13 February - 29 June 2025
In 2025, the Mauritshuis will commemorate the liberation of the Netherlands, eighty years ago. Our art collection in storage, propaganda exhibitions, musical performances and people in hiding for the Arbeitseinsatz – the Mauritshuis went through a very turbulent period during the German occupation of the Netherlands.
The museum was located in the middle of the political center of power of the Nazis: all the important organizations of the German government were literally around the corner. Director Wilhelm Martin faced significant challenges, including the protection of the world-famous collection of paintings, and how to deal with the propaganda role of the museum that the Germans had in mind.
Menno de Groot (1931) lived in the basement with his family. Menno's memories and experiences during the war are an important storyline for our young museum visitors. Children discovery what happened within the walls of the museum, through the eyes of Menno.
Empty frames
The Mauritshuis closed due to the threat of war on 25 August 1939, and reopened on 6 June 1940. Only a small number of works were on display. Director Wilhelm Martin had realised in the 1930s that ‘his’ collection would be particularly vulnerable in wartime, and did everything in his power to shepherd it safely through the war. The exhibition will devote attention to the travels of Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring during the war. The Mauritshuis had a bombproof ‘art bunker ’ in which it would store all its masterpieces overnight, bringing out a few – including the Girl – during the day. Martin had an inscription painted over the door, which read (in translation): ’It is sad that war should mean the country’s Art cannot be seen’. During the course of the war, the most important works of art were taken to the various ‘National Storage Facilities’, where they remained until the war ended. During this time, the gallery walls at the Mauritshuis were a sorry sight, lined as they were with empty frames.
