Dutch Mining Museum Heerlen, New Limburg Building, Dutch Architecture Images, North Brabant Design
Dutch Mining Museum in Heerlen Limburg
17 July 2022
Design: Tinker imagineers
Location: Heerlen, Limburg, North Brabant, Holland, The Netherlands

Photos: Mike Bink
Dutch Mining Museum, Limburg
A department store disguised as a museum, or a museum disguised as a department store" The building of the once-famous Kneepkens department store in Heerlen, in the south of the Netherlands, accommodates the new Dutch Mining Museum, which opened to the public on May 1st 2022. In collaboration with the museum board, Tinker imagineers developed an innovative museum concept where visitors can imagine themselves in the department store of yesteryear and go ?shopping?. The exhibition tells the unique story of the rise, the glory days, and the decline of coal mining in South Limburg, and of its impact on society. With this new museum, a part of history that has long been kept hidden finally sees the light of day.
The Dutch Mining Museum shows all facets of the colourful mining past, beginning with coal, and describes the broad history of mining in the region. The visitor experiences the forgotten stories of the arduous work, the successes, the solidarity, and the dark side of this exhaustive industry. The four floors each have their own colour-based themes. Visitors start at Black, where they explore the story of coal and the miner.

The second floor, Gold, almost tangibly reflects the ...