European Heritage Days

European Heritage Days in the Netherlands
 
The Open Monumentendag (Heritage Days) is designed to bring people into contact with the historic environment, and to encourage interest in and understanding of historical monuments and the need for their preservation. During the Open Monumentendag - every second weekend of September - thousands of historical buildings and sites (about 4,000) are open to the public free of charge. Besides opening their doors, many locations also organise on-site activities like exhibitions, music and guided tours. Each year around 80 to 85 percent of Dutch municipalities participate in the Open Monumentendag, organised by local committees. In recent years around 900,000 visitors have participated annually, making the Open Monumentendag one of the Netherlands' premier cultural events.
 
Open Monumentendag has established itself as an integral part of the Dutch cultural calendar and has helped significantly in rallying support for the preservation of historical monuments in the Netherlands.

Theme: The Nineteenth CenturyIn 2010, on Saturday 11 and Sunday 12 September, the European Heritage Days theme in the Netherlands is the nineteenth century. A century with two faces: on the one hand the technical innovations of the Industrial Revolution; on the other the revival of historical architectural styles. A mixture that resulted in some quite surprising buildings, many of which are open to the public on 11 and 12 September.