About Orientalis - Museum Park Orientalis

Where stories connect

Welcome to a special place.

The oldest open-air museum in the Netherlands, where you walk through nature, history, and stories.

Here you encounter other cultures, discover centuries-old traditions, and experience how people throughout history, from the Romans to the present day, have given meaning to life. In our museum and the expansive park, you travel back in time. You listen to stories, encounter other worlds, and experience traditions that have been passed down through generations.

There is something to experience for young and old alike: exploring, learning, playing, listening, slowing down, looking, and marveling. Everyone discovers here in their own way.

This place in Heilig Landstichting is for unwinding, being curious, and finding new ideas. We invite you to ask questions. About the past. About the world of today. And perhaps also about yourself. Here there is room for new inspiration, for not knowing for a moment.

Come along on a journey. Go on a journey of discovery. Look and listen around you. Experience the stories. Meet the other.

For living together begins with meeting, discovering, and reflecting.

Have fun!

Mission

With our community of passionate and committed individuals, we are working on a Museumpark Orientalis that is an accessible, valuable destination for everyone. Where people feel welcome and experience: I am allowed to be here. A haven of peace in nature where visitors slow down, explore, ground themselves, experience fascinating life stories, and meet one another with curiosity and respect. A place where people connect and discover by doing, through living programs that nurture insight and empathy. Where awareness and appreciation grow among visitors, and the realization: I understand myself and others better, because nature, culture, and spirituality come to life through direct experience.

With strong national and international collaborations, Museumpark Orientalis is the place on earth for dialogue and reflection. A destination to experience, to contemplate, and to return home with renewed dedication. A place to which many subsequently return. Because the landscape, the stories, and the encounters inspire time and again. Growing to more than 100.000 visitors per year, Museumpark Orientalis is a multicultural tourist magnet, and we make a significant contribution to the local and regional economy. By emphasizing the societal and connecting value of cultural heritage and placing people and society at the center, rather than just the heritage objects themselves, we fully uphold the European Faro Convention. We are an inspiring collaborative partner of, among others, Radboud University, the Titus Brandsma Institute, Laudato Si', Secondary Education institutions, Regional Training Centres, and Universities of Applied Sciences in the Nijmegen – Arnhem region and the border area. Furthermore, we consider ourselves a partner and a pillar of the Green Metropolis Region Arnhem – Nijmegen for collaboration in the fields of culture and tourism. Together on the road to Nijmegen European Capital of Culture 2033. By strengthening growth and the green character of the region as a top destination.

Our mindset towards this future
Over the last 50 years, the park has been overtaken by the spirit of the times at an increasingly rapid pace. The need to be future-proof for the coming years once again is therefore a utopia, despite the application of increasingly hybrid forms of collaboration and the telling of ever more and more diverse stories.
In these rapidly changing and uncertain times, the art is not to strive to be future-proof, but to be future-agile; the ability to continuously adapt to what is necessary for the collectively desired result; our future perspective 2033. From an originally linear, via a hybrid, to a more fluid development of collaboration in sharing authentic life stories. As a source and compass for a meaningful life.

Vision

Collaborating as stewards to preserve the landscape and the museum collection, and to create contemporary, tangible forms of expression and experience to contribute, in the spirit of the original initiators, to the search for the essence of life and to inspire all visitors. Now and for future generations.

Province of Gelderland-2025-12-08-091748

Work in progress (2025-2026)

Thanks in part to a subsidy from the European Union, a project is being realized at Museum Park Orientalis with the objective of strengthening social connections between residents of different ages and promoting a healthy lifestyle. Accessibility is being improved for older and disabled visitors as well. By increasing biodiversity and learning from it together, making this knowledge visible and accessible, greater respect and appreciation for our natural environment is created.

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