No pictures for this entry, I was out and about without my camera. Here is a link to the museum:
http://www.ertussenuit.com/details/6417.htm

On Saturday I went to a museum in Venray with one of my co-workers. The name of the museum is Museum Freulekeshuus ‘t . This translates to the Ladies House. It has this name because a long time ago 2 ladies lived there. The ladies weren’t queens or princesses but maybe they were wives of counts or maybe they were wives of barons. While this was all being explained to me I imagined “the Sound of Music” and the baroness that dates briefly dates Captain Van Trapp before he realizes he loves Julie Andrews. So maybe they were baronesses living in Venray. Right down the street there was a convent where nuns lived, so the little street is very female centric. This would be the type of street Peace College would want graduates to visit (I should email the alumnae department!) and I imagined if Dr. Hall or Dr. Vick or even Mr. Crosno could see me now they would smile.
The museum is not really a happening place. In order to enter one must ring a doorbell. Upon ringing the bell the door was slowly opened by an elderly lady named Bertha. I can’t tell if she was more excited that I speak no Dutch or that a visitor had arrived at the museum. When you walk into the museum you step back to 1965 when the museum must have been planned and commissioned. The museum was a handful a rooms and the main theme was WWII and how the war affected the town of Venray. Bertha offered to walk me through the museum and tell me about all the rooms and items in the rooms since all the signs were in Dutch and the visitors guide was also only in Dutch. Bertha thought this would be “great fun” and told me I was her “gift from God.” Apparently she is about to go visit a niece in Ohio (right outside of Columbus, small world since art.com’s distribution center is near there) and she considered my visit God’s chance for her to practice her English. My favorite room was where there was a replica of a turn of the century Dutch kitchen. Martha Stewart watch out! The stove was one of those old black cast iron ones that runs on kindling. The best part of the stove was it had a built in waffle maker on the range! YUMMY, can I get a built in waffle maker on my stove. I’ll need to check with Williams and Sonoma!! Bertha did tell me that her girlhood stove wasn’t fortunate enough to have the waffle maker on top like the one on display in the museum. The room reminded me of Aunt Muriel, it had lots of antique dolls and Bertha let me hold one, I looked at the dolls neck and sure enough she had the insignia on her neck just like our pre WW II dolls do that Aunt Muriel gave us. In the last room of the museum I learned that Bertha is a contributor to the museum. In one of the glass cases her composition book from when she was 12 is on display. When she was 11 the Germans invaded Venray. She told about how all the woman and children were evacuated and had to walk over to another town where they would be safe. They hid 14 young men from the town in haystacks and she wrote all about this experience in her composition book after the liberation. Apparently I just missed liberation day and she told me that they do an activity with children here where the children practice making a long walk in remembrance of what happened during WWII and also in preparation for if they ever have to walk away from their town again. Also hanging on the wall are victory skirts and vests. Fabric supplies weren’t available during the war and mothers took scraps together from tattered clothes, tablecloths, napkins, curtains and sewed outfits for their children, so it was like your skirt and vest looked just like a quilt. They also sewed together outfits made out of parachutes from US Army parachutes. These little dresses are funny looking, like GI JOE meets American Girl dolls, cute little dresses with rickrack/flair on the collars and sleeves but they are made out of camouflage looking material.
The museum was a great experience, I am sad I didn’t have my camera to get a picture of Bertha by her composition book. I did tell her if anyone comes to visit I’d come back with them so she can give them a tour. This would be a great outing for visitors because Bertha from WWII has tons of Venray stories to share, oh and she will offer to make you tea and gives you a cookie too!