New branch of Hermitage in Amsterdam

Queen Beatrix and Russian President Dmitri Medvedev opened a branch of the Russian Hermitage Museum in Amsterdam on Friday. The branch is located alongside the Amstel River and houses a collection from the Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg worth millions. For Amsterdam, the new museum is an extra attraction. For Russia, it is a new way of bringing Russian culture to the rest of the world.

The Hermitage on the Amstel opens its doors with the exhibition At the Russian Court. It highlights the sumptuousness of the grand balls hosted by the Russian tsars. Glass showcases exhibit the bejewelled silk and brocade gowns worn by Russian countesses, princesses and queens. The slightly more humble attire of their male dancing partners can also be admired.

Nursing home The exhibition is divided between two great halls and 42 small gallery spaces inside the new Hermitage branch. The building was a nursing home for Amsterdam elderly until 2007. It has now been transformed into the Dutch annex of the Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg. The exhibition is the result of years of collaboration between Dutch museum director Ernst Veen and Russian museum director Michail Piotrovski. Both parties profit from the venture says Mr Piotrovski:

“As a result of all this work we - the Hermitage – have received an additional space to show our collections and to give our interpretation of Russian and world history. The Hermitage is compensated partly for its expenses – one euro from every visitor, and our experience is that visitors are inclined to come as well to Saint Petersburg to see the Hermitage over there. Our Dutch friends are receiving a unique possibility to see on a great scale our collections, and I hope we will give another reason for a tourist to stay one day longer in Amsterdam.”

Boost to tourism Amsterdam, too, can benefit from an extra museum. The two most important museums, the Rijksmuseum and the Stedelijk Museum have been closed for a number of years due to renovations. This has contributed to a decrease in the number of tourists visiting the Dutch capital city. Both directors stress the fact that the Hermitage on the Amstel is a worthy addition to the current offering of museums, and not a competitor.

During the press conference shortly before the grand opening, Ernst Veen put the Dutch collaboration with the Hermitage in Saint Petersburg in an historical context:

“It ultimately all started in 1696. Peter the Great came to the Netherlands and was fascinated by Amsterdam. He wanted to build a new city and Amsterdam was the model for Saint Petersburg. The first collection of the Hermitage in Saint Petersburg was created by 222 Dutch master painters. There is a relationship between the Romanoffs and the House of Orange. Dutch businessmen established themselves in Saint Petersburg between 1703 and 1917.” Unique collaboration Cooperation between the two museum directors began after the Iron Curtain came down in late 1991. Four consecutive Russian exhibitions in Amsterdam's Nieuwe Kerk (New Church) attracted so many visitors that Ernst Veen began to entertain the idea of opening a branch of the Hermitage in Amsterdam. The Hermitage houses around three million objects. Just under 2000 have been selected for the exhibition At the Russian Court. Plenty of scope for Ernst Veen to organise many more exhibitions.

Messrs Veen and Piotrovski both stress the unique character of their collaboration, also in terms of funding. Not only have government bodies at the local, provincial and national level granted funds, various organisations and companies have also financially supported the venture. It is hoped that future visitors will bring in half of the necessary income, the rest coming from sponsors who, during pre-recession times, became contractually obliged to contribute. Mr Veen is convinced that he had an angel watching over him during the realisation process of his winter palace in Amsterdam. And Mr Piotrovski knows for a fact that Tsar Peter the Great would have also been happy.