The National Maritime Depot is part of Museum Batavialand and manages the state maritime archaeological collection. This makes Museum Batavialand one of the 30 museums in the Netherlands with a state collection.
This collection includes approximately 40,000 ship finds, ranging from complete wrecks to wreck parts, ship’s equipment, cargo and inventory. Approximately 25,000 objects were excavated in the reclaimed IJsselmeer polders from the 1940s onwards. The remaining approximately 15,000 objects mainly come from the national waters (mainly North Sea and Wadden Sea) and mostly recovered during professional (underwater) archaeological research.
Access to the national collection
The finds are mostly preserved, restored and scientifically researched. The objects can be consulted by appointment, the small objects in Lelystad and the larger objects in Amersfoort. Objects can be seen in exhibitions at Museum Batavialand and elsewhere in the Netherlands. Cultural institutions can request a loan if they wish to borrow objects.
Digital access to the collection
The National Maritime Depot collection is accessible digitally through several platforms:
- Objects
The collection is accessed through the portal CollectionNetherlands.nl Here you can easily search by terms such as ‘Maritime finds’ and ‘Ship archaeological drawings’. Each object is linked to a specific shipwreck, including details such as ship type and subsurface dating. - Excavation files
The excavation files can be accessed online via DANS search portal, a comprehensive database for research data. - Digitized video material
Digitized video material of maritime archaeology is available through the catalog of Image & Sound. - Wreck database
For those interested in learning more about shipwrecks, the wreck database offers Verganeschepen.nl offers a wealth of information about sites, wrecks and their history.
The implementation of the Zuiderzee project, with the closure and partial reclamation of the Zuiderzee, brought to light a wealth of ship archaeological finds. To date, some 480 ship archaeological sites have been discovered in Flevoland and the Wieringermeerpolder combined. This unique concentration makes Flevoland the largest ship graveyard on dry land in the world.
About 430 shipwrecks have been recorded, and about 400 wrecks have been completely excavated or investigated. Some 80 known sites remain in the soil of Flevoland. About half of these are protected by a special method in which the wrecks are covered and buried, which raises the groundwater level to preserve the wood. In addition, parts of excavated shipwrecks have been reburied after research below the water table in a field depot near Zeewolde/Nijkerk, preserving them for the future.
The ship archaeological collection in Flevoland has been further expanded during the 20th century with finds from other parts of the Netherlands. Examples include Roman ship remains from Zwammerdam and De Meern. In the 1990s, the ‘wet’ part of the collection was added to this, with the establishment of the Department of Underwater Archaeology (AAO) at the Rijksdienst voor het Oudheidkundig Bodemonderzoek (ROB). This later led to the establishment of the Netherlands Institute for Ship and Underwater Archaeology (NISA), which also recorded the rich maritime history underwater.
Since 2007, ship finds within the Netherlands are no longer automatically added to the national maritime archaeological collection. They are first offered to the relevant provincial or municipal archaeological depot. For example, new ship finds from Flevoland are added to the provincial archaeological collection of Flevoland. Dutch ship finds from outside municipal areas (e.g., the North Sea), as well as maritime find complexes of an unusual nature or size (e.g., the IJsselkogge) can be added to the national maritime archaeological collection.
Ultimately, in 2021, the national government decided to transfer the entire national maritime archaeological collection to the National Ship Archaeological Depot, managed by Museum Batavialand. The process to fully transfer the entire collection is expected to be completed in 2028.
Collaboration and loans
Museum Batavialand offers scholars, institutions and museums the opportunity to borrow objects from the collection. Our experts offer support in making the past accessible, from in-depth research to temporary exhibitions.
Contact?
If you have a question or request about the National Maritime Depot please contact us by emailing nsd@batavialand.nl
