Museum Speelklok

Museum Speelklok is a museum of mechanical music in Utrecht, housed in the Buurkerk, a medieval church that stands in the middle of the old centre, beside the lanes that lead to the Dom. The church dates from the Middle Ages and was a parish church for centuries, and when it was no longer needed for services, it was restored and given a new life as a home for a very unusual collection. The setting is part of the charm. Visitors walk beneath Gothic vaults while around them clocks chime, organs play and tiny figures dance.

The museum was earlier known by the longer name of the National Museum from Musical Clock to Street Organ, which is a fair summary of its range. The collection covers nearly five centuries of mechanical musical instruments, from the early days of clockwork to the street organs that still turn up on Dutch city streets. Many of the objects were made with extraordinary craftsmanship and luxury, as musical clocks were prestigious possessions for wealthy households and royal courts, and some were designed to show off the skill of their makers as much as to play tunes.

The variety is striking. Among the exhibits are monumental carillons, with their rows of bells and the drums that trigger them, clocks with built-in organs that play at the hour, tiny serinettes used to teach songbirds to sing, and pianolas that play from paper rolls. There are mechanical orchestras, automata with moving figures, music boxes of every size and the great fairground and street organs known as pierementen, whose pipes, drums and brightly painted fronts are a familiar sight at Dutch festivals. Each type tells a part of the story of how people tried to capture music in machines before records and radio.

The visit is guided, which is one of the special features. Instead of looking at silent objects behind glass, visitors join a tour in which guides play the instruments and explain how they work, and then are free to explore the rest of the collection on their own. Hearing the machines in action is the real point, as the sound of a large organ or a delicate music box brings the objects to life. Children enjoy it, and there are activities for families.

The museum suits families, music lovers and anyone interested in mechanics. A visit takes about an hour and a half. Check the opening times and tour schedule, since guided tours run at set hours. The Dom Tower, the canals and the Cathedral Square are all a short walk away.