Museums in Rotterdam

The Maritime Museum Rotterdam chronicles the Netherlands' deep connection to the sea through interactive exhibits, ship models, and historical artifacts. Founded in 1874, it is one of the oldest maritime museums in the world.

The Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen is the world's first publicly accessible art storage facility, opened in 2021. The mirrored, bowl-shaped building designed by MVRDV holds 151,000 artworks across five climate-controlled zones.

The Kunsthal is a dynamic exhibition space that hosts around 25 different exhibitions per year across four halls, ranging from modern art and photography to design and fashion. Designed by Rem Koolhaas and opened in 1992.

The Natuurhistorisch Museum Rotterdam is a natural history museum with a quirky twist — it specializes in urban wildlife and the unexpected intersections of nature and city life. Its annual Dead Animal Award has gained international recognition.

The Wereldmuseum (World Museum) explores global cultures through a collection of over 85,000 ethnographic objects from Asia, Oceania, Africa, and the Americas. Housed in a 19th-century building on the Veerhaven.

The Chabot Museum is a small single-artist museum dedicated to Rotterdam expressionist Henk Chabot (1894–1949), housed in a striking 1938 Functionalist villa designed by architect G.W. Baas. The white villa is itself a protected monument.

Het Nieuwe Instituut is the Netherlands' national museum for architecture, design, and digital culture. It explores how design shapes daily life through exhibitions, a research archive, and public programs.

The Nederlands Fotomuseum is the Dutch national museum for photography, housing over 6 million photographs spanning 170 years of Dutch photographic history. Located in a converted warehouse on the Wilhelminakade.