De Museumfabriek

The museum is truly encyclopaedic. Het Grote Verhaal - "the huge narrative" - invites visitors to embark on a journey through time from the ice age to the present day. It is located in the town of Twente in the West of Holland, which once boasted a flourishing textile industry. One of the few remaining factories from this time now houses the museum. Spinning engines, looms and steam engines are linked with interactive presentations to show how industrialisation affected the lives of the people in Twente, and especially in Enschede. The museum brings back to life the regional weaving traditions and the rapid transformation of agricultural workers and homeworkers into factory hands. Extremely tall glass cases can be seen everywhere throughout the museum: the arrangement of exhibits related to natural and cultural history - from an ice age woolly rhinoceros via historic clothing all the way to a modern camping stool - offer a multifaceted view of the turbulent history in the region. This so-called "Open Depot" kaleidoscope is the hinge that pins down the industrial age as an important chapter in the development of Twente.