Gemeentemuseum Purmerend

Purmerend is a town in the Waterland region of North Holland, north of Amsterdam, and its municipal museum is the place to learn how a polder town came into being. The town takes its name from the Purmer, a large lake that was drained in the early seventeenth century, and the landscape around it is one of the best examples of the Dutch skill in land reclamation. Purmerend stands at the junction of several old waterways and grew as a market town for the farmland that was won from the water, and the museum tells that story with documents, photographs and objects from daily life.

The local background is rich. In the 1600s, Dutch engineers drained a series of lakes in North Holland using windmills, and the most famous of them, Jan Adriaenszoon Leeghwater, worked on the Beemster, which is now a UNESCO World Heritage site a short distance away, and on the Purmer, drained in 1622. The newly won land was divided into regular rectangular plots with straight roads and ditches, and farms and villages were built along them. Purmerend served as the commercial centre for this area, with a cattle and cheese market that was among the best known in the region. These changes are the backbone of the museum's story.

The displays are arranged to guide visitors through the main periods of the town's past. Historical documents, maps and photographs show how the town developed, everyday objects illustrate how people lived and worked, and the social, economic and cultural changes of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries are covered, including the growth of Purmerend as a commuter town for Amsterdam after the Second World War. Temporary exhibitions deal with specific themes and keep the programme fresh, so there is a reason to return.

The museum also has a practical role for visitors. It shares a location with the tourist information office, and the shop sells local products, books and small gifts, while the staff can give advice about cycling and walking routes in the area. Opening hours and admission change, so they should be checked before you go. The centre of Purmerend, with its market square and canals, is within walking distance, and the polder countryside around, with its windmills, ditches and pastures, is excellent for cycling.

The museum suits visitors interested in local history and Dutch water management, and it makes a sensible first stop on a day exploring Waterland. Allow an hour, and consider combining it with a bike ride through the Purmer and Beemster polders.