The Groninger Museum

The museum, founded in 1874, moved in 1994 to a purpose-built island between the station and the old town, and the building is the first argument you have with it. Alessandro Mendini coordinated the design and then handed sections to other architects, so a gold-tiled storage tower, a deconstructed steel pavilion and a curtained ceramics room sit against each other with no attempt at agreement. Inside are three separate collections that have little to do with one another: the Groningen expressionists of De Ploeg, with their hard-coloured landscapes of the northern province; Chinese and Japanese export porcelain raised from an eighteenth-century Dutch East India Company wreck; and a rolling programme of fashion, photography and design.

History

The museum was founded in 1874 and opened its own building on the Praediniussingel in 1894. The heirs of the last residents gave it the Menkemaborg mansion in 1921, and its present building, with pavilions by Philippe Starck, Alessandro Mendini and Coop Himmelb(l)au, opened in 1994 (Wikipedia, Groninger Museum).

The main sights

• The pavilions - each section by a different architect, deliberately at odds.
• De Ploeg - the local expressionist group and their view of the Groningen countryside.
• The wreck porcelain - export ware recovered from a sunken company ship.
• The design shows - fashion and photography exhibitions that carry much of the programme.

When to go

Open year-round and entirely indoors, which matters in a province where the wind is a fixed feature. Weekday mornings are quiet. Check what is on before travelling, because the temporary exhibitions are the main draw and the changeover weeks leave whole pavilions shut behind hoardings.

Practical notes

The building divides people sharply and the circulation is genuinely confusing, with stairs that deposit you in the wrong wing. The permanent collection is modest beside the temporary shows, so an unlucky visit is thin. Groningen is about two hours by train from Amsterdam, which makes it a commitment rather than a detour.

Nearby

Groningen's old centre and the Martini tower are five minutes on foot.

Key facts