Welcome to the Stedelijk Museum Zutphen. This cultural-historical museum offers an original insight into the history of Zutphen and its county (known today as the Achterhoek). Zutphen has been continuously inhabited for more than 1700 years and is one of the oldest cities in the Netherlands. This museum tells ‘the story of Zutphen’ through objects and findings.
A walk through history starts in the vaulted medieval basement. This is where you will dive right into the turbulent history of the place that was to become the city of Zutphen. An important event in this development was the Viking attack of 882. The museum displays the only evidence of a Viking attack in Europe: a skeleton of a woman, which was discovered in Zutphen.
In the halls of the museum, you’ll discover how Zutphen’s history is filled with constantly alternating highs and lows. For example, you’ll learn how the city gained the nickname ‘The Wealthiest’ during the Hanze era, and how it lost this status during the Eighty Years’ War. The wealth of the Zutphen noble elite from the 17th up until the beginning of the 19th century, including the famous ‘Zutphen Silver’, stands in stark contrast to the destruction caused by the Second World War.
The objects that stand out are the ones counted among the oldest objects in the Netherlands. For example, the collection boasts the ‘oldest watch’ (the Zutphen quadrant) from 1300, and the ‘oldest photograph’ from 1839.
