet of Mercury, the Roman god of trade.

Decorations from the frigate Adolf Hertog van Nassau, one of the Dutch Navy's last large, steam-powered sailing ships.  Built in 1859, the frigate was used as a guard ship from 1879 to 1914.  These decorative elements were saved when Adolf Hertog van Nassau was scrapped in 1918.  They include a figurehead depicting an angel with spread wings.

A cathead lion from the Adolf Hertog van Nassau.  A cathead was a thick wooden beam sticking out from the bow of a sailing ship and used to lift, carry, and secure the iron anchors to keep them from damaging the wooden hull.  The outer ends of these beams were often carved in the shape of a cat's head.  

A mast shield from a barge, 1754.  The shield depicts the coat of arms of Botshol near Abcoude; 'Bokshol' is a corruption of this place name.  Such mast shields were located at the base of the mast and bore references to mythology, the name of the ship, the owner, or the place of the ship's registration. 

A mast shield from a barge, adorned with the coats of arms of the cities of Utrecht and Amsterdam.  This indicates that the barge ran a regular service between these cities.

A gangway board from the armoured cruiser HNLMS Zeeland (1897), bearing the coat of arms of the city of Veere.  These gangway boards were mounted on both sides of the gangway leading aboard a ship and usually bore decorative motifs referring to the vessel's name.

A display of mast decorations.  Such wooden, gilded mast tips were often found at the top of the masts of 17th and 18th century ships.  They were frequently bordered with cherub's heads and garlands.  The mast tips displayed here depict a range of figures, including the Greek mythological winged horse Pegasus; the figure of Atlas on a globe; a pyramid of animals consisting of a rooster, a winged lamb and various Pegasus figures; and the goddess Fortuna.

A carved wooden escutcheon bearing the coat of arms of the House of Orange-Nassau, the reigning royal family of the Netherlands.

A taffrail, which was located at the very back of a ship, on the stern.  Taffrails told the most stories, often with Biblical tales carved on the front and city coats of arms on the reverse.  This taffrail shows a Biblical tableau of 'Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane', with a kneeling, praying Jesus in the left foreground and, in the background, soldiers standing ready to take him prisoner. 

Located in the staircase landing is a wooden statue representing seafaring by Anthony Ziesenis (1731-1801), the sculptor of the city of Amsterdam.  Ziesensis was commissioned to create the sculpture to adorn the Nautical College, which opened on 24 October 1785 at the current Prince Hendrik Quay in Amsterdam.  This sculpture depicts a female figure holding the rudder of a ship in her left hand and, at her feet, lie several objects referring to navigation: a cross staff, a sea map, and a compass.  A beehive and a rooster are also depicted, symbolising diligence and vigilance, two attributes students of the college were expected to have.  The statue was soon given the nickname 'Kaatje', though the origins of this name are unknown.  In 1877, the Nautical College building was demolished and a new college was built at the same location.  Kaatje was installed in the new college's recreation hall.  When the college closed in 2000, Kaatje was transferred to the collection of the National Maritime Museum and, after a thorough restoration, is now exhibited once again.

West Wing, First Floor

The entrance to 'The tale of the whale', a gallery on the Dutch whaling industry and the changing perception of whales.  Whales terrified medieval sailors, who feared them as dangerous monsters.  Later, people saw whales mainly as a source of food and fuel, while today most people view whales as precious creatures nearly driven to extinction and deserving of protection.

Visitors pass through a life-size diorama of a whaler in the prow of a boat preparing to throw a harpoon at a humpback whale.

A display containing a number of artefacts of the whaling industry.  On the upper left is a reproduction of a 1781 public notice from the States General of the Netherlands banning all trading voyages, fishing, and whaling expeditions during the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War.  On the upper right is a reproduction of a 1685 document issued by the States General prohibiting people from looting whaling vessels stuck in the ice and abandoned by their crews.  A variety of whaling tools are also displayed, including harpoons, a blubber knife, an iron baleen hook, and a lance for impaling a whale's lungs.  The books at the bottom of the display are the journals of 18th century whalers and sealers during their hunting adventures in the waters around Greenland.

Glass containers hold an eye (top shelf) and an aorta (bottom shelf) from a fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus Linnaeus), caught off the Dutch village of Ter Heijde in 2019.

A display on whale hunting expeditions and the importance of whales to the Dutch economy in the 17th and 18th centuries.  Large quantities of fat were required by shipbuilders and leather workers at the time and whale blubber was a good source of this commodity.  Over the course of 200 years, Dutch whalers caught 40,000 whales, with the whaling industry generating significant revenues.

