In the glass bastion of Fort Kijkduin, surrounding the skeleton of Chris the Sperm Whale, a new exhibition is now on display about a remarkable chapter in Dutch maritime history: the whaling industry. The whalers from Huisduinen take visitors on a journey from the icy Northern Arctic Ocean to the waters around Antarctica.
After years of preparation, Fort Kijkduin is proud to announce that the permanent exhibition “Whalers of Huisduinen” is now fully completed. The first part of the exhibition was realized thanks to support from several cultural funds. Due to a period of lacking financing, the continuation of the project was temporarily put on hold, but it is now finally finished.
After the Second World War, the Netherlands faced a severe shortage of fats and oils. This led to a renewed whaling industry: the ships Willem Barendsz I and II carried out eighteen expeditions to the Southern Ocean. On board, thousands of whales were processed into oil, which was used for products such as soap, margarine, and lubricants. The exhibition tells this story through authentic objects including personal photographs and the tools used on board.
The exhibition places the history of whaling in a broad historical context, from the 17th-century whalers of Huisduinen to the global moratorium on commercial whaling in 1986. A historic timeline, whale products, the skeleton of a whale, charts and photographs bring visitors close to a time when whale oil literally lit the lamps in homes and streets.
With this exhibition, Fort Kijkduin aims not only to highlight the fishing heritage of the village of Huisduinen, but also to encourage reflection on how the relationship between humans and nature has changed over time. The whale was once seen very differently than it is today.
The new whale exhibition is open to the public daily.