Questions about the collection
Paulus Constantin la Fargue, The Hague Groenmarkt seen towards the Westeinde, circa 1765

Questions about the collection

Read about what you should do if you want to know more about an object, want to donate something to the museum or want to apply for a loan.

Do you have a question about the collection or about an object from The Hague that you own? Send an email to collection@haagshistorischmuseum.nl. You will receive an answer within 10 working days. Please note that the museum does not make any statements about the financial value of objects.

Donating objects

The collection of the Haags Historisch Museum has more than 10,000 objects and continues to grow every year, partly thanks to donations from private individuals. Would you like to donate an object to the museum? Below we explain what requirements a donation must meet and how it works exactly.

What do we collect?

The most important condition for a donation is that the object has a relationship with (the history of) The Hague. The museum has a broad collection policy, but focuses on a limited number of core themes:

  • government city
  • city of sand and peat
  • royal city
  • international city of peace and justice

In addition, the museum is particularly interested in acquiring heritage related to migration.

What do we not collect?

A number of types of objects fall outside the collection policy of the museum. This concerns, among other things:

  • books
  • letters
  • photo albums
  • archive material
  • postcards
  • works of art made by Hague artists who do not have a Hague subject

For donating archives or separate photos and documents, we would like to refer you to the Haags Gemeentearchief:

Hoe schenk je een object aan het museum?

Als je een object wil schenken, let dan op de volgende zaken:

  • Always contact the museum first by sending an e-mail to collectie@haagshistorischmuseum.nl before you bring the object to the museum yourself. Our colleagues at the cash register do not accept objects. You will receive an answer within 10 working days.
  • To get a good picture of the object, it is necessary that you send one or more photos of the object. We would also like to receive a short description and information about the origin of the object.

Whether the museum will include the object in its collection is then decided by the curators. We may not be able to accept your offer because the object does not fit well with the collection policy or because we already have the same type of object in the collection or for other reasons. We ask your understanding for this.

Loans

The Hague Historical Museum is happy to lend objects for temporary exhibitions or semi-permanent exhibitions.

Loan requests

  •  For loan applications, you must send an application letter to collectie@haagshistorischmuseum.nl at least 6 months before the desired commencement date.
  • The application letter must contain the following information:
    • name and address of the institution
    • name, position and e-mail address of the contact person
    • exhibition name and period
    • motivation for the application
    • list of requested objects, as complete as possible
    • a facility report of the location
  • We aim to provide a definitive answer on the loan application within two months.

Loan conditions

  • Before you send the application, please read our loan conditions (Dutch) to make sure that the application falls within the guidelines of the Hague Historical Museum.
  • The Hague Historical Museum endorses the focus points for loan traffic of the Dutch Museum Association.
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