Rijksmuseum

The Rijksmuseum is the national museum of the Netherlands for Dutch art and history. It stands on Museum Square in Amsterdam South near the Van Gogh Museum, Stedelijk Museum, and Royal Concertgebouw. The collection covers the years 1200 to 2000 and contains about one million objects, with around 8,000 displayed. Its Dutch Golden Age galleries include more than 2,000 paintings by artists such as Rembrandt, Johannes Vermeer, Frans Hals, Jan Steen, Jacob van Ruisdael, and Rembrandt's pupils. The Night Watch is displayed in the Night Watch Room at the end of the Gallery of Honour. The collection spans art, crafts, and history and includes paintings, historical objects, photography, an aircraft, and a small Asian collection shown in a separate pavilion. Unusual objects include the royal crest from HMS Royal Charles, captured during the Raid on the Medway, the Hartog plate, and an FK35 Bantam biplane. The main building, designed by Pierre Cuypers and opened in 1885, combines Gothic and Renaissance elements with decoration referring to Dutch art history. Two square blocks surround courtyards, while a tunnel runs through the central axis, with entrances at ground level and the Gallery of Honour above. A major ten-year renovation removed later floors from the courtyards and restored much of Cuypers's colored interior decoration. The renewed main building and the new Asian pavilion opened in 2013, and the museum's main works were moved back from the Philips Wing to the main building.

Don't miss

• Rembrandt's The Night Watch at the end of the Gallery of Honour
• Dutch Golden Age paintings by Vermeer, Frans Hals, Jan Steen, and Jacob van Ruisdael
• Cuypers's decorated 1885 building, restored during the ten-year renovation
• The Asian collection in a pavilion designed by Cruz y Ortiz
• Historical objects including the HMS Royal Charles stern crest and the Hartog plate
• The Philips Wing, assembled partly from fragments of demolished Dutch buildings

Tickets & tours

Ways to visit Rijksmuseum

Cheapest way inAmsterdam Classic Saloon Boat Cruise with Drinks and Cheese4.8★ · 33,201 travelers~1 hourFree cancellationFrom$19 per personSee dates →Most bookedAnne Frank's Story - Guided Walking Tour through Amsterdam4.8★ · 12,931 travelers~2 hoursFree cancellationFrom$38 per personSee dates →Private & flexibleRijksmuseum Amsterdam Private Guided Tour5★ · 104 travelers~2 hoursFrom$201 per personSee dates →

Getting there

Know before you go

• Around 8,000 objects are displayed from a collection of about one million, covering Dutch art, craft, and history from 1200 to 2000.
• The Gallery of Honour is on the first floor above the central ground-level passage through the building.
• The small Asian collection is shown separately in the Asian pavilion opened in 2013.
• As of January 2021, Rijksstudio hosted 700,000 works under a Creative Commons 1.0 Universal license.

A bit of history

The museum began in the Batavian Republic, when finance minister Isaac Gogel argued that a national collection modeled on the Louvre would serve the public interest. The government founded it in 1798, and the National Art Gallery opened in 1800 in five rooms at Huis ten Bosch in The Hague with around 200 paintings and historical objects. Louis Bonaparte ordered its move to Amsterdam in 1808, where city-owned works such as Rembrandt's Night Watch joined the collection. It first occupied the Royal Palace, then moved to the Trippenhuis in 1817. Unlike several European national museums, the Rijksmuseum did not simply inherit a royal collection. Purchases, donations, and the consolidation of holdings from other institutions built it over two centuries. A competition for a permanent museum eventually selected Pierre Cuypers. Construction began in 1876, and the decorated building opened on 13 July 1885. Its interiors were repeatedly altered: colored walls were painted over, and exhibition rooms and several floors were built into the two courtyards. The main building closed in 2003 for a comprehensive renovation by Cruz y Ortiz. Delays extended the project to nearly ten years, but it restored original decoration, reopened the courtyards, and reorganized the collection. Queen Beatrix reopened the museum on 13 April 2013, with The Night Watch returned to its dedicated room.