Museum visit terms and conditions

Book your visit ahead of time, even if you already have a valid admission ticket. Do not come out to the museum if you have a cold, are running a temperature or one of your family members is sick.

What to expect from us

corona measures for a safe and care-free visit
friendly and helpful staff
camera surveillance to ensure the safety of our visitors, our collections and the building
please be aware that sometimes pictures are being taken for promotional purposes
good accessibility and facilities for people with disabilities
a great day out!

1.1 The National Military Museum: the spaces inside the National Military Museum Building at 1 Verlengde Palzerweg in Soesterberg that are open to the public, including the scientific library and the documentation section.

1.2 Visitor: anyone who enters the National Military Museum Building to see an exhibition or to consult the library collections, or to attend a reception, congress, lecture or similar gathering at the National Military Museum.

1.3 Entry ticket: a ticket which gives the Visitor access, during regular opening times, to the exhibition rooms at the National Military Museum.

1.4 Admission ticket: an entry ticket (in combination with a discount card or otherwise) or a comparable supporting document (such as a written invitation, voucher, annual season ticket), which gives access to (a) space(s) (to be specified) at the National Military Museum.

1.5 Items: all items, including monies, valuables and securities.

1.7 National Military Museum Officials: all natural persons who work in and around the National Military Museum on behalf of the National Military Museum.

2.1 The present terms and conditions apply to all visitors to the National Military Museum as well as to all natural persons and/or legal persons on whose services the National Military Museum calls or has called as part of its stated object.

2.2 The present terms and conditions equally apply to specific activities outside of regular opening times and/or aimed at people other than regular visitors, in the event of exclusive receptions.

2.3 Derogations from the present terms and conditions shall be valid only where they have been expressly agreed and laid down in writing.

3.1 The Visitor shall be permitted to enter the National Military Museum only upon presentation of a valid admission ticket.

3.2 The Visitor shall be denied (further) access to the National Military Museum where it appears that the admission ticket was not issued by the National Military Museum or a body authorised to this effect by the National Military Museum.

3.3 On first request, the Visitor is to present his admission ticket to National Military Museum officials, failing which the National Military Museum shall be within its rights to deny the Visitor access to the National Military Museum.

3.4 The Visitor shall not receive repayment of the price of admission in the event of loss or theft of his Admission Ticket/Entry Ticket before he has entered the National Military Museum.

3.5 Tickets shall remain valid for one year after the date on which they were issued. Refund of an unused Admission Ticket/Entry Ticket is not possible.

3.6 Admission Tickets/Entry Tickets cannot be exchanged.

3.7 The National Military Museum shall be within its rights to adapt its regular opening times in consideration of ad hoc organisational emergency response drills (article 23 Occupational Health & Safety Act) or, in the event of an actual calamity, of the full or partial evacuation of the National Military Museum as deemed necessary. Such an adjustment of the regular opening times shall not entitle the Visitor to receive repayment of the price of admission.

4.1 The time spent by the Visitor at the National Military Museum is for his own account and at his own risk.

4.2 During his time at the National Military Museum, the Visitor shall conduct himself in compliance with the health and safety and public order regulations and other rules as apply to museum visits. In addition, the Visitor shall be under obligation to promptly comply with directions and instructions given by the National Military Museum officials who are identifiable as such. If, in this official’s view, a Visitor is found to act in any way contrary to these regulations, norms, directions and instructions, he may be denied further access to the Building without the National Military Museum being required to pay any kind of compensation.

4.3 Bringing in bags larger than 25x25x25cm, umbrellas and wearing other large items is not allowed. The Visitor is to hand in items up to a size larger than the dimensions stated and which cannot be folded with the cloakroom. The National Military Museum may decline to store items of a larger size for safekeeping. The National Military Museum declines all liability for damage to or the loss of items handed in for safekeeping by the Visitor.

4.4 The Visitor shall be liable for all damage caused by a (similar) item, which he took into the National Military Museum contrary to clause 4.3.

4.5 The National Military Museum shall be within its rights to deny access to the National Military Museum, whether permanently or for a specified period of time, to Visitors who caused damage to an artefact during one or multiple previous visits to the National Military Museum Building or to other museums, through his fault, gross negligence and/or through wilful intent, or where grounds exist to warrant fears that the Visitor may cause damage to the museum’s artefacts. Whatever the case, the National Military Museum shall be within its rights to subject the said Visitor to the measures specified in par. 6 of the present article 4 on all of his visits to the museum. The Visitor shall be promptly notified of the decision denying him access to the museum, where possible in writing.

4.6 In the event of calamities, such as the sudden disappearance of an exhibit, a terrorist attack or violence of a different nature, the National Military Museum shall be within its rights to close the doors and escort the Visitors present outside one by one. In that case, the Visitor may be asked to consent to having his bags and other personal possessions searched by or on behalf of the National Military Museum’s staff. The Visitor may also be asked to consent to a body search. Visitors who refuse to submit to a body search or to have their personal possessions searched shall be asked to present proof of identity before leaving the National Military Museum Building.

