Amsterdam daytrips

A DAY TRIP FROM AMSTERDAM: THE KRÖLLER-MÜLLER MUSEUM

The Kröller-Müller Museum houses a world famous collection of fine art, mainly from the 19th and 20th centuries. The focal points of the museum are the extensive range of works by Vincent van Gogh and the sculpture garden.
Amidst unspoilt natural surroundings, the Kröller-Müller Museum’s collection centres on the extensive collection of works by Vincent van Gogh, which constitutes one of the most impressive collections of this artist’s works. Georges Seurat, Pablo Picasso, Fernand Léger, Piet Mondriaan and many other great artists are also represented in the museum’s collection with significant works.

The Kröller-Müller Museum owes its existence to Helene Kröller-Müller (1869-1939), the daughter of a German industrialist. In 1888 she married the Dutchman, Anton Kröller, who succeeded her father as the manager of his business. With her husband's support, Helene Kröller-Müller built up a large collection of fine art. By 1935, her collection had grown large enough in its own right to fill a gallery. She decided to transfer ownership to the Netherlands State, who had a museum constructed for the collection in the Hoge Veluwe National Park. This museum, designed by Henry van de Velde, was opened in 1938. In 1961 the museum was enhanced by a sculpture garden, followed in 1977 by a new wing designed by Wim Quist.

Sculpture from the late 19th and 20th century occupies an important place in the Kröller-Müller Museum.
One of the largest in Europe, the sculpture garden covers 21 hectares and accommodates a unique collection of sculptures. In the setting of an variegated landscape, a fascinating profile of sculptural art from the end of the 19th century up to the present day is displayed. Amongst others represented, there are exceptional pieces by Auguste Rodin, Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth, Richard Serra, Mario Merz, Jean Dubuffet and Claes Oldenburg.
As well as temporary exhibitions held in the spacious rooms of the new wing, there are regular displays of the museum's own collection of sculptures, including works by Donald Judd, Alberto Giacometti, Sol LeWitt and Bruce Nauman.
With its programme of exhibitions, the Kröller-Müller Museum highlights different aspects of 20th century and contemporary art. Special exhibitions are also regularly organized by the museum, dedicated to influential artists from its own collection.
The Kröller-Müller Museum and the Hoge Veluwe National Park, the legacy of Mr and Mrs Kröller-Müller, form a monumental ensemble of art, architecture and nature. For more than seventy years this unique combination has attracted vast numbers of art and nature lovers from all over the world to the Veluwe.

How to get there
By car: from the A 1, A 50, and A 12 motorways follow the signs for Park Hoge Veluwe.
Public transport: there are direct bus services from Apeldoorn and Ede/Wageningen stations every day throughout the year. Bus stops immediately adjoining the centre and the museum. Public transport travel information: 0900 9292 ( € 0,35 p.m.)

Address: Kröller-Müller Museum Houtkampweg 6 P.O. Box 1 6730 AA Otterlo Netherlands
Phone: +31 (0) 318 59 12 41
Fax: +31 (0) 318 59 15 15
Email: information@kmm.nl

You can buy a combined ticket for the Park and the Kröller-Müller Museum at the Park ticket office.

Opening times
Tuesday to Sunday and Bank Holidays 10am to 5pm Closed Mondays and 1st January

A DAY TRIP FROM AMSTERDAM: HET LOO PALACE

An hour east of Amsterdam, at Apeldoorn, is Het Loo Palace, in a beautiful woodland setting.
Built for William of Orange and his wife Mary, it became the favourite summer residence of the Stadtholders and the Royal Family of the Netherlands from 1686 to 1975.
Since 1984, the palace has been a museum, after a brilliant restoration of the buildings and the gardens in the 1980s, returning them to their original 17th century state. It is the existent archetypal 17th-century Dutch garden.

The palace, with its interiors dating from the Stadtholder-King William III and Queen Mary II up to the reign of Queen Wilhelmina, reflects the lifestyles of the members of the family of the Dutch House of Orange-Nassau over three centuries.
The wings, with their permanent and visiting exhibitions of historical objects, documents, paintings, china, silver, royal garments and court costumes, present a picture of the historical ties of the House of Orange-Nassau with the Netherlands. One of the biggest collections of national and international orders and decorations in the world is housed in the department Museum of the Chancery of the Netherlands Orders of Knighthood.

The layout is formal and Baroque, rhythmic and controlled as a Bach concerto, ornamented by water features and swirling parterres.
The spring and summer planting of the Baroque garden parterres with pergolas, statues and vases, in exactly the same Dutch fashion as in the seventeenth century, is unique in Europe. The fountains and cascades are playing now exactly like in the 17th century.
The Stables house royal carriages, hunting carriages, sledges and vintage court cars, including the famous 'wagon' in which Queen Wilhelmina went out on painting excursions and her white state-funeral coach.
The entire complex is surrounded by extensive woodland dotted with romantic lakes, and is entirely open to the public.

HET LOO PALACE NATIONAL MUSEUM
Opening times: Tuesday to Sunday from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Closed on Mondays, unless a Dutch public holiday, and on New Year’s Day.
Parking € 3.00 per car.
Bus 102 and 104 from bus station near railway station.

Tel: 0031-(0)55-5772448/459 (during office hours)
Fax: 0031-(0)55-5219983
E-mail: info@paleishetloo.nl

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