Prison Gate Museum
Photo: Own work — CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
The Prison Gate Museum, located in The Hague, showcases the history of crime and punishment from the 15th to the 19th century in a former medieval prison.
Planning your visit
The Gevangenpoort is a genuine medieval prison gate, part of the thirteenth-century castle complex, used to hold prisoners from the fifteenth century until 1828 — which makes the building the exhibition.
The cells are preserved: the debtors' rooms where those who could pay lived in relative comfort, and the crude cells below for everyone else. The instruments of interrogation and punishment are displayed in the rooms where they were used, and the museum is direct about the fact that torture was a legal part of judicial procedure rather than an aberration.
The most famous prisoner was Cornelis de Witt, held here in 1672 before he and his brother Johan, the Dutch political leader, were dragged out by a mob and killed — and, according to contemporary accounts, partly eaten. It remains one of the more shocking episodes in Dutch history.
Visits are guided. It sits beside the Binnenhof and the Mauritshuis. Allow an hour. Current availability is listed below.
Before you book
Where is Prison Gate Museum?
Prison Gate Museum is in The Hague, Netherlands.
How long should I allow for Prison Gate Museum?
Allow an hour. That is the time the collection itself takes at an unhurried pace, before any queue.
Do I need to book Prison Gate Museum in advance?
Tickets can be bought on the door at quiet times, but booking ahead fixes the date and avoids the queue at busy ones. Live availability is shown on this page.
