NEMO Science Museum
100 years of NEMO
A century of curiosity — time to celebrate! With surprising experiments, workshops, demonstrations and much more.
Still super curious a century later
Curiosity, discovery and learning as you play have been common threads throughout the history of our museum. After all, we need curious people to find creative solutions for the challenges of the future. And curiosity is not only good, it’s fun, too. It allows you to constantly discover new things, be creative, and never cease to be amazed.
So, during this celebratory year, NEMO will be fanning the flames of curiosity. We challenge the whole of the Netherlands to submit countless questions on an infinite number of topics.
Time to party, party, party
Between September and December, the NEMO Science Tour will be travelling the country. During a demonstration of approximately 20 minutes you will witness spectacular experiments. From the youngest to the oldest, everyone will be surprised, challenged and, of course, become more curious than ever before!
Our birthday is on Friday 8 December 2023. This day will feature a spectacular show on scientific experiments at the Oosterdok waterfront in Amsterdam. Afterwards, invitees can join us for our anniversary party at NEMO, during which scientists will be answering questions live from the audience and surprising demonstrations will be on show.
The Festival of Curiosity will take place on Saturday 9 and Sunday 10 December. NEMO will be open free of charge to everyone that weekend and there will be lots of extra activities.
1923 to present
Did you know that, 100 years ago, NEMO started out in a packed and messy attic? Painter and collector Herman Heijenbrock founded the Labour Museum in Amsterdam in 1923. His goal was to involve ordinary citizens and young people in industrial developments so they could learn more about technology. In 1954 the museum was rebranded the Netherlands Institute for Industry and Technology (NINT).
The iconic building above the IJ tunnel opened in 1997. NewMetropolis, as it was then called, became Science Center NEMO in the year 2000. And because we have our own heritage collection, we officially became a museum in 2016, changing our name to NEMO Science Museum. Still just NEMO for short, though.
“‘It’s great that, after 100 years, the museum continues to inspire and make people curious about science and technology. The great challenges of the modern era require curious people and knowledge of science and technology.’”
Géke Roelink, director NEMO
Nowadays, NEMO is an interactive museum with over 700.000 visitors per year. So it’s safe to say that we have undergone a considerable transformation in the last 100 years.
Thanks to our main partner
Our extensive celebrations are possible thanks to a wonderful contribution by our main partner, VriendenLoterij for Bijzondere Culturele Projecten. The lottery’s goal is to boost cultural visits and help museums reach a new audience.