Models of Dutch whaling vessels, including the Willem Prins van Oranje, circa 1690 (on the right).  As depicted in the painting on the left, of whaling operations in a bay in the Arctic Ocean (c. 1700), whalers hunting in a bay would drag a dead whale onto the land to cut it up.  However, when the whales migrated to the pack ice, the hunters were forced to follow.  As it was too far to drag a whale back to land, the hunters cut it into large pieces alongside the whaling ship and hoisted the pieces up on deck to be boiled down in large copper kettles (try-works) over an onboard brick furnace.  Whaling was dangerous work, especially in the frigid north Atlantic and Arctic, where ships could be trapped in the ice for weeks.  Expanding ice could crush the hull of a whaling ship, as happened to Captain Klaas Hoekstra and his crew of the Harlingen, who were forced to spend the winter in the cold and dark polar region of Davis Strait in 1826.

A mid-18th century English lead crystal glass for formal occasions, depicting whaling and carrying a Dutch inscription that reads in English, 'To the prosperity of the noble deputies of the Greenland and Davis Strait Whale Fisheries'.  Etched in the glass is a scene showing large and small whalers, with manned whaling longboats between them.  A vessel identified as D'Johannes is shown towing the floating carcass of a whale.

A large wall map depicts the routes used by Dutch whaling ships between 1612 and 1780.  After over 150 years of whaling, the Netherlands encountered problems.  Whalers from England received money from their king, allowing them to work more cheaply than their Dutch counterparts.  While Dutch King Willem I (reigned 1815-1840) attempted to support whaling and seal hunting with funding, this came too late and the days of whaling were over, at least for the moment.

A corridor leads to displays on the 20th century Dutch whaling industry.  Into the early 20th century, a large number of products were made from whales, including whale oil for manufacturing rope, treating leather, and providing illumination.  Candles and industrial lubricants were made from spermaceti, the fine oil contained in the head of the sperm whale.  Baleen strips from the whale's mouth were used to make thin but strong bands used in umbrellas and women's corsets.

A model of the whale factory ship Willem Barendsz, 1946.  After the devastation and starvation of the Second World War, all Dutch people supported the whale hunters, since they were putting food back on the nation's tables.  Whale meat and margarine containing whale oil were consumed by a hungry Dutch populace.

Displays on various aspects of the short-lived Dutch whaling industry after the end of the Second World War, when the nation returned to commercial whaling to obtain a desperately needed source of food and fats.  Dutch newspapers were filled with stories about the heroic whalers operating in Antarctica and they were honoured with special stamps.  School children wrote whaling stories and even wrote letters to the captains of the whaling ships.

A model of the whaling vessel AM 11 Nellie Vinke, made in 1980 by JC Roda, navigating officer on the Willem Barendsz from 1946 to 1954.  Despite modern technology, whaling in the 20th century was still hard work.  The hunters sometimes worked 12-hour days without a break.  To carry out their work at the South Pole properly, the whalers needed warm clothing, which they could buy on board the large factory ship where the whales were processed.

In the 20th century, hand-held harpoons were replaced by grenades fired from harpoon cannons aboard fast, agile whaling vessels.  These enormous grenades, packing 875 grams (1.9 pounds) of gunpowder, exploded inside the whales, killing them much faster.  The floating whale carcass would then be inflated to stop it from sinking and a long stake light beacon stuck in the blubber to make the carcass easier to locate in the dark; this allowed the hunters to go off in search of more prey and come back later to cut up the carcass.  Whales thus had much less of a chance against modern whalers than they did against the harpooners of the 17th century.  After the Second World War, Dutch whalers using modern hunting technologies caught many more whales than before and whales were at risk of extinction.  International agreements restricting or outlawing whaling made the industry uneconomical for the Netherlands and the Dutch whaling ship Willem Barendsz made its last voyage in 1964.

The company flag of the Nederlandsche Maatschappij voor de Walvischvaart (Dutch Whaling Company), 1946.  Below the flag is an iron blubber hook dating from 1840.  Such hooks were used to hoist strips of blubber aboard a whaling vessel from a whale that had already been cut up into pieces in the water.

The last exhibit in the gallery addresses the threat to whales posed by plastic waste in the oceans, tourism, shipping, and underwater noise.  Whales become entangled in fishing nets intended for other species and ingest plastic waste that enters the oceans and disintegrates into tiny particles.  Whales are injured and killed through collisions with large vessels and noise emitted by ships' engines, oil & gas rigs, and naval sonar systems can damage whales' sensitive hearing.

West Wing, Second Floor

The entrance to the 'Amsterdam: Port & City' gallery, which tells the story of Amsterdam's port.

The first room of the gallery displays maritime art depicting scenes of Amsterdam's harbour over the centuries.  The city of Amsterdam made the port and the port made the city of Amsterdam; however, even though the shipyards and warehouses have largely been replaced by houses, hotels, and tourist attractions, today's Port of Amsterdam still helps drive the city's economy.  Dozens of ships from around the world still arrive each day, largely unseen, to load and unload their cargo.

