The Kröller-Müller Museum () is a national art museum and sculpture garden, located in the Hoge Veluwe National Park in Otterlo in the Netherlands. The museum, founded by art collector Helene Kröller-Müller within the extensive grounds of her and her husband's former estate (now the national park), opened in 1938. It has the second-largest collection of paintings by Vincent van Gogh, after the Van Gogh Museum. The museum had 283,000 visitors in 2025.

History

thumb|left| alt= A charming and iconic period photo of a young couple around 1900. The lady has her hair swept upwards and is wearing a high collar fastened with a jewel. The gentleman sports a gallant moustache neatly trimmed and is also wearing a high collar.|[[Helene Kröller-Müller|Helene Müller and Anton Kröller, ]]

The Kröller-Müller Museum was founded by Helene Kröller-Müller, an avid art collector who, being advised by H.P. Bremmer, was one of the first to recognize Vincent van Gogh's genius and collect his works. In 1935, she donated her whole collection to the state of the Netherlands. In 1938, the museum, which was designed by Henry van de Velde, opened to the public. The sculpture garden was added in 1961 and the new exhibition wing, designed by Wim Quist, opened in 1977. The collection includes works by Auguste Rodin, Henry Moore, Jean Dubuffet, Mark di Suvero, Lucio Fontana, Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen, Fritz Wotruba, Joep van Lieshout and many more.

Selected collection highlights

Administration

{|- class="wikitable" style="float:right; margin-left:0.5em"

! !! Visitors

|-

| 2012 || 307,000

|-

| 2013 || 330,000

|-

| 2014 || 392,000

|-

| 2015 || 380,000

|-

|2018

|Apx. 385,000

|-

|2022

|219,691

|-

|2023

|282,926

The museum had an increasing number of visitors until the COVID-19 pandemic, when it took a severe plunge due to closures and reduced tourism activities overall. Visitor numbers have largely recovered since, but have yet to reach pre-pandemic levels.

The museum was the 12th most visited museum nationally in 2013.

See also

  • List of museums in the Netherlands
  • List of most visited museums in the Netherlands

References

Further reading

  • Kröller-Müller State Museum, Otterlo. Netherlands: Kröller-Müller State Museum, 1973.
  • Tour of the Kröller-Müller and grounds
  • Kröller-Müller Museum within Google Arts & Culture