History Month 2026: Body & Mind, and what museums do with it

Throughout October, the Dutch History Month revolves around body and mind. From ideals of beauty to care: this is how the theme looks back. And at Muiderslot castle you can weave, taste history or look at paintings after an hour of yoga.

October is the Maand van de Geschiedenis, the Dutch History Month, according to the organisers the largest history event in the Netherlands. Together with countless museums, libraries, bookshops, archives and other cultural institutions, the Month organises activities throughout the country, under the motto "Ontdek gisteren, begrijp vandaag" (discover yesterday, understand today). The 2026 theme is "Lichaam & Geest", body and mind.

From Rubens to "heroin chic"

The body carries us through life and comes in all shapes and sizes, writes the history programme Andere Tijden in its dossier on the theme. It brings pleasure and strength, but is also a source of illness, shame or misfortune. And although ideas about it changed over the centuries, the role of the body remained just as great.

The Stevenskerk in Nijmegen. Archive photograph, August 2015, for illustration; not a view of History Month 2026. Zairon / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). EXIF orientation respected, converted to WebP; no crop, colour or contrast editing. Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0

Andere Tijden names a few angles. Leper colonies and madhouses show that care for the body, and especially the mind, was sometimes no more than keeping patients out of society. Ideals of beauty change: from the plump Rubens women of the seventeenth century to the skeletal "heroin chic" of the 1990s. And in the nineteenth century, anyone with a broad jaw, deep-set eyes or a monobrow was quickly regarded as a criminal.

At Muiderslot

Muiderslot castle shows how a museum takes up the theme. According to its own website, the castle has a series of activities around "Lichaam & Geest":

Throughout October, a guided audio walk, "Mindful Muiderslot", which you start on your own phone via a QR code. Bring earphones.
Between 10 and 18 October, weaving in the Kasteelatelier, "instead of scrolling and swiping".
On 10 and 24 October, a historical tasting. You discover how food in the seventeenth century was also seen as a way to keep body and mind in balance.
On 10 October, a yoga session, after which participants look at paintings from the collection together.
On 24 October, a low-stimulus opening, with few visitors and as few loud noises as possible.

According to the castle, Muiderslot has stood there since 1285 and has been a national museum since 1878.

Elsewhere too

The Month works with "hotspots": groups of partner organisations that highlight a region or theme together under the national umbrella. In the Stevenskerk in Nijmegen, "Napas Leluhur - Adem van de voorouders" (breath of the ancestors) unfolds in October, the organisers report. Writer Suzanna Jansen is writing the essay for the 2026 History Month. The full programme is at maandvandegeschiedenis.nl.