What Verzetsmuseum Amsterdam does

Verzetsmuseum Amsterdam (legally Stichting Verzetsmuseum Amsterdam) is a Dutch nonprofit foundation that operates a single-site historical museum in the Plancius Building in Amsterdam's Plantage neighbourhood, focused on World War II in the Netherlands and the former Dutch colonies. Founded in 1984 by former resistance fighters and opened to the public in 1985, the museum presents over 130 personal stories spanning daily life, collaboration, Jewish persecution, and resistance between 1940 and 1945, supported by an archive of more than 1,000 private collections that grows by approximately 150 donated items per year. Its core offerings include the main permanent exhibition 'The Netherlands in World War II', the children's section Verzetsmuseum Junior (opened 2013), a permanent Dutch Colonies exhibition (2024), and rotating temporary exhibitions such as 'Woman, Life, Freedom'.

The museum's technology stack is conventional: free multilingual audio guides (Dutch, English, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and Dutch Sign Language) delivered via the MapMyVisit app, ReadSpeaker text-to-speech for web accessibility, online ticketing through Global Ticket and CM.com, and basic web/social media presence (Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Vimeo). There are no proprietary AI/ML systems; content delivery and archival research are human-curated.

Revenue is generated through a hybrid nonprofit model combining per-visit admissions (€14-17.50 adults, €7.50-9.50 children, €40 family tickets), recurring Friends memberships (€30+/year, 900+ members), corporate sponsorships (€250+/year), one-time donations (with Dutch ANBI tax-incentivised giving), museum shop retail, and group tour services. The museum also receives municipal subsidy from the City of Amsterdam. Visitor segments span individual tourists, Dutch residents, school groups (21,387 students in 2023), academic researchers, and corporate partners. The institution recorded nearly 114,000 visitors in 2023 — a record following its December 2022 reopening after renovation.

Name

Verzetsmuseum Amsterdam

Legal name

Stichting Verzetsmuseum Amsterdam

Website

https://verzetsmuseum.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1984

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Verzetsmuseum Amsterdam is a Dutch nonprofit museum operating from the Plancius Building in Amsterdam, presenting over 130 personal stories of WWII resistance, collaboration, and persecution in the Netherlands and former colonies, serving individual visitors, school groups, researchers, and corporate partners through exhibitions, educational programs, and archival collections.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

History Museum

NAICS

Museums (71211), Museums (712110), Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions (7121), Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions (712), Historical Sites (712120), Historical Sites (71212), Tour Operators (56152)

akta.pro primary industry

History Museums (THAJADAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Museum & Landmark Guided Tours (Skip-the-line/Docent-led) (THAJAAAC), Architecture & Urban Design Tours (THAJAAAD), History, Heritage & Museum-Focused Study Tours (THAKAGAN)

Keywords

• Historical museum
• Resistance museum
• WWII exhibitions
• Educational programs
• Heritage collections

Headquarters

HQ city

Amsterdam

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Admission Tickets: The museum generates revenue through ticket sales at varying price points for adults, children, students, and families. Tickets can be purchased online with time slots or at the door.
2. Museum Membership (Friends): Annual membership program called 'Vrienden' (Friends) providing benefits including free entrance, newsletters, invitations to exclusive events, and discounts on lectures and activities. Starting at €30 per year.
3. Donations: One-time donations accepted online via iDeal or credit card. The museum also accepts legacy bequests and benefits from the Dutch 'Geefwet' tax incentive for charitable giving.
4. Corporate Partnerships: Corporate sponsors support the museum starting from €250 per year. Companies receive recognition in annual reports, newsletters, invitations to exhibition openings, and may organize customer or staff events at the museum.
5. Museum Shop: Retail sales of museum-related merchandise and souvenirs.
6. Group Tours and Activities: Revenue from guided tours, audio guide rentals for groups, neighborhood walks, and special programs like the historic tram ride.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Verzetsmuseum Amsterdam operates a single-site historical museum in the Plancius Building in Amsterdam that presents the Second World War in the Netherlands and former Dutch colonies through more than 130 personal stories, permanent and temporary exhibitions, a dedicated children's museum (Verzetsmuseum Junior), and accompanying educational programs, audio tours, guided tours, neighbourhood walks, and a historic tram ride. The museum charges admission tickets, sells Friends memberships and corporate sponsorships, accepts donations under the Dutch ANBI Geefwet scheme, and runs a museum shop.

Product overview

Verzetsmuseum Amsterdam operates as a single-site museum with multiple exhibition and service offerings. The core product is the main museum featuring the permanent exhibition 'The Netherlands in World War II' with over 130 personal stories, complemented by Verzetsmuseum Junior - a dedicated children's museum section. Visitors receive complimentary audio tours (multiple languages including sign language), and can purchase add-on guided tours, neighbourhood walks, and special events like Historic Tram Rides. The museum partners with Cultuur Ferry for water transportation. Online ticketing is handled through Global Ticket, while educational programs serve school groups. The museum also maintains digital offerings including the Digital Monument Dachau, free audio walks, and travelling exhibitions (Junior on Wheels).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Verzetsmuseum Junior: A permanent exhibition for children (opened October 2013), featuring four real-life children in wartime, which won several museum awards. A travelling version called 'Resistance Museum Junior on Wheels' was developed in 2018.

