Museum Rotterdam ‘40 – ‘45 NOW
At our Coolhaven location, you’ll experience what it means when your city is bombed. What does life look like when you’re persecuted and oppressed afterwards?
Experience
An important part of the visit is the powerful Experience. You take a seat at an eight-metre-long touchscreen table. Before you know it, it’s 14 May 1940. Bombs are falling, the city is burning, people are screaming, buildings are collapsing, and homes are destroyed. And then, suddenly, there is nothing left — just a desolate, barren plain. Yet this is not the end of the city. The people of Rotterdam come together, pick up the pieces, and the reconstruction begins. In this short film, you experience the war up close and see what has made the city of Rotterdam so different from most other cities in the Netherlands.
Collection
In a 28-metre-long display gallery, almost all the objects from our collection are exhibited. You’ll see weapons and uniforms, but also everyday items that might not immediately make sense. Behind these seemingly ordinary things lie extraordinary stories. Like Mrs Smit’s porcelain clogs, given to her at the fair by her first boyfriend. Or the tin and wooden train for Gerhard, made by his father while they were in hiding. Objects and stories — together, they form part of our history. A history that will only be preserved if we keep telling the stories.
The Construction Site
The Construction Site is an interactive exhibition for children aged 8 and up. At The Construction Site, you learn how to contribute to creating a pleasant city. You don’t build with bricks and cement, but with each other. To do this, you use machines like power sorters, tolerance meters, regret tubes, and respect rollers. Through play, you solve conflicts, explore the limits of freedom, and discover the difference between a democracy and a dictatorship.
With an iPad, you enter The Construction Site. Here, you make your choices on various topics. At the end, you receive a certificate showing your decisions and their possible consequences.
The activities of Museum Rotterdam ’40-’45 NOW are made possible in part by the vfonds with funds from the National Postcode Lottery and the BankGiro Lottery. Your participation in these lotteries is therefore warmly encouraged.
Step into the history of Rotterdam!
Rotterdam is alive, and you are part of its story! Discover how the city and its people have been shaped over time — from reconstruction to a global metropolis. Museum Rotterdam brings the city’s stories to life.