Paintings depicting Amsterdam harbour between the 17th and 20th centuries.  Scenes include a view of Java Island, circa 1935; a bustling harbour on the canals, circa 1850; a view of the grain silo, circa 1930; a royal visit by King Willem II to a floating drydock, 1843; a view of Houthaven, circa 1960; Surinamekade and the warehouses of the Royal Dutch Steamship Company, 1956; and SS Kalmar in the Houthaven, 1928.

A 1930 painting by Cor van der Zwalm, entitled 'View of the IJ'.  The painting depicts the bustling maritime activity on the IJ, a body of water serving as Amsterdam's waterfront.  In the centre is the 14,053-gross tonne SS Gelria, a Glasgow-built passenger and cargo steamship operated by the Royal Holland Lloyd Line.  Other ocean steamships can be seen in the background, while many small tugboats steam around the harbour, and a floating pontoon crane loading coal can be seen to the left of Gelria.

This room of the gallery tells the story of Amsterdam's early port.  In the 16th century, the Lestage area of central Amsterdam was the location of the city's shipyards.  While the shipyards were outside the city walls to prevent the spread of fire, this also made them vulnerable if Amsterdam were attacked.  The area outside the city walls, including the shipyards, was deliberately burned by Amsterdam's burgomasters in 1508 when the city was attacked by an army from Gelderland.  The furious shipyard owners demanded that the walls be extended to encompass their yards and this was done; however, in the end, the price of the land now enclosed by the walls rose so steeply that the shipbuilders found that they could purchase far more land for the same price outside the city walls and so the yards once again moved beyond the protection of the walls.

Archaeological finds from Amsterdam's harbour.  Products arrived in the harbour from all over Europe.  Amsterdam merchants bought grain, timber, and beer in Germany and the Baltic and many products, notably textiles, were exported from the province of Holland through the port of Amsterdam.  By the late Middle Ages (1270-1500), Amsterdam had become the main port in Holland.  For shipment to Amsterdam, beer was stored in various types of container, such as the jacoba jugs, drinking vessels, red earthenware amphorae, and pitchers displayed here, dating from the period 1250-1600.  At the bottom are various spigots made in Amsterdam circa 1450-1800 and used to tap and pour imported beer.  Two lead cloth seals from circa 1600-1650 are also displayed; these seals were a hallmark for the textiles sold in Amsterdam.

A wooden model of a mud-mill dredger, made circa 1620-1750.  Such dredgers were used to dig silt out of Amsterdam's harbour as part of efforts to enable large sea-going vessels to enter the port.  Prior to this, in the 17th century, a large sandbank near Muiden prevented vessels from entering the harbour, forcing them to moor and sometimes wait weeks for the water level to rise sufficiently.  A combination of ship camels, which raised ships high enough to float over the shallows, and dredging work allowed ships to access the harbour year-round. 

A portrait of Cornelis de Graeff, 1633.  In the 17th century, Amsterdam's ships sailed across the world and the city became the commercial hub of Europe at that time.  A new elite dominated the flourishing Dutch economy, with political power accompanying success in trade.  Cornelis de Graeff (1599-1664) was a politician and merchant, serving as a director of the Dutch East India Company from 1636 to 1664.  He also served 10 terms as burgomaster (mayor) of Amsterdam.

A model of a ship on a slipway at 't Witte Kruis shipyard, made in Amsterdam circa 1842.

A sign from the 't Witte Kruis shipyard, circa 1800-1889.  The 't Witte Kruis shipyard was one of five yards run by the Meyjes family on Kleine Kattenburgerstraat in Amsterdam East in the 19th century.  The company was dissolved in 1889, marking the start of the gradual disappearance of shipbuilding in the city. 

A painting showing a view of the Dutch naval depot, by artist Abraham Storck, circa 1675.  The Dutch naval shipyard, the Admiralty, is shown in the centre of the painting, with the naval depot on the right.  On the left is a dredger extracting silt to keep the harbour open.

The gallery continues its chronological history of the port of Amsterdam into the 19th century.  In the early part of the century, following the end of the brief French occupation of the Netherlands, the city's harbour fell quiet as silt once again built up and made entering the port difficult.  With previous solutions no longer sufficient, the new Dutch king, Willem I, commissioned the construction of the North Holland Canal to the North Sea.  While this canal soon proved too small for the larger ships sailing to Amsterdam, a second canal (North Sea Canal) was completed in 1876 and proved successful as a fast and reliable connection to the city.  The North Sea Canal remains Amsterdam harbour's main lifeline to the sea.  Meanwhile, the expanding Amsterdam shipyards needed more space and found it across the IJ: in 1877, the Amsterdam Dry-Dock Company was one of the first yards to establish a presence in Amsterdam North, though it took another 40 years for the other shipyards to make the move across the river.  For 50 years, the north bank of the IJ was the flourishing centre of the city's shipbuilding industry.

