Mariniersmuseum Rotterdam

Mariniersmuseum Rotterdam is a popular tourist attraction in Rotterdam. It helps you relive the life of a Marine Corps in the 17th century using exciting interactive exhibitions. The first attempt to make a collection of the historic Mariners was in 1939 at the barracks. Sadly, the collection nearly got destroyed during the Luftwaffe bombing raid. In 1980 the initiative to collect the artifacts was relaunched and completed in 1995. The artifacts help narrate a story of three generations- kids aged 4 and 12, their guardians and grandparents and the effects of marine life on modern day life. 

The museum

Today, the museum showcases up to 850,000 objects from 6 centuries of maritime. This small four-story building has arranged in the artifacts on three floors to accommodate all of them. The ground floor features a ticket office; the first floor has a mini-jungle where kids can play in a marine-oriented field while the second floor showcases the most recent roles of the 20th-century marine corps. The third floor mainly narrates the rich history of the Mariners. If you are looking for an affordable place to stay after a touring the museum, Amsterdam Hostel Sarphati is just a few miles away. Here’s a detailed overview of what you will find on the third and second floors during a tour to the Mariniersmuseum Rotterdam

Third Floor 

It’s the best place to start the tour. You will find a short film that narrates the marine history and their role in modern life. There is also a chronological display of wars that the Marines participated in. It starts with the Gibraltar war of 1704 by British Royal Marines. Half a century later, the Marines are deployed to the Caribbean then to Sumatra in 1823 and then to Java in 1825. They are also commissioned to Japan in 1864 then again to Sumatra during the Aceh war from 1873 to 1904. 

Second Floor 

Here, you will find an area that shows the Marine’s deployment in Afghanistan and Iraq as part of the international coalition. It allows tourists to experiment what it was like during that time using overhead audio reflectors that have the voices of Dutch marines talking. You will also find a display of the Mariners links with Rotterdam and how they defended it in 1940.