Exploring Dutch Literature at the Louis Couperus Museum

The Louis Couperus Museum in The Hague is an unexpectedly small museum. It’s literally a single room and that’s it. But for those with an interest in Dutch literature (or literature in general) you’ll find this museum quite satisfying.

The Couperus Museum is situated in what is one of the most beautiful neighbourhoods of The Hague, in Javastraat in the Archipelbuurt. Although the house where the museum is located has no real ties to Couperus or his family, it is important to mention that Albert Vogel, a Dutch elocutionist and actor resided there. Vogel was a fan of Couperus’s works; he actually impersonated Couperus in a one-man show and later even published a biography on him.

Nonetheless, the Archipelbuurt in general is an important location in the timeline of Couperus’s life – in fact he lived nearby on Nassauplein number 4 and wrote his very first novel in a house owned by his father on Surinamestraat (across the way from the museum). If you visit the museum be sure to look out for the bronze sculpture of Couperus on Surinamestraat dating from 1963.

To this day, Couperus is considered to be one of the most important Dutch authors and the museum explores his life’s work. He was born and bred in The Hague (1863-1923) and was known particularly for the following novels: The books of the small souls, The hidden force and Old people and the things that pass. His books were popular in the United Kingdom, the USA and in Germany in addition to the Netherlands.

As you step inside the museum you are immediately taken back to the 19th century with patterned wallpaper, regal red curtains, parquet flooring and dark wood almost everywhere in sight.

You’ll see some of Couperus’s earliest published works in glass cabinets. I even found a Dutch version of Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray which was translated by Couperus’s wife, Elisabeth.

Another very important and no doubt eye-catching part of the museum is a lifelike model of Couperus! When I entered the museum I actually thought there were two gentlemen running the show – one a little more formally dressed than the other! However, my eyesight isn’t so good and I soon came to the conclusion that either the figure in the chair at the very back of the room died silently in his sleep or that he may be a dummy of some sort. This doll was created by Sjoerd Didden, a Rotterdam artist and is perfectly dressed, as Couperus once was, in a 19th century suit and bowtie. His outfit was donated to the Louis Couperus Museum by the Royal Meddems B.V. – a haberdashery where the writer used to shop.

All-in-all, the Louis Couperus Museum is a lovely albeit small museum that opens you up to the world of a prominent Dutch writer and to Dutch literature in general.