HAPPENING 13 FEB–31 MAY '26 | Museum Rotterdam is opening a new pop-up presentation about Het Steiger, the future home of the city museum. You can see it for free from 13 February until the end of May at the current museum site on Coolhaven.
Image: Steigerkerk. Photo: Stadsarchief Rotterdam Collection
If you have ever wondered where Museum Rotterdam is heading next, this pop-up is your first proper look at the place that is set to become its new base: Het Steiger, described as a post-war reconstruction monument (wederopbouwmonument) in central Rotterdam.
Pop-up presentation at Coolhaven
From 13 February you can visit the small pop-up presentation at Museum Rotterdam, Coolhaven 375, where Het Steiger takes centre stage as the museum’s planned future location. The presentation runs until the end of May and is free to visit. It includes objects from the museum collection as well as historical images that help place Het Steiger and its surroundings in context.
Why Het Steiger matters
Museum Rotterdam and the Municipality of Rotterdam say Het Steiger was chosen after a long search for a new home for the city museum. The building is framed as a place that carries both Rotterdam’s past and its next chapter. Het Steiger is described as a “city church” (stadskerk) in concept: a calm stop in the busy city, intended as an open house for meeting, reflection, and connection rather than a closed-off space.
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A historic spot by the first harbour
The location is part of what makes Het Steiger significant. It sits by the water of Rotterdam’s first harbour, close to the dam in the Rotte where the city began, with the early steps from settlement to world city on the opposite bank.
The museum also points to how this area shifted dramatically over time, from a picturesque pre-war cityscape to a wartime void, then into a hub of post-war building activity as Rotterdam rebuilt itself.
Opbouwdagen activities in May
Because Het Steiger is a reconstruction-era site, Museum Rotterdam is again working with the Reconstruction Platform Rotterdam (Platform Wederopbouw Rotterdam) around Opbouwdagen (Reconstruction Days). In May, the museum plans activities at Coolhaven including guided tours, talks, and scavenger hunts, with the pop-up presentation used as a starting point to explore wider reconstruction-themed walks and events across the city.
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Historian Rob Noordhoek adds context
Museum Rotterdam historian and curator Rob Noordhoek will also publish a monthly online deep dive on Het Steiger, adding historical background and context to what you see in the pop-up. “Het Steiger is a place where Rotterdam’s history literally comes together: from origin, growth and destruction to reconstruction and the future. That makes it a meaningful new home base for the city museum.” — Rob Noordhoek, Historian and Curator @ Museum Rotterdam
How to get there
Museum Rotterdam’s current location is at Coolhaven 375, Rotterdam. You are in a very walkable stretch near the Coolhaven area, with straightforward connections by metro and tram into the city centre and Delfshaven. If you are coming by bike, you can usually lock up close by along the quays, and the waterside route makes it an easy ride from many parts of town.
