Museum Rotterdam, Rotterdam

Museum Rotterdam was founded in 1905 as Museum of Antiquities, by a bourgeois elite that wanted to educate Rotterdam's growing working class population, attracted by the development of the transit port. It later became the Historical Museum of Rotterdam that glorified Rotterdam's Golden Age in a time that the modern city centre lacked its previous historical references due to its destruction in the bombardment of 1940.

In recent years the museum has changed its aims and ambitions again. The contemporary transnational city, and not the past city, has become central to its museum policies. In 2010 it dropped the 'Historical' in its name to continue as Museum Rotterdam.

Since 2016, the museum opened a new main location in the historical heart of Rotterdam, adjacent to the City Hall. Here the story of Rotterdam, the city with a young heart and an old soul, is told in new ways.

Why You Should Visit:
Gives a pretty good overview of how the city developed through a time-lapse map, a few built models, and a variety of unearthed archaeological finds.
A special theme is the oil industry, given that oil & gas transport, storage and refinery made Rotterdam the commercial power it is today.
You can also see authentic footage on the post-WWII reconstruction, where devastating bombing destroyed the complete historical center.
There is even a special exhibition about people emigrating to the United States from the Hotel New York in Rotterdam.