Rijksmuseum Facts
Rijksmuseum Facts
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| Interesting Rijksmuseum Facts: |
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| Rijksmuseum first opened in 1800 but it was formally established by decree of the King of Netherlands Louis Bonaparte in 1808. It was originally known as the Royal Museum. |
| The Royal Museum, and later the Rijksmuseum, was established to celebrate and display Dutch history. |
| Louis Bonaparte was Napoleon Bonaparte's brother. |
| In 1809 the Royal Palace became home to the Royal Museum, in Amsterdam. |
| In 1817 the Royal Museum moved to Trippenhuis, but this location was unsuitable for the growing collection and in 1820 many historical pieces were moved to The Hague's Mauritshuis. |
| In 1863 a contest was held for the design of the new museum to be called the Rijksmuseum. None of the submissions were considered to be suitable, despite judging the entrees and establishing winners. |
| In 1876 another contest for the design of the proposed museum was held. The second place winner of the first contest won the second contest. His name was Pierre Cuypers. |
| Construction of the Rijksmuseum began in 1876 and it opened in 1885. |
| The Rijksmuseum houses one million objects. Approximately 8000 are on display at any given time. |
| The Rijksmuseum has more than 2000 paintings, including work by Rembrandt and his students. |
| The stern of the HMS Royal Charles (three-decker ship built in 1655) is on display at the Rijksmuseum. |
| Rembrandt's famous piece "The Night Watch" is on display at the Rijksmuseum. "The Jewish Bride", another of his famous works, is also on display at the museum. |
| The Rijksmuseum's main building closed on December 7th, 2003, and did not reopen until April 13th, 2013. It underwent renovations and after reopening more than 2 million people visited the Rijksmuseum in only 8 months. |
| The Rijksmuseum contains 80 rooms, and 1.5 km of walking space. |
| The Rijksmuseum also contains an Asian section, with Japanese prints, Chinese porcelain pieces, and other historical articles. |
| The largest art history research library in the Netherlands is part of the Rijksmuseum, called the Rijksmuseum Research Library. |
| Those who cannot visit the Rijksmuseum can view more than 125,000 pieces of its collection online. |
| The same museological designer responsible for the Louvre's interior design was hired to do the Rijksmuseum's interior as well when it underwent its renovation. His name is Jean-Michel Wilmotte and he also worked on many other famous buildings and projects. |
| The decade-long renovation cost €375 million to complete. Queen Beatrix reopened the main building in 2013. |
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