War Museum Eyewitness in Beek, Limburg, is closing its doors. Director Wim Seelen of the museum announced this today. Despite the growing interest, he can no longer afford the necessary investments in the museum. Before corona, the museum attracted more than 10,000 visitors annually.
Director Seelen doubts whether the museum in its existing form can attract enough visitors to continue to grow. In his opinion, the current building, a villa on Maastrichterlaan, is also not suitable for further development. “All in all, this has made us decide to stop our museum activities in the course of 2022. We deeply regret this choice, but nevertheless believe that we have made a healthy decision,” writes Seelen.
The museum will close definitively after the summer season, writes 1Limburg† After closing, the collection will be taken over by the War Museum in Overloon. This collection consists of a number of so-called dioramas with more than 150 dolls. These are spaces behind glass in which scenes from the Second World War are depicted.
Not only were the doors forced to close due to the corona crisis, the museum was also hit by a burglary two years ago. Nazi paraphernalia such as helmets, uniforms and insignia were captured. The value of those items, according to the museum, amounted to almost one million euros.
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