Growing up along the Belgian coast, I remember Winter beach walks and finding all sorts of stuff washed ashore. From ropes to driftwood, large barrels to plastic bottles. I didn’t know there are people who actually have a full time hobby collecting these items: beach combers. In Dutch they are called ‘strandjutters’ or ‘jutters’, hence the name of the museum on Texel: Juttersmuseum. It is said to be the largest collection of material collected through beach combing (jutten), with items found on the beaches of Texel over 75 years. Several beach combers donated their individual collection to the museum.
Juttersmuseum, De Koog, Texel
Juttersmuseum, outside
Juttersmuseum, De Koog, Texel
If you think the only thing you would find at the Juttersmuseum are plastic bottles or boat ropes, think again. Just about everything has been found on the beaches of Texel: from TV’s to shoes, from helmets to bicycles, cars, inflatable dolls, bottles, children’s toys and even drugs. You name, it’s there. The barracks are literally packed from floor to ceiling and even the sheds themselves are (mainly) made from material found on the beaches. Some of the stuff is ‘accidentally’ lost into the ocean (washed overboard from boats or piers during storms, or from whipwrecks), other stuff is deliberately thrown into the ocean, as an easy (and illegal) way to get rid of it.
a look inside the Juttersmuseum
In one of the sheds, a video is shown with founder Jan Uitgeest explaining the history of the museum and the story behind some of the items. Before containers, international shipping of materials used a lot of wood, to safely stack the items. So in the old days, beach combers were mainly interested in the driftwood found on the beaches, which they could sell (or use themselves) as timber or firewood. With the invention of container-shipping, the amount of driftwood diminished, but modern times also brought other items to the beaches, which via the beach combers found their way to the illegal market (from cans with milkpowder to cartons with sigarettes). Some of the larger and heavier items in the museum (ankers, boat motors, …) are brought to the surface by fishermen’s nets, and donated to the museum.
A very interesting place. But also a sad place. It really puts your nose right on the huge amount of human pollution. And what is washed a shore is just the tip of the iceberg so to speak, with millions and millions of items that still drift in the sea or rest on the bottom of the ocean.
On another note, we were also saddened to see aquariums (with live fish) in the museum. Don’t know if these are also part of the collection, or just put there to ‘decorate’ the place. Pity for the fish though.
one of the aquariums 😦
Otherwise, very much recommended! It would be topped if vegans could also get something to eat in their snackbar (hint, hint 😉 ).
Entrance is 5€ pp.
Schipbreuk en Juttersmuseum Flora, location
Pontweg 141A,
1796 MA De Koog
Texel, the Netherlands
website: http://www.juttersflora.nl/
Here are some more photos:
The Bruges Vegan 
Amazing, but as you say, extremely sad, especially considering the bulk of the material would never ever be broken down in nature, and some of it (ropes, cables etc,) are harmful to wildlife.
and then there’s also the amount of plastic that’s not even visible to the eye, but also very harmfull (microplastic)
Wow, this is a huge collection! Looks quite interesting, though. I bet you can go through this stuff for hours and be amazed again and again by all the”trash”. You are absolutely right…it is actually very sad to see what people just get rid off in the sea. But on the other hand, I think that such a place raises awareness of our misbehavior. As you said, it puts your nose right on the huge amount of human pollution. This museum surely makes you think about it. Never heard of the Juttersmuseum before…but it sure looks interesting 🙂
let’s hope it raises awareness. And yes, you could easily spend a couple of hours inside this museum. It is really packed!
What a fascinating place you found there. You stumbled across some very intriguing items.
I agree also its so sad that many items and more get dumped into oceans, seas etc. How people can abuse such a vast mysterious place in such a way with no regard for marine life or this beautiful place we call Earth. The consequences with be realized one day if humans continue this course…the trash, debris, chemical/toxic waste and oil spills. It’s sad.
Juttersmuseum keep up the good work, each item added to the museum is one less thing in our oceans! 🙂
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