Drents Museum

The Drents Museum is an art and history museum located in Assen, the capital of the province of Drenthe in the Netherlands. Established in the mid-nineteenth century, the institution holds significant collections of prehistoric artifacts, applied art, and visual art, alongside hosting temporary exhibitions of international scope. It welcomed 179,345 visitors in 2023.

The King's Commissioner of Drenthe founded the institution on November 28, 1854, as the Provincial Museum of Drents Antiquities. It initially occupied a single cabinet in the provincial government building. Over the twentieth century, the museum moved between various buildings, including the Rijksarchief and the Ontvangershuis, before relocating to the provincial house. The Drostenhuis was added in 1978 and the Abbey Church in 1982. In 1996, it received its current name and came under an independent foundation. A major expansion was announced in 2007, with architect Erick van Egeraat selected to design a new wing costing eighteen million euros. The museum closed for construction from summer 2010 to summer 2011, reopening officially in November 2011. A modern depot for roughly 90,000 objects, the first in the Netherlands with an oxygen-poor storage room to prevent decay, was completed on an industrial estate in Assen in early 2010. Both the new and old buildings subsequently suffered from leakage issues, prompting investigations and a temporary closure in 2023 to resolve moisture problems.

The museum's permanent collection is broadly divided into archaeological, art historical, and applied art holdings. Its prehistoric collection focuses on the province of Drenthe, featuring Funnelbeaker culture finds and European bog bodies. The art collection emphasizes Northern European Realism, including the fourth generation of Dutch abstract figurative artists associated with De Groep, with works by Henk Helmantel, Matthijs Röling, Sam Drukker, Douwe Elias, Barend Blankert, Alfred Hafkenscheid, Eddy Roos, and Berend Groen. Additionally, the museum holds a collection of Dutch art and applied art from 1885 to 1935, transferred to the museum's ownership in 2017 after being housed there since 1983 by the Foundation of Fine Arts around 1900. This segment includes works by Vincent van Gogh, Jan Toorop, Jan Sluijters, Chris Lebeau, and Jan Eisenloeffel. An annex features period rooms showing the lifestyle of well-to-do Drenthe families, as well as the Bontekoe collection of ceramics from the House of Orange.

Among the most significant prehistoric artifacts in the collection is the Pesse canoe, the oldest recovered boat in the world, dating between 8200 and 7600 BCE. The museum also preserves several notable bog bodies, including the Yde Girl, the Weerdinge Men, the Exloërmond Man, and the Emmer-Erscheidenveen Man. A prominent research discovery involved a statue of Buddha dating to the 11th or 12th century, which the museum subjected to a CT scan and endoscopy, revealing a mummy inside identified as the Buddhist master Liuquan of the Chinese Medical School. In the museum garden stands a statue of Bartje Bartels, a character from books by Anne de Vries and a provincial symbol. The museum also temporarily held the 5th-century BCE Helmet of Coțofenești and three Dacian gold bracelets from Sarmizegetusa Regia, on loan from the National Museum of Romanian History, until they were stolen in 2025.

The museum is situated on the location of the former Maria in Campis monastery complex. The site incorporates several historical structures, including the former Gouvernementsgebouw, the Drostenhuis, and the Ontvangershuis. The 2011 expansion by Erick van Egeraat introduced an underground exhibition wing constructed just outside the old monastery complex, beneath a museum garden. The main entrance was relocated to the former coach house of the Drostenhuis, which connects to the underground wing via a tunnel. Undisplayed works are stored in the Kunstbunker Paasloo depot.

The museum is located in Assen, Netherlands, and operates under an independent foundation. It has hosted major temporary exhibitions, such as the 2008 Go China! exhibit featuring the Terracotta Army, which drew 353,000 visitors to Assen. In January 2025, the museum was the target of a heist when thieves used explosives to breach an emergency exit of the underground wing, stealing the Helmet of Coțofenești and three Dacian gold bracelets. The museum was temporarily closed for the police investigation, reopening on January 31, 2025. In April 2026, the helmet and two of the three bracelets were recovered, and three individuals were subsequently sentenced to 47 months in prison by the Northern Netherlands District Court in June 2026. Robert van Langh became the museum director in 2025, succeeding Harry Tupan, who had served since 2017. Annemiek Rens is the chief curator.