Few ethnographic museums can trace a path like the Wereldmuseum Amsterdam's. It was founded in Haarlem in 1864 as the Koloniaal Museum (Colonial Museum), and Wikidata names Frederik Willem van Eeden as its founder. From 1950 to 2023 it was known as the Tropenmuseum, or Museum of the Tropics, before taking its current name.
Today it ranks among the largest museums in Amsterdam, with a building on Linnaeusstraat and more than 300,000 visitors recorded in 2022. A permanent exhibition presents part of its ethnographic collection. Temporary exhibitions range across contemporary, modern and traditional visual arts as well as photography, which suits visitors interested in art as much as those drawn to world cultures.
The museum belongs to the Nationaal Museum van Wereldculturen (National Museum of World Cultures), which brings together three ethnographic museums in the Netherlands.
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