Open Monument Day 2025: Heritage & Architecture, Building(d) to Stay
For the Open Monument Days 2025, approximately 5500 monuments will be open to the public on September 13 and 14, 2025, spread throughout the country. A few more key figures: collaboration with more than 300 local committees and 18.000 volunteers nationwide. The event attracts approximately 1,3 million visitors annually. Book this weekend and you can enjoy monuments that are normally closed, often with a guided tour. Visit your own city or go to another city and region and let yourself be surprised. Theme: Heritage & Architecture, Built to Stay.
The world behind Open Monument Day
The VriendenLoterij Open Monument Day is organized every year on the second (full) weekend of September by the Nederland Monumentenland foundation in collaboration with more than 300 local committees and 18.000 volunteers throughout the country. The event attracts approximately 1,3 million visitors annually. During Open Monument Day, thousands of monuments in the Netherlands are opened to the general public to increase public interest in monuments and support for monument preservation. Not only do thousands of monuments open their doors for free, but countless activities are also organized: exhibitions, guided tours, cycling routes, walks, musical performances, as well as many activities for young people.
European Heritage Days
Open Monument Day is part of a larger whole, the European Heritage Days. The first Open Monument Day in the Netherlands was organized in 1987 following an earlier French initiative. Subsequently, in 1989, the Cultural Heritage Committee of the Council of Europe organized an international consultation regarding possible European Heritage Days. This led to the first European Heritage Days in 1991. Eleven countries participated that year. Open Monument Day is now organized in fifty countries.
50 jaar The European Architectural Heritage Year (EAHY) 1975
The European Year of Architectural Heritage (EAHY) in 1975, an initiative of the Council of Europe, aimed to raise public awareness of the cultural, social, and economic value of historic buildings and environments, and to encourage their preservation and the development of a protection policy through the drafting of the European Charter for Architectural Heritage. During this year, participating countries presented exemplary restoration projects, and the importance of protecting both well-known and lesser-known historic sites throughout Europe was emphasized. And now, 50 years later, we are celebrating the commemoration once again with the theme 'Heritage & Architecture'.
The Netherlands also participated with a beautiful series of four Summer Stamps – Architecture in 1975: St. Hubertus Hunting Lodge, Amsterdam Beguinage, Kuipers Gate Middelburg, village of Orvelte.
Source: Open Monument Day.
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