Inhabited moraine
Approximately 150.000 years ago, during the penultimate Ice Age, the 'exotic' undulating landscape of Berg en Dal emerged, featuring unique flora and fauna. Traces of hunter-gatherers from the period 15.000/9000 BC show that this moraine was inhabited early on. From 5000 BC onwards, agricultural activities increased, and finds from the Bronze Age (2100–800 BC) indicate a permanent presence. From the Iron Age (800–10 BC), several burial mounds even remain in the nearby forest area. In the period that followed, the Romans ruled. The present-day city of Nijmegen and the surrounding area were an important center for them, from which they ruled the region.
A natural meeting place
In and around the current landscape park lies a valley with strikingly straight walls. These make it clear that it is not a natural valley, but that it was dug by the Romans, probably for water supply. In this way, Berg en Dal and Nijmegen grew into a meeting place of various cultures, where, after the Romans and Batavians, the German princes and Dukes of Gelre also felt at home. International business was conducted here between northern and southern envoys, stadtholders, and regents. A place where armies, soldiers, travelers, and merchants traditionally came to a halt and spoke about matters of life or death, about power and pilgrimages. And perhaps even then, about the beauty of this unique landscape.
The Holy Land
More than a century ago, work began on the realization of an impressive park on this moraine south of Nijmegen. The Catholic priest Arnold Suys founded the Holy Land Foundation in 1911. He did this in collaboration with architect Jan Stuyt and artist Piet Gerrits, with whom he spent some time in the Holy Land. The trio was so impressed by their experiences there that they wanted to create a living biblical landscape in Berg en Dal. It was to be a journey through time in the life of Jesus: Palestine, where Jesus had lived, preached, and died.
Devotion Park
The hilly heathland landscape between Nijmegen and Groesbeek formed a perfect location to construct the Holy Land replica. With the support of the widow Jeanne-Cécile Vroomans-Leclerq, the construction of an extensive devotional park began over a hundred years ago. They purchased the Bakkersberg (later renamed Sionsberg) and the Usulenberg.
Visitors to the devotional park could follow a route past significant places from the Gospel, which were depicted as accurately as possible. In the years that followed, various monasteries were established in the vicinity of the site. Several care institutions also settled there, as had traditionally been encouraged within the Modern Devotion movement. In 1923, the Catholic University of Nijmegen was established a kilometer away.
Biblical Open-Air Museum
Over the course of time, a unique museum park with an extensive ensemble of remarkable buildings and objects has developed on a site of over 100 hectares. Initially, the Biblical New Testament, with the birth, life, and suffering of Jesus Christ, took center stage. However, from the 1960s onwards, an increasingly broad presentation of life in the (historical) Middle East emerged.
The original name Heilig Landstichting was changed to Bijbels Openluchtmuseum . In 1993, alongside Judaism and Christianity, the third monotheistic religion was added to the presentation: Islam. To this end, new additions were made to the museum in the form of, among other things, an Arab village.
Museum Park Orientalis
In 2007, the museum received its current name, Museumpark Orientalis. Over the years, a true museum triangle also emerged in the current municipality of Berg en Dal.
Orientalis's 'neighboring museum' was the Wereldmuseum Berg en Dal (formerly the Afrika Museum ). This museum was founded in 1954 by missionary priests and tells the story of African history and interculturality. This museum is currently closed. In 1987, the Vrijheidsmuseum (formerly the Nationaal Bevrijdingsmuseum 1944-1945) was also established here. During the liberation of Europe, the Allies halted here when 'a bridge too far'.
Park of values
Museum Park Orientalis in Heilig Landstichting tells a story. That story can be seen in the spatial layout, the buildings and objects of great architectural/art-historical significance, and the impressive cemetery, all set within a wondrously beautiful landscape.
The museum park showcases the changing view of religion over the years: where it began as a location for Catholic upbringing and experience, it grew into an educational presentation of the three major monotheistic cultures.
Today, the scope is even broader: Orientalis offers space for worldviews. Consequently, its cultural-historical significance extends far beyond 'merely' the sum of remarkable buildings and initiatives. The whole is a phenomenon with a history that captures the imagination, possessing great spiritual and devotional value.
Unique in the world
Nowhere else can you walk through the history of our religion and Western civilization in the open air like this. Based on both facts and feeling, this makes the park a place for religion and the conversation surrounding it. A place of devotion and rituals, of questioning the meaning of life and the existence of a higher power. A place for interreligious dialogue and a sense of truth. An environment that stimulates philosophical questions and encourages inquiry into the world, into yourself, and its beginning and end. And apart from that, it is of course also a wonderfully fun museum park, where there is always something for everyone to discover!