5.1 At the National Military Museum Building, visitors shall:

not offer up for sale or free of charge any items, regardless of nature, to third parties;
not hinder other visitors, including albeit not confined to, by obstructing for a prolonged time their ability to see the exhibits on display or by causing noise nuisance (including the use of mobile telephones and other sound equipment);
not bring in pets/animals, except into spaces where these are expressly allowed or where the animals concerned are assistance dogs or guide dogs for the blind;
observe the smoking ban;
not consume comestibles, except at the café/restaurant;
not touch any of the exhibits on display, unless where this is emphatically and expressly permitted; parents and teachers or supervisors are to rigorously make sure exhibits on display are not touched by the under-aged youngsters, individuals or groups they are escorting. Children under the age of 16 are allowed to visit the museum only escorted by an adult;
not shoot any pictures, video or film footage involving the use of lights, flash devices and/or tripods without the National Military Museum’s prior written permission. Any pictures, video or film footage shot may be used solely for personal, non-commercial purposes. For commercial use, see 5.3;
refrain from making drawings or paintings without the National Military Museum’s prior written permission. To obtain said permission, visitors should speak to the information desk at the Central Lobby.

5.2 At all times, the parents, teachers or supervisors shall be responsible and accountable for the conduct of the under-aged youngsters, individuals or groups they are escorting.

5.3 Pictures, video or film footage shot inside the National Military Museum Building is not permitted to be used for commercial purposes unless with the express, prior and written permission from the National Military Museum, in which case the appropriate rates shall apply.

6.1 On no account shall any of the circumstances listed below require the National Military Museum to repay the Visitor any sums paid by him or to pay the Visitor any other kind of sums in compensation:

the fact that artefacts from the National Military Museum’s permanent collection are unavailable to be viewed;
the fact that the National Military Museum Building is partially closed, including albeit not confined to partial closure as a result of the setting up and dismantling of exhibitions;
nuisance or inconvenience caused by other visitors, including albeit not confined to, noise nuisance, inappropriate behaviour (in amongst other things harassment), theft;
loss/damage caused by other visitors;
nuisance or inconvenience caused by maintenance work, including albeit not confined to conversions or the (re)designing of rooms;
nuisance or inconvenience caused by the poor operation of facilities at the National Military Museum Building.

7.1 The National Military Museum shall be solely liable for loss incurred by the Visitor which is the direct result of gross negligence or wilful intent on the part of the National Military Museum:

up to no more than the sum in compensation paid out to the National Military Museum by the National Military Museum’s insurers in respect of the loss/damage in question, or
the sum in compensation paid out to the National Military Museum by a third party in respect of the loss/damage in question.

7.2 In the event of loss as a result of death or physical injury, the National Military Museum’s total liability shall on no account exceed the settlement in compensation detailed in par. 1 of the present article 7.

7.3 The National Military Museum waives all liability for indirect loss, including consequential loss, loss of profits or earnings, missed savings, etc.

8.1 Instances of force majeure which shall mean the National Military Museum cannot be blamed or held liable for any shortcomings on the Museum’s part caused by the said instances of force majeure, shall be all foreseeable or unforeseeable circumstances which impede the performance of the agreement by the National Military Museum to such a degree that said performance is either rendered impossible or difficult, whether temporarily or permanently.

8.2 The said circumstances shall also include circumstances affecting persons and/or services and/or institutions on whom the National Military Museum wishes to call in performing the visitor agreement, as well as everything which shall constitute force majeure with respect to the aforesaid, or which shall constitute a suspensive condition or a condition subsequent, or an attributable shortcoming on the part of the aforesaid.

9.1 Items found by visitors at the National Military Museum may be handed in with a member of staff, the cloakroom or the information desk of the National Military Museum.

9.2 The National Military Museum shall hold the lost property items for safekeeping and, where these are valuable items, hand them over to the Soesterberg Police.

9.3 In the event the purported owner of a lost property item were to come forward, he shall be free to decide to come and collect the item himself or to have it sent back to him, whereby he shall pay the carriage fee. In either case, the owner shall be required to present valid proof of identity. Where the National Military Museum has doubts regarding the status of the purported owner, the National Military Museum shall be within its rights to demand proof of ownership.

11.1 The applicability of the present General Terms and Conditions for Visitors shall not prejudice the possible applicability of other contractual terms and conditions and/or regulations of the National Military Museum.

11.2 The present General Terms and Conditions for Visitors and the agreement between the Visitor and the National Military Museum shall be governed by Dutch law. Disputes arising from the agreement between the Visitor and the National Military Museum shall be heard by the court of competent jurisdiction in Utrecht.