Welcome at Museum Willem van Haren
Museum Willem van Haren tells the story of Heerenveen and its surroundings. It is a narrative of wealthy gentlemen and poverty-stricken peat cutters, of the regal allure of Oranjewoud with the summer residence of the royal family in the eighteenth century, of sporting heroes such as Abe Lenstra, and of Heerenveen companies such as Batavus and Koninklijke Smilde.

Museum Willem van Haren is surprisingly versatile: a fascinating presentation of the largest city scale-model – Heerenveen in 1830 – in the Netherlands, regularly changing exhibitions and other public activities, modern art in the art section, a sculpture garden, and a museum shop with a layout of a 19th-century pharmacy from Heerenveen.

The Ferdinand Domela Nieuwenhuis Museum is a part of Museum Willem van Haren. This museum furnishes a picture of the life and work of Ferdinand Domela Nieuwenhuis (1846-1919), the father of Dutch socialism and the most loved and hated person of his era. In his struggle for social justice, Domela was closely linked to south-east Friesland, the district that elected him as the first socialist in the Dutch Parliament and where the peat workers honoured him with the title ‘ús Ferlosser’ (Frisian for ‘our saviour’).

Both museums are housed in the Heerenveense School, the centre for art and culture in Heerenveen, where a centre for art education and the VVV / ANWB (Tourist Information Centre and Automobile Association) are also accommodated.

Museum Willem van Haren / Ferdinand Domela Nieuwenhuis Museum, Telephone +31 (0)513 62 34 08