Teylers Museum

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Entrance of the Teylers Museum in Haarlem on the Spaarne river.

Painting by Wybrand Hendriks in 1800 of famous Oval room in the Teylers Museum, showing the electriseermachine of Martin van Marum.

Oval room in the Teylers Museum today

Side entrance of the Teylers Museum on the Damstraat and until the 19th century, the only entrance.

The Teyler Museum (or Teyler's Museum; Teylers Museum in Dutch), located in Haarlem, is the oldest museum in the Netherlands. The museum is in the former home of Pieter Teyler van der Hulst (1702–1778). He was a wealthy cloth merchant and Amsterdam banker of Scottish descent, who bequeathed his fortune for the advancement of art and science. He was a Mennonite and follower of the Scottish Enlightenment. Nearby the museum is the Teylers Hofje, a hofje which was also founded in Teyler's name.

The Teyler legacy to the city of Haarlem was split into three societies, one for religion, one for science, and one for the arts, known as the first, second, and third societies. The caretakers had to meet in Teyler's home weekly, and each society had five caretakers, so all of the gentlemen involved lived in Haarlem. Until his death, Teyler held weekly meetings in his home for the Mennonite community and the men's drawing school Haarlemse Teekenacademie. The drawing school moved after his death to a new location, to make room for the second society, called Teylers Physische en Naturalien Kabinetten en Bibliotheek, under the direction of Martin van Marum.

The Teyler's Museum displays an eclectic collection of fossils (among which the first ever discovered, if not recognised, of Archaeopteryx), minerals, scientific instruments, medals, coins, and paintings. It is most famous for its extensive collection of old master's prints and drawings, including several works by Michelangelo and Rembrandt. The various objects reflect the interests of 18th century wealthy men like Pieter Teyler who kept 'rariteiten kabinetten' or curiosity cabinets. The main building is built partially in and behind Teyler's former home, on his garden or 'hortus'. Behind the house, the Oval Room was built in 1784 by the architect Leendert Viervant (1752–1801). The same architect drew the plans for the hofje. The current main entrance on the Spaarne was not added until 1878 and was designed by the Viennese architect Christian Ulrich who won the design contest for a new annex, including the entrance hall and auditorium.^[1]

The Oval room is a fine example of Neo-classical architecture in the Netherlands. A showcase in the centre displays a mineralogical collection from the 18th century and the showcases around hold 18th-century scientific instruments. The upper gallery has twelve built-in bookcases, largely containing period encyclopaedia, but closed to the public. Various parts of the library and print collection are now shown in rotation in a specially prepared room. The history of the Teyler's collection is almost as interesting as the collection itself. As curiosity cabinets fell out of fashion, the museum was granted objects from former summer estates in the Haarlem area. For example, many of the fossils come from a collection of one of the former owners of Groenendaal. Many of the medals and coins come from the former Enschede mint, which was just around the corner.

In the 19th century, the museum was expanded with two Painting Galleries. The Painting Galleries show a collection of works from the Dutch Romantic School and the later Hague and Amsterdam Schools, including major works by Koekoek, Schelfhout, Springer, Anton Mauve, Jacob Maris, Johan Hendrik Weissenbruch, George Hendrik Breitner and Isaac Israëls. A large-scale extension, designed by Hubert Jan Henket and opened in 1996, gives room to temporary exhibitions. The Teyler Museum contains of a collection of more than 10,000 master drawings and some 25,000 prints.

The original mission of the second society included research as well as education. After the death of van Marum, Teylers continued to attract scientists of high standing as caretakers. The theoretical physicist Hendrik Lorentz was appointed director of research at Teylers in 1910, a position he held until his death in 1928. At the time of his appointment Lorentz was at the height of his scientific career and was a central figure in the international community of physicists. Under his leadership, the Teyler Museum conducted scientific research in such diverse fields as optics, electromagnetism, radio waves and atom physics. Lorentz was succeeded by the physicist and musician Adriaan Fokker.