Eindhoven & North Brabant

The Van Abbe Museum is not just a museum. It's not just a blank canvas for the big public attractions in modern and contemporary art. In contrast, this museum experiments, using trial and error to make discoveries.

The visitors' centre where the Tourist office is located, includes an impressive 30 sq. m “scale model” of the Heusden fortress and a film about the history of Heusden fortress (in Dutch and English). There is also a Guild Room and a wedding room in the building, where changing exhibitions take place. The Visitors Centre is the starting point of the guided or self-guided city walks, and is wheelchair-friendly and has a disabled toilet.

Discover all the important moments of Brabant’s history. This guided tour will start in the medieval duchy of Brabant. You will learn more about the 15th century with Jhernonimus Bosch. And later on the 16th and 17th century during the fight between the Catholics and Protestants, but also Spain between and Oranje Brabant. There is some progress in the 19th century with of course Vincent van Gogh: the artist who paints the peasant life of Brabant. In the 20th century you will get to know the industry of Brabant and his famous products and brands. Finally we will challenge you to predict the future of Brabant at the ‘Future Arena’.

The Design Museum ’s-Hertogenbosch combines a unique collection of ceramics and jewellery with spectacular exhibitions of contemporary art and design. The core of the collection is formed by jewellery and ceramics of artists and designers from the 20th and 21st century. Other temporary presentations include works by Pablo Picasso and Lucio Fontana, but also design pieces by Gijs Bakker and Hella Jongerius. You can also see works by promising young artists.

De Pont museum is a museum full of contemporary art. The museum is in a former will-spinning mill in Tilburg where it has been converted into a unique space for the contemporary art. You can see artworks from various artists, at their website you can find an extensive list of all the artists featured at De Pont.

Het Noordbrabants Museum collects art and other objects which are related to the art, history and culture of North Brabant and the Southern Netherlands. The museum collection contains more than 30,000 objects, such as paintings, prints, drawings, textile, coins and medals, glass, silver, craft work and archaeological and typical objects from Brabant.

The village of Nuenen is also known as Van Gogh Village, and rightly so. There isn’t a place in the Netherlands where you can tread in the footsteps of this famous painter quite so literally. Here, stories about Van Gogh are still vividly told, his letters are available for reading, and there are no fewer than fourteen locations which have been immortalised by Van Gogh in a picture or a painting. Experiencing Van Gogh’s life in the Netherlands so intensely is not possible anywhere else. “The museum is a gem” In the Vincentre museum you will hear all about Van Gogh and read his own stories about Nuenen, where he lived and worked from 1883 to 1885. Who was he, how did he live, who did he socialise with, and why was he so passionate about Nuenen? It will all become clear during an educational tour with an audio guide in no fewer than eight languages: Dutch, English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Japanese and Chinese. In the village itself, no fewer than 23 locations have a direct link with Van Gogh. Together, they form a walking and cycling route with interactive informational signs in Dutch and English. From The Potato Eaters to The Starry Night The Potato Eaters is based on a scene that Van Gogh saw at the house of a peasant family in Nuenen. It literally comes to life in theatre Het Klooster. The world famous designer Daan Roosegaarde designed, based on Van Gogh’s The Starry Night, the now famous and unique Van Gogh-Roosegaarde cycle path, for which thousands of twinkling stones were incorporated in the asphalt. This cycle path, between Nuenen and the nearby city of Eindhoven, is part of the Van Gogh Cycle Route. Heritage locations in Brabant This cycle route connects the five Van Gogh heritage locations in Brabant, which of course include Nuenen. You won’t get any closer to Van Gogh than this. Or, as one of our enthusiastic guests wrote about Nuenen: “The same view that Van Gogh had!” Come and experience the place in which Van Gogh was inspired by the rural Brabant countryside, easily accessible at no more than ten kilometres away from Eindhoven, city of technology and design.

Located in the centre of Etten-Leur, the Van Gogh Church offers a fascinating glimpse into what is probably the least known period in Vincent van Gogh’s life, but certainly not the least important! ‘The start of a career’ This is the church where Van Gogh’s father was minister for seven years and where Van Gogh could regularly be found. Vincent van Gogh first registered as an artist in Etten in 1881. For nine months he lived and worked in the parsonage behind the Dutch Reformed Church. He also had his first drawing studio here. ‘Precious memories’ In the Van Gogh Church you can see how Vincent wrestled with drawing but became better at it through sheer hard work. How he was infatuated by his cousin Kee Vos and the drama which then unfolded. How he had arguments with his father. How he left Etten at Christmas 1881 but never forgot it. ‘Around the Van Gogh Church’ All these unusual stories are told in and around the Van Gogh Church. Nine colourful windows, multilingual information panels, showcases, animation, a film, a garden, an oversized portrait wall and audio columns take you back in time. The ‘Van Gogh in virtual reality’ is new: you will be immersed in an almost a real life encounter with Vincent van Gogh through a computer simulated environment. Van Gogh Shop The Van Gogh Shop has a large variety of souvenirs. It is also the ideal starting point for a Van Gogh walk or a cycle trip through the surrounding area. Van Gogh heritage location The Van Gogh Church and Van Gogh Shop (Markt 4) are within walking distance from the bus and railway stations. There is a multi-storey car park very close to the church. The locations are also on the Van Gogh Cycle Route that connects the five heritage locations in Brabant with each other.