Middenbeemster between village history and polder landscape

Middenbeemster offers different ways to explore history and landscape: a protected village scene, museums, a theater and routes through the Beemster. If you are looking for a hotel for your stay, these themes can shape your plans—depending on whether you are interested in farming life, architecture, music or the open polder landscape.

Polder landscape and routes

In the area around Middenbeemster, the open polder structure of Droogmakerij de Beemster, laid out in 1612, is still recognizable by its ring dike, straight roads, rows of trees and numerous stolp farms. These features draw attention to the landscape as a whole; they offer a different focus from the buildings and museums in the village.

The Beemster Fortenfietsroute also leads from Middenbeemster past stolp farms to Fort aan de Nekkerweg. This route therefore focuses both on the stolp farms along the way and on the fort as its destination. Another regional route is the Streekproductenroute through De Beemster. It passes numerous farm shops and roadside stalls selling dairy products and vegetables. While the Fortenfietsroute leads to the fort, the Streekproductenroute focuses on places to buy local produce and the products themselves. Route details may change; check the information before setting out.

Local history, church and theater

Middenbeemster has been designated a protected village scene since 1985. The Keyserkerk dates from 1623 and is the oldest building in Beemster. Theater Onder de Linden, a mini-theater, is located on Marktplein next to the church. The church and theater therefore stand directly beside one another, but offer different points of interest: one is an important building in the village’s history, the other a venue for performances.

On the first Sunday of every month, Theater Onder de Linden hosts a coffee concert featuring master’s students from the Conservatorium van Amsterdam. This recurring concert series adds music to the historical themes. If you would like to plan a concert visit, check the date with the theater.

Museums and their different themes

The Beemster Museum is housed in the historic stolp farm Westerhem and provides information about farming life in Beemster around 1910. The building and its subject give the museum two specific points of reference: the historic farmstead and a particular way of life in the region. Its focus therefore differs from that of a museum devoted to a single place of writing.

The Betje Wolff Museum is located in the former vicarage of the church in Middenbeemster. Visitors can see the restored study, “Kipperust,” where Betje Wolff wrote her letters and books. Compared with its focus on farming life around 1910, this museum takes visitors to a specific workspace and explores Betje Wolff’s writing. The two museums therefore offer different subject matter rather than presenting the same local history from the same perspective.

Walks and timing

The village walk through Middenbeemster, formerly called “de Buurt,” starts at the foot of the Keyserkerk. A guided walk through the old village center is also available: an experienced guide from Bezoekerscentrum Beemster leads the tour, which takes place on request. For planning purposes, these are two useful details in different forms: the starting point is specified for the village walk, while the guided walk is available “on request.”

The Keyserklim can be booked by the hour and lasts no more than 50 minutes. This makes it easy to distinguish its stated duration from that of the walks, for which no duration is given here. If you plan to visit the Keyserklim, check the booking information in advance, as operational details may change.

Discover more destinations: Noordbeemster, Zuidoostbeemster.

Go to the main travel overview: Beemster.