General

This year, Open Monument Day will be organized on Saturday, September 13, 2025 by the Open Monument Day Committee Wassenaar. The Jewish cemetery will also be open on Sunday, September 14, and guided tours will be given. This year’s theme is “Architectural Heritage”.

Throughout the Netherlands, the foundation Nederland Monumentenland organizes Open Monument Days in collaboration with more than 300 local committees and 18,000 volunteers throughout the country in the second weekend of September. The event in Wassenaar has attracted thousands of visitors in the past and around 1.3 million visitors annually throughout the Netherlands. During Open Monument Day, thousands of monuments in the Netherlands are opened to the general public, in order to increase public interest in monuments and support for monument care. Not only do the thousands of monuments open their doors for free, countless activities are also organized: exhibitions, guided tours, bicycle routes, walks, music performances, but also many activities for young people.
The cultural event connects people with monuments and shows that the stories and beauty of monuments are an enrichment for our living environment and for ourselves.

European Heritage Days

Open Monument Day is part of a larger whole, the European Heritage Days. The first Open Monument Day in Wassenaar and the Netherlands was organised in 1987, following an earlier French initiative. Subsequently, the Committee for Cultural Heritage of the Council of Europe organised an international consultation on possible European Open Monument Days in 1989. This led to the first European Heritage Days in 1991. In that year, eleven countries participated. Open Monument Day is now organised in fifty countries.

Dates Open Monuments Day upcoming editions in Wassenaar:
• 2025: 13 September – theme: “architectural heritage”
• 2026: 12 September – theme: Heritage in danger
• 2027: 11 September – theme: Hidden heritage
• 2028: 9 September – theme: Heritage of the future

Wassenaar 2025

We are currently still working on the program. We will publish it as soon as possible.

Keep an eye on this page for possible updates.