A 1939 painting by Jan van der Linde depicting SS Gelria in the Juliana Dock owned by ADM (Amsterdamsche Droogdok Maatschappij / Amsterdam Drydock Company).

A model of the Wilhelmina Dock, circa 1900, with the SS Koningin Wilhelmina housed within for repair work.  The construction of a larger sea lock at IJmuiden in 1896 meant that larger ships could also reach Amsterdam.  The Amsterdam Drydock Company's new dry dock was almost twice the size of its predecessors.

A launching hammer and accompanying guillotine, circa 1920.  Made of ivory, iron, silver, and wood, this hammer and guillotine were used during the festive launch of ships built at the Nederlandsche Scheepsbouw Maatschappij (NSM) and Nederlandsche Dok en Scheepsbouw Maatschappij (NDSM) shipyards in Amsterdam.  Henk Klopper, a former master of ceremonies, organised many of these launches and donated these items to the National Maritime Museum in 1992.

A detailed cutaway model of the stern of a Shell oil tanker, circa 1975.  This class of tanker was approximately 240 metres (787 feet) in length and was built at the NDSM shipyard.

1:100 model of the former SMN (Stoomvaart Maatschappij Nederland / Netherlands Steamship Company) seaport in Amsterdam, 1955.  For most types of cargo, Amsterdam was merely a transshipment point, pumping out goods across the European continent.  Amsterdam's port was therefore more than just docks and required suitable roads, canals, pipelines, and rail connections to move goods outward to their destinations.  Thanks to Amsterdam's excellent geographic location and versatility, goods arriving in the port can still easily move onward by truck, train, airplane, or barge.

A poster entitled, 'Voyage on the Amsterdam-Rhine Canal, 1952' by Eppo Doeve.  The Dutch text at the bottom of the poster reads, 'Amsterdam-Rhine Canal, Europe's Way to the Sea'.

This exhibit in the gallery displays a wide variety of hand tools used by shipyard workers and tells the story of Amsterdam harbour's role as one of the city's largest employers.  The harbour required porters, pilots, welders, and mechanics; many businesses relied on the harbour, such as offices and shops; and sailors from ships docking in the port of Amsterdam spent their money in the city's bars, restaurants, and hotels.  In the Middle Ages, anyone wishing to work in the harbour had to be a member of one of the powerful guilds which supervised the quality of work and ensured that new members were properly trained.  While the guild system gave the city more control over the economy, the guilds also put pressure on the city's burgomasters.  The guild system was abolished in the Netherlands in 1808.  In 1787, Kattenburg shipbuilders, who fervently supported Willem V, revolted after the king was deposed; after the workers seized weapons and occupied the island of Kattenburg, the Dutch army was called in to suppress the rebellion; nevertheless, Willem V was reinstalled later that year.  After the Second World War, the Dutch economy began to recover and Amsterdam's port needed more workers.  As the jobs were often poorly paid, the shipyards began recruiting foreign 'guest workers', such as Italians and, later, Turks and Yugoslavians.  As the size of post-war ships grew ever bigger, Amsterdam's shipyards, with their small slipways, could not compete.  Although the yards tried constructing large tankers in sections and assembling them on the water, this proved too expensive and orders dried up.  The Amsterdam shipbuilding industry declined in the 1970s, with thousands losing their job and many of the foreign guest workers seeking new jobs elsewhere in the Netherlands.  Today, work in Amsterdam harbour is less demanding thanks to the introduction of machinery, with cranes lifting containers off ships automatically.

A model of the pontoon crane Havik, made by Ganz Danubius in Hungary, circa 1985.  Amsterdam's port was an important transshipment point for coal and this model recalls those days.  The floating pontoon crane Havik was used for coal transshipment in the 1980s in the Eastern Port Area by the company Rietlanden.  While little coal was used in Amsterdam itself, large quantities were exported to Germany and other places.  More recently, Amsterdam has embarked on an energy transition, moving away from fossil fuels and toward renewable energy sources.  As coal does not fit the city's ambitions for a more sustainable future, the Port of Amsterdam is changing, with huge mountains of coal being replaced with other cargo, such as soil and gravel.

An audio-visual display discusses the opportunities and challenges offered by Amsterdam harbour today and the differing views of city residents on the future of the port lands.  The decline of industry, growing demand for housing, and high rents and home prices are prompting redevelopment of many sections of the old port lands in 21st century Amsterdam.

A final look at the National Maritime Museum and the replica East Indiaman Amsterdam in the city's Kattenburg district.