Amsterdam: Museum Vrolik

maaikeout
Aug 8, 2015
2 min read

Looking for a strange and uncomfortable museum? May I suggest Museum Vrolik? First of all, it's situated in the AMC hospital. And it's subject is connected: corpses, embryo's, organs, those kinds of things.

In Museum Vrolik – a collection that was amassed in the 19th century and the first quarter of the 20th century – the human body is the central focus. What do we look like on the inside? How are our organs and body parts structured and where exactly are they located? How are the muscles and blood vessels in your forearm arranged? Just how big are your auditory ossicles, the smallest bones in your body? And how is your neck bone connected to your head bone?

Even the name is a bit weird. Although named after two professors of anatomy, Gerard Vrolik (1775-1859) and his son Willem (1801-1863), the name sounds like the Dutch word for happy. And that's not really the first thing that comes to mind seeing the museum. Fascination yes, wonder, interest, curriosity and maybee even disgust at some point.

Way back, the professors' Museum Vrolikianum was a private collection that could be viewed at their home. The collection included normal anatomy of humans and animals, but also pathological anatomy and congenital malformations. Imagine living between all those dead things... After the passing of Willem Vrolik the specimens were bought by a group of rich Amsterdammers, who gave them to the Athenaeum Illustre in Amsterdam, predecessor to the University of Amsterdam and its Academic Medical Centre.

The heart of a lion, the eye of a whale, the ovary of a chicken. Willem Vrolik was a particularly passionate collector of animal anatomy. To gain a better understanding of the ‘natural order’ in which – according to the Vroliks – all organisms had a place, it was important to carefully compare the organs of man and animals. Although they didn’t believe in evolution.

So, on a rainy day or when you want to educate yourself, visit the hospital and its wing of curiosities.

Address: Museum Vrolik Academic Medical Center Meibergdreef 15, 10-30

Opening hours Weekdays from 10 am to 5 pm

Admission: Admission is free, but a voluntary contribution is greatly appreciated.