The Glasses Museum
- March 12, 2002
- Rated 3 of 5 by
Illion from Amsterdam, Netherlands
Not far from Dam-square, hidden in an alley-like street, you can find the national museum of glasses. This museum isn't to be taken too seriously but for someone who is visually challenged it is probably as amusing as the only-left-handed store in London is for lefthanders. It may not be a real cultural highlight of Amsterdam, but unlike other quasi cultural activities as the Sex Museum, Torture Museum or Hash Museum, all of which I thoroughly loath, this mini-museum is worth a visit.
I discovered this spot a few years ago when I was roaming the city practically blind, after having lost my glasses in the sea. Actually I was on my way to my regular optician at the Rokin, when I suddenly thought I saw a window full of glasses. After about an hour I re-emerged with ‘brand-new’ antique spectacles. Up till the present day I proudly wear my over a hundred years old specs from the Schubert-collection.
Next to the small but very pleasurable little shop on the ground floor, worth a visit in its own right, you can find a small exhibit on the first floor. Here, the visitor is taken on a journey past 700 years of history, art and culture surrounding glasses. I found it to be an amusing and educational trip. For example I found out the Dutch word for spectacles, ‘bril’, is derived from the element Beryllium. It appears once this element was used to fabricate glasses.
For someone wearing spectacles and who has a spare hour a visit is definitely worth your while, if only a small glance around the shop.
From journal An insiders view on Amsterdam