Veenkoloniaal Museum (; English: "Peat-Colonial Museum") is a regional museum in the village of Veendam in the Netherlands. The museum shows not only the history of the peat district in Groningen. Situated in a monumental building dating from 1911 the Veenkoloniaal Museum exhibits the development of the Groninger Peat district but also the history of hundreds of inland barges and a similar number of skippers families. For the Groningen peatdistrict the 19th century is a golden age. Agriculture, shipping and potato starch and strawboard industries flourish. Hundreds of captains sail from Veendam, Wildervank, Oude Pekela, Nieuwe Pekela to Portugal, Great Britain and the Baltic Sea. Strawboard is exported to England, which explains the name Albion of one of the factories. Amazing when you consider that these enterprising villages are situated more than forty kilometres from the coast. In 2008–2019, the museum had between 20,000 and 29,000 visitors annually.
Location The Veenkoloniaal Museum is located at the Museumplein 5 in the village of Veendam in the province of Groningen in the northeast of the Netherlands.
History The museum was founded on 15 December 1939.
Since 1989, the museum is housed in a former school building in the center of Veendam.Herma Hekkema, "Veenkoloniaal Museum verrassend verbouwd" (in Dutch), Nieuwsblad van het Noorden, 1990. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
Administration Year Visitors Year Visitors 2003 17,500Intermuseaal Extra Februari 2008 (in Dutch), Museumhuis Groningen, 2008. Retrieved 28 December 2016. 2010 27,003 2004 20,885 2011 22,567Bezoekcijfers erfgoedinstellingen Groningen (in Dutch), Stichting Erfgoedpartners, 2016. Retrieved 27 December 2016. 2005 19,069 2012 23,771 2006 18,271Bezoekcijfers leden Federatie van musea in de province Groningen (in Dutch), Museumhuis Groningen. Retrieved 27 December 2016. 2013 20,676 2007 21,618 2014 20,543 2008 28,558 2015 23,581 2009 27,321 2016 25,000 (est.)"Veenkoloniaal Museum in Veendam wil af van gratis toegang" (in Dutch), RTV Noord, 2016. Retrieved 27 December 2016. 2017 24,674
Hendrik Andries Hachmer is director of the museum.
In the years 2003 to 2019, the museum had between 17,500 and 28,600 visitors per year, with more than 25,000 visitors in 2016.
The museum is a member of the regional Museumhuis Groningen (Groningen Museum House)Leden Museumhuis (in Dutch), Museumhuis Groningen. Retrieved 28 December 2016. and the national Museumvereniging (Museum Association).Veenkoloniaal Museum (in Dutch), Museumvereniging. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
References
External links
Veenkoloniaal Museum, official website