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Museum Scheldewerf is open to visitors again. The museum in the Oude Verbandkamer has been in private hands since the end of 2021 and has big plans for the future. For example, the museum’s board hopes to expand the collection further, there are plans for a catering facility and they want to make the building as sustainable as possible.
Museum De Scheldewerf is now in private hands and has reopened its doors.
“Actually, this hundred-year-old building is already very sustainable, because the bricks with which it was built were originally from the eighteenth-century Admiralty House that stood on the quay but was demolished,” says museum coordinator and fundraiser Marian Roos-Koolwijk of the Stichting Scheepsbouwgeschiedenis [Historical Shipbuilding Foundation]. “But some things still need to be done to make it even more sustainable, such as double glazing.”
Museum coordinator Marian Roos-Koolwijk.
In 2020, the Stichting Scheepsbouwgeschiedenis was told that the Vlissingen City Council no longer wanted to extend the loan agreement for the building but wanted to sell it. A crowdfunding campaign was set up to raise 108,000 Euros. The coronavirus pandemic made it difficult to organise sponsorship activities, but partly thanks to a contribution from Damen, enough money was collected at the end of 2021 to be able to buy the building. “We are extremely grateful to everyone for their contribution, and we are very happy that we have now raised the money to secure the future of the museum,” says Marian. “Now we can really start making plans.”
The Oude Verbandkamer has had several functions in its history. It was the home of the first company medical service in the Netherlands. “De Schelde was the first company with its own occupational health service, even earlier than Stork in Twente and Philips in Eindhoven,” says Marian. Later, it was also the trade union building. After the trade union left in 1997, the building stood empty and slowly deteriorated. The Vlissingen City Council was busy redeveloping the Schelde Quarter and various parties were looking for a way to preserve the special building for the future.
“De Schelde is so rich in history, and we are lucky that there are so many people who want to donate their things to us. Most of our collection comes from donations.” Marian Roos-Koolwijk
Marian: “My husband Doeke worked for Stadsherstel Vlissingen and there was contact with Jan van Beekhuizen, the then managing director of L’Escaut Woonservice. Stadsherstel had a look at the building and eventually the idea was born to turn it into a museum.” A thorough restoration followed, refurbishing the building room by room with materials gathered from various places. “We reused the ceilings from the old offices in the Machinefabriek,” laughs Marian. “After three years of renovation, we were well on the way when Jan advised us to open on Heritage Day. We weren’t quite ready yet, so we hesitated at first, but it turned out to be a golden tip. Lots of people wanted to see the building and it was extremely busy. The visitors had so much to tell us, and we learned a lot about the building and De Schelde.”
The Rotterdam Lloyd room has models of both the famous passenger ship Willem Ruys and sister ship MS Kungsholm.
Museum Scheldewerf reflects the building’s past by giving attention to both the medical service with its old medical equipment and instruments, the trade union past and also the general history of the Royal Schelde Shipyard. “De Schelde is so rich in history, and we are lucky that there are so many people who want to donate their things to us. Most of our collection comes from donations,” says Marian. “It has actually become a B-collection, alongside the official archive and the collection that Damen has given into management to Stichting Behoud Schelde Collecties [Foundation for the Collection of Historical Schelde Artifacts] and the Zeeland maritime museum muZEEum.”
Highlights of the collection are the Rotterdam Lloyd room with a model of the famous passenger ship Willem Ruys. There is also a model of sister ship MS Kungsholm. Visitors can admire the old X-ray equipment and other medical instruments. There is also a cosy living room decorated as a tribute to social housing, a collection of welding goggles through the years, a film room where launching and other film clips are shown, and much more memorabilia. In honour of the reopening, there is an art exhibition with De Schelde-related works by well-known Zeeland artists such as Herman Goetheer, Wim Riemens, Ruben Oreel, Cees van den Burgt, Agnes den Hartogh, Henk Glerum and more. The museum is open on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday afternoons from 1 pm to 5 pm. Damen employees can gain free admission on presentation of their staff badge.
Museum de Scheldewerf reflects the building's past by paying attention to the Medical Service, the trade union history and also the general history of De Schelde.