The National Maritime Museum presents two Blockbuster exhibits, Republic at Sea and Maps & Marvels.
The museum houses one of the world’s most impressive maritime collections and Republic at Sea comprises of 50 masterpieces selected to tell the story of the growth, prosperity, and decline of the Netherlands as a maritime nation during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Paintings, model ships, globes, silver, glass, porcelain, and weapons show how strongly the maritime world and Dutch society have been connected over the centuries. Water has shaped the history of the Netherlands and has determined its role and status in the world. Visitors will experience how naval battles, trading companies, and art in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries are strongly related to the close relationship between the Netherlands and water.
Maps & Marvels shows how the world was discovered from Amsterdam, as well as how the world came to Amsterdam during the Golden Age. Using the centuries-old maps, visitors travel to the locations that shaped Dutch history: South Africa, Indonesia, Japan, Australia, and Brazil. The spectacular wall map of Amsterdam by Pieter Bast dating from 1597 forms the starting point.
Come and marvel how maritime heritage started here!