Joods Historisch Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands

The Joods Historisch Museum (Jewish Historical Museum) is dedicated to Jewish history, culture and religion, in the Netherlands and worldwide. The Joods Historisch Museum opened its doors in 1932 and was inititally housed at the Waag (Weighing House) on Nieuwmarkt square. Following the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands in World War II, the museum was forced to close and much of the collection was lost. The museum reopened its doors in 1955. In 1987, it moved to a new location, occupying four former synagogues on Jonas Daniël Meijerplein square, across the road from the Snoge or Portuguese Synagogue.

The museum's collection includes some 11,000 art objects, ceremonial objects and historical objects, only some five percent of which is on display at any one time. It has two permanent exhibitions as well as regularly changing temporary exhibitions. The exhibition on the ground floor focuses on Jewish traditions and customs. The presentation is inspired by the former interior of the synagogue. Ceremonial objects from the museum collection are shown in locations where they used to be placed in the synagogue. This gives visitors a sense of the surroundings in which they find themselves and enables them to taste the original synagogue atmosphere.

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Museums in Netherlands

User Reviews

Lloyd Wasser (2 years ago)
Great museum inside an Ashkenazi synagogue. Awesome exhibits and really well presented.

MusicMan Reviewer (2 years ago)
This was very worth the money to visit this beautiful old temple. We also enjoyed learning all about Jewish life in Amsterdam.

Song (2 years ago)
The temporary exhibit on the autobiographical writings of Dutch Jews bespeaking their negotiation with the Jewish identity is truly fascinating. The ticket is valid for a month. I also got two past exhibit catalogues that are beautiful and otherwise difficult to access. The staff is very friendly. Well worth a visit.

Christopher Yandell (2 years ago)
A lot of information on Jewish history from before and after the holocaust. I would recommend visiting the synagogue across the streets. It is very historic and has some treasures inside.

Pranav Rathi (2 years ago)
This is dutch-jewish history-culture museum. It is a beautiful place with lot of exhibits so that is why the audio tour is must. The Portuguese synagogue is right across the road from here. Same ticket will work at both the place and it is free with museum kaart, morning time is the best.

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