NM Oranjehotel and Waalsdorpervlakte affiliated with Canon of the Netherlands
National Monument Oranjehotel and the Waalsdorpervlakte traded on October 4 to the network of the Canon of the Netherlands. In this network, museums and heritage institutions work together to highlight Dutch history. The Crosses of the Waalsdorpervlakte are included as a key piece and tell a story at the World War II window.
The Crosses of the Waalsdorpervlakte
The 4 crosses that together form the key piece are placed on the Waalsdorpervlakte in 1946. They are made from the wooden execution poles that the German occupier used on the plain during the Second World War. During the occupation, more than 250 prisoners sentenced to death were executed on the Waalsdorpervlakte. Most of them come from the ‘Oranjehotel’ as the Scheveningen prison is called. In 1981 the crosses are replaced by bronze reproductions. The original crosses are now part of the collection of the National Monument Oranjehotel.
This is the Canon of the Netherlands
With the Canon of the Netherlands you come face to face with the history of the Netherlands. The Canon takes you in five windows through the events, people and objects that make up the story of The Netherlands narrate. From Charlemagne to Marga Klompé, from the dolmens to Europe and from Trijntje to the Lionesses. With the Canon as the starting point, museums and memorials throughout the Netherlands join hands to highlight the diversity of Dutch history.
Together they form the network of the Canon of the Netherlands, or the Canon network. They build iconic key pieces of the Canon in their own context and build on their own programming and campaigns. This national collaboration is an initiative of the Dutch Open Air Museum in Arnhem, where the overview presentation of the Canon of the Netherlands has been on display since September 2017. The national collaboration is made possible in part by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science.