Museum de Lakenhal

Art & history in Museum de Lakenhal

Museum De Lakenhal is the museum for art, craft and history in the city of Leiden. The collection highlights include works by old masters like Lucas van Leyden, Rembrandt van Rijn, and Jan Steen, as well as modern artists like Theo van Doesburg, Jan Wolkers, and Erwin Olaf. Museum De Lakenhal creates high end exhibitions of (inter)national interest using sources from Leiden. The museum presents itself as an innovative networking museum that connects past and present by inspiring visitors with old and new perspectives.

An iconic Leiden building

Before stepping through its entrance, pause for breath outside Museum de Lakenhal and take in the exquisite details of this historic Leiden monument. The building dates from 1640, after Leiden’s city council had commissioned city architect Arent van ‘s-Gravesande to build an inspection hall for woollen cloth. During the Dutch Golden Age, Leiden was internationally renowned for the quality of cloth produced there, and the same high standards were expected of the new hall. The architect’s resulting Classicist design took the name the Laecken-Halle, or simply Cloth Hall in English.

The building held onto its function as an inspection hall until 1820 before briefly being utilised as a cholera hospital. Throughout the following 50 years it hosted exhibitions and became a repository for important archaeological and artistic treasures, before finally being transformed into Leiden’s official municipal museum in 1872 – taking the name Museum de Lakenhal. While the exterior of the building remains impressively true to its Golden Age Classicist design, subsequent redevelopments and expansions have had a major impact upon its interiors over the centuries. 

The museum reopened its doors to the public in June 2019 after years of renovation work. With the impressive brick patterns in its facade, the new structure at the back is a real eye-catcher. The front entrance leads to the central courtyard, the glass-covered Achterhal. Here, the museum shop sells artisanal Nieuw Leids Laken (New Leiden Cloth). With the renovation and extension of the museum, De Lakenhal has definitely become one of the city’s gems.

Museum de Lakenhal’s collection

As municipal museum for the city of Leiden, Museum de Lakenhal’s collection totals around 23,000 objects, including paintings, silver, glass, furniture, photographs, sculptures, pewter and ceramics. Major artists represented within the collection include Rembrandt, Lucas van Leyden, Jan Wolkers, Jan Steen, Theo van Doesburg and Erwin Olaf. The museum also frequently hosts temporary exhibitions on varying themes.

Explore the region

Leiden is a beautiful old city that’s home to a young and vibrant population of students. Discover the secrets of Leiden that should be a must-see during your visit. Less than 30 minutes away by train or car, The Hague has lots to offer, from monuments and museums to seaside resorts. Don’t miss the Kunstmuseum Den Haag, which is the international home of the De Stijl art movement, showcasing some 300 works by Piet Mondrian.