Explore a 12th Century Prison at The Gevangenpoort Museum, The Hague

I was transfixed. This former gate and medieval prison situated in Buitenhof, The Hague, what I consider one of the most beautiful parts of the city, can be found next to an 18^th century art gallery (Galerij Prins Willem V) founded by William V, Prince of Orange in 1774.

I have always found museums like The Gevangenpoort Museum / The Prison Gate Museum to be extremely intriguing and I have seen some similar medieval museums in Rome, which equally fascinated me. What I find most difficult is to place oneself in a medieval time when the justice system and courts had a very different structure and duty to society at large. The approach to punishment was seen as ‘an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth’; a totally different concept of punishment than what we know today.

Brief History of the Gevangenpoort Museum

The Gevangenpoort Museum housed detainees awaiting trial at the Court of Holland. Many historical figures in Dutch history were also held captive at the Gevangenpoort. In 1280 the large gate (today a symbol of the museum), had a purely structural function as part of the main entrance to a castle owned by the Counts of Holland.

Nearly 150 years later, in 1428, the gate or ‘poort’ became a prison. During that time, imprisonment was not considered a form of punishment in itself. In fact, punishment took the form of corporal or capital punishment, fines, or other torture tactics.

The prison was active for 400 years until 1882 when it was transformed into a museum.

What You Can Expect at the Gevangenpoort Museum

Our Dutch tour guide explained the history of the building, dating back to the year 1280, as we followed him from room to room (tours are mostly in Dutch but English tours are available too).

Each room presented a new element – a shocking, intriguing and mind-boggling method of torture and of the prison environment. Firstly, wrought iron weaponry used by the guards as well as numerous chains and ancient handcuffs are on display in the first room.

The interrogation room at the Gevangenpoort Museum, a room at the top of the building, was the most interesting for me. This was where judges questioned the accused. If the accused did not provide the necessary answers they would be physically punished.

Here you’ll find a rack of hot irons bearing the symbols of cities that were branded into prisoners. You’ll also find a wooden plank structure in the shape of a human body, complete with dents for a head and what appears to be a hole for a man’s private parts. The suspect would be tied to this wooden plank-like structure and tortured.

Lastly, the exhibition ends with colourful posters of political satire as well as some interesting brass signs used to signify the fates of those who committed crimes and who were harboured at the prison.

The Gevangenpoort Museum / Prison Gate Museum in The Hague, offers much for the inquisitive mind curious about medieval history and olden day torture tactics.