Bijbels Museum

The Bijbels Museum started in the 19th century with the collection of the Protestant minister Leendert Schouten. As a theology student in Utrecht, Schouten painstakingly created a rather impressively detailed model of the biblical Tabernacle that he would continue to work on and improve during his lifetime.  Later, Schouten acquired a model of the Temple Mount that joined the Tabernacle. Over time, this collection would be supplemented by various antique bibles and other artifacts as well.

The collection was located in many different locations over the course of its existence. Most notably, in 1975, it moved into the Cromhouthuis near the center of Amsterdam, which itself was a quite architecturally notable canal house dating back to the 17th century. In this location, the museum would continue to grow and would attract many visitors.

In 2020, however, the museum relinquished its collection, with many items being given to other museums within the Netherlands. The museum now considers itself “nomadic”.  It now created travelling art exhibitions with themes related to religion and faith that tour the Netherlands.