Products and services

• Permanent Exhibition - The Netherlands in World War II Main permanent exhibition covering daily life, collaboration, Jewish persecution, and resistance in the Netherlands from 1940-1945 through more than 130 personal stories, with large film projections and authentic objects on display.
• Verzetsmuseum Junior Permanent children's museum where children travel through time to experience life in wartime Netherlands, following four real-life children through an interactive exhibition that won multiple museum awards.
• Woman, Life, Freedom - Iraans vrouwenverzet Temporary Exhibition Temporary exhibition highlighting the Iranian women's resistance movement under the slogan 'Woman, Life, Freedom', placed in historical context alongside Dutch WWII resistance narratives.
• Multilingual Audio Tour Free audio guide included with admission, available in Dutch, English, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and Dutch Sign Language, delivered via the MapMyVisit app on visitors' personal phones.
• Guided Group Tours Guided tours of the permanent exhibition for adult groups of 10-16 participants, available in Dutch, English, and German. Audio guide option is a 90-minute self-paced alternative.
• Neighbourhood Walking Tours (Plantage/Jodenhoek) Walking tours through the Plantage neighbourhood and former Jodenhoek area of Amsterdam, visiting memorials and monuments recalling Jewish Amsterdam, persecution, and resistance.
• Historic Tram Ride (Verzetstram) Historical tram ride through Amsterdam combining a museum visit with an introduction and a guided tram journey, suitable for visitors approximately 14 years and older.
• Online Ticketing Service Online ticket reservation system powered by Global Ticket that allows visitors to purchase admission tickets, family tickets, and group bookings in advance with designated time slots in multiple languages.
• Free Audio Walk - Plantagebuurt Free podwalk/audio walk through the Plantage neighbourhood in multiple languages, available as a digital visitor offering.
• Digital Monument Dachau Online database documenting the victims of the Dachau concentration camp, accessible through the museum's website for historical research and remembrance.
• Verzetsmuseum Junior on Wheels Travelling version of the Verzetsmuseum Junior children's museum that brings the Junior exhibition experience to external locations outside the museum.
• Educational Programs School programs and educational visits including workshops and guided tours for students aged 14-17 and university visitors aged 18-24, aligned with history curriculum standards.
• Museum Shop Retail sales of museum-related merchandise and souvenirs operated as part of the museum's on-site visitor offering.

Quantifiable outcome

• Nearly 114,000 visitors in 2023, a record number
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration10 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Cultuur FerryminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorCultuur Ferry is a hop-on hop-off boat connection across Amsterdam's waters that includes the Resistance Museum as a stop. The partnership provides convenient water-based access to the museum, particularly beneficial for tourists. Ferry runs Thursday through Sunday with departures every 30 minutes. Tickets include onboard museum guide.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves10 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Anne Frank House: Amsterdam-based WWII museum focused on the personal story of Anne Frank during the Nazi occupation. Operates as a single-site cultural institution in Amsterdam with comparable visitor scale and direct thematic overlap on WWII persecution and Jewish history in the Netherlands.
• In Flanders Fields Museum: Belgian WWI museum in Ypres with a thematic and operational model very close to Verzetsmuseum: personal stories, educational programs, multilingual audio guides, and a focus on war's impact on civilian life. Highly comparable operating model and curatorial philosophy.
• National Holocaust Museum: Recently opened Amsterdam museum (former Hollandsche Schouwburg) dedicated to the Holocaust in the Netherlands. Closest thematic peer—shared subject matter of WWII persecution, overlapping historical narrative, and similar institutional positioning in Amsterdam.
• Tropenmuseum: Amsterdam museum focused on cultures of the former Dutch colonies and global ethnographic themes. Closely comparable given Verzetsmuseum's Dutch Colonies exhibition expansion—shared subject matter around Dutch colonial history and post-colonial dialogue.
• Jewish Historical Museum: Amsterdam museum covering Jewish history in the Netherlands, with significant WWII content including persecution, resistance, and post-war recovery. Directly comparable as a single-site history museum in Amsterdam serving overlapping audiences with similar educational programming.

Broad incumbents

• Amsterdam Museum: City history museum covering Amsterdam's full historical narrative. Comparable as a single-site Amsterdam history museum with similar tourism-driven GTM and educational programs, though broader than WWII-specific content.
• Deutsches Historisches Museum: Germany's national historical museum in Berlin covering German history with significant WWII content. Comparable as a national-scale history museum navigating perpetrator/perpetrated narratives, paralleling Verzetsmuseum's nuanced approach to collaboration and resistance.
• Imperial War Museums: Multi-site UK network of museums covering conflicts involving Britain and the Commonwealth from WWI onward, including significant WWII content. Comparable as a major WWII-focused museum operator with similar curatorial approach and educational programming model.
• Rijksmuseum: The Netherlands' national museum, covering Dutch history and art broadly. Operates in the same Amsterdam museum market with overlapping WWII-related collections (e.g., Jan Veth's resistance-era works) but a much wider curatorial scope and visitor base.
• United States Holocaust Memorial Museum: America's national Holocaust museum in Washington, D.C. Comparable as a flagship WWII/Holocaust memorial institution with similar emphasis on personal testimony, educational programming, and digital archives (parallel to Verzetsmuseum's Digital Monument Dachau).

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat2 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/VerzetsmuseumAmsterdam
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/verzetsmuseum-amsterdam

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Verzetsmuseum Amsterdam