Museum Bronbeek
Museum Bronbeek was founded in 1863 as part of the Colonial Military Home for Disabled. It is situated close to the city of Arnhem and contains a large collection of militaria, as well as ethnographic and other types of objects.
Description
After King William III ceded the Bronbeek estate in Arnhem to the Dutch state in 1862, a home was established there in 1863 for disabled colonial soldiers who had served in the Royal Dutch East Indies Army (KNIL). Many of these former soldiers owned items that had been taken as booty from the battlefield or that they had brought back as souvenirs after their time in Indonesia. In addition, the Ministry of Colonies, members of the royal family and private individuals also donated various militaria such as weapons, banners, medals and portraits. This gave the home a museum function as well.
Until 1959, the home and its museum belonged to the Ministry of Colonies, after which it fell under the then new Ministry of Defence, of which it is still part today. In the 1950s, the objects in the museum were still displayed in the typical nineteenth-century manner: the walls were full of paintings and on either side of a narrow path a large number of objects were displayed. All this changed with a major renovation in 1963, prompted partly by the changing social view of the Dutch colonial past. In the remainder of the twentieth century, too, the museum's layout would change considerably several more times. From 1970, Bronbeek was opened to all former professional soldiers, not just from the KNIL.
In 2024, Museum Bronbeek opened a new permanent display of the collection.
Provenance research
Museum Bronbeek's collection is searchable on the museum's collection website. The library with more than 15,000 books is available through Worldcat. Archives related to Bronbeek can be found at the museum itself, at the Nationaal Archief in The Hague and at the Netherlands Institute for Military History (NIMH).
In 2024, Museum Bronbeek launched a website with 6,000 biographies of Knights in the Military Order of William. In it, various publications on the Military William Order have been collected, supplemented and made available online. It is possible to search by name, year, rank or army unit. Individual pages contain personal information, information on posting and archival references.
Resources
- Smits, J. C. J. Gedenkboek van Het Koloniall-Militair Invalidenhuis Bronbeek. Arhnhem: P. Gouda Quint, 1881.Book from 1881 written by the first commander of the home. It gives a history of the early period and a detailed description of the interior of the house at that time. The book contains many illustrations clearly showing various objects. — https://www.google.nl/books/edition/_/xhlCAQAAMAAJ?hl=nl&gbpv=1
- Bevaart, Willem. Bronbeek. Tempo doeloe der liefdadigheid. Utrecht: Matrijs, 2009.1998 book on the history of Bronbeek with a brief attention for the museum's collection on pages 76-81. — https://search.worldcat.org/title/71717276?oclcNum=71717276
- Geerts, G.A. Gids voor het Museum van het Koninklijk Tehuis voor Oud-Miliairen Bronbeek te Arnhem. Arnhem, 1991.1991 museum guide for visiting Museum Bronbeek, written by the commander of the home at that time. — https://search.worldcat.org/title/66285117?oclcNum=66285117
- Drossaard, Willem. Bronbeek een levend verleden. Franeker: Wever, 1984.1984 booklet published by the Vrienden van Bronbeek foundation. It describes the history of the home and provides a comprehensive guide to the museum, supplemented by historical overviews of KNIL actions and biographies of residents. — https://search.worldcat.org/title/33354863?oclcNum=33354863
- Ridders Militaire Willems-OrdeWebsite (in Dutch) with 6,000 biographies of Knights in the Military Order of William. Pages contain a lot of information about individual soldiers (rank, posting, etc.). — https://www.rmwo.nl/
- Webiste Collection of Museum BronbeekCollection website of Museum Bronbeek, through which the whole collection can be explored. — http://museumbronbeek.nl/