The National Prison Museum in Veenhuizen has had a record month. Never before have so many people visited the museum as in August, where the 20,000th visitor was welcomed today. The person was allowed to take a gift bag with delicacies from Veenhuizen back home.
The first week of this month was the most visited week, when the Prison Museum received 7500 guests. That was already a week full of extremes, because normally an average of 15,000 visitors come to the museum throughout August.
The museum suspects that the children’s activities, the many group reservations and the return of the theater spectacle Het Pauperparadijs led to a successful summer, which this year saw a growth of thirty percent compared to other times. “Partly thanks to the efforts of many enthusiastic volunteers, the crowds went smoothly,” says a spokesperson for the museum.
The Prison Museum, which was voted the most child-friendly museum in Drenthe two years ago, expects visitor numbers to rise further in the future. This takes into account 150,000 visitors per year. Expansion plans are already being prepared for this busyness.