Editor Pick
Gevangenpoort
- June 24, 2006
- Rated 4 of 5 by
Mandan Lynn from Smithwick, South Dakota
Gevangenpoort (Prison Gate Museum)
Tuesday-Friday 10:00am-5:00pm
Saturday-Sunday noon-5:00pm
Admission: €4 (€3 for children under 12)
Must be visited with a guided tour, which start every hour on the hour, and last for approximately one hour.
After paying for your ticket, you wait in the jail's old cellar for your tour to start. They have a time line of photographs and artifacts for you to look at while you wait. The captions are in Dutch and English.
The tour is in Dutch, but they hand out a booklet of information in your native language with which you can follow along. It's helpful and interesting, but you still feel like you're missing out on lots of information. Our guide was fantastic, and was always careful to point out in English where we were going next so I could follow along (though the booklet does go in order) and ask me if I had any questions.
The tour starts with a short video (English subtitled) about Cornelis de Witt, the prison's most famous prisoner. He was a government official who was held there for 2 weeks on charges of treason—which were later found to be false charges.
Though prison life was pretty rough for the average folks—dark, cramped cells, crappy food—de Witt didn't have it so bad. Rich prisoners were allowed to pay extra for private rooms (complete with a fire place and toilet) and good food.
They tortured de Witt for hours to extract a confession for his plan to kill Prince Willem III. He never confessed. He was then charged with perjury, and was banished from Holland.
He was in bad shape after the torture, so he asked his brother to come and get him from the jail. The citizens were furious and wanted de Witt to be punished for treason. They dragged him and his brother both from the prison and killed them.
After the video, you go through the rooms one by one—The Knight's Chamber (de Witt's "cell"), the women's chamber, the hostage room, the storage loft, the torture chamber, and the courtyard.
Interesting and inexpensive, this museum is an excellent place to visit.
Take note: the wood floors and stairs are VERY slippery. If you're wearing smooth-soled shoes, be very careful.
From journal All Netherlands, All the Time