Zuiderzee Museum

The Zuiderzee Museum in Enkhuizen is the main museum devoted to life on the former Zuiderzee, the sea inlet that was closed off from the North Sea in 1932 by the Afsluitdijk and turned into the freshwater IJsselmeer. The museum has two parts: an open-air section, or Buitenmuseum, and an indoor section, the Binnenmuseum, and together they tell the story of the fishing towns and villages of the region and the changes that followed the closing of the sea.

The open-air museum is the more unusual of the two. It is a recreated village of more than a hundred and forty historic buildings, most of which were taken from towns and villages around the Zuiderzee, such as Marken, Volendam, Urk and Hindeloopen, and rebuilt here, stone by stone or beam by beam. The houses, shops, workshops and public buildings are arranged along lanes and canals, and they have been furnished as they were in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. A walk through the lanes gives the impression of a fishing community that has been preserved in time.

Some of the buildings can be entered, and they tell vivid stories. Visitors can look into a steam laundry, a pharmacy, a grocer's shop selling colonial goods such as coffee, tea and spices, a school and a number of houses with period interiors. Staff in costume demonstrate traditional crafts, including barrel-making, sail-making and smoking fish, and they are happy to explain the techniques. Children enjoy the playgrounds, the old-fashioned games and the boats.

The indoor museum houses the maritime collection. It shows the ships that sailed the Zuiderzee, the tools of fishing and the objects of daily life, and it explains the impact of the closing dike. For fishermen, the transformation of the sea into a lake ended a way of life, and many had to find new work. The story covers the draining of the polders and the creation of new land, and it is told through photographs, models and film.

Enkhuizen is a pleasant town with a harbour, historic buildings and a ferry to Stavoren and boat trips to Marken. The museum suits families, history lovers and photographers, and it fills most of a day. Check opening dates, which vary by season, and consider coming early. Parts are outdoors, so dress for the weather.