Museum Scheldewerf: a crane and the people behind the shipyard
On a former shipyard site in Vlissingen, a tall crane connects engineering with memory. The old first-aid building preserves the stories behind the ships.
A tower crane lifted loads on the shipyard that people could not move by hand. Today one stands on the former De Schelde site in Vlissingen as a visible trace of that work. Nearby, Museum Scheldewerf occupies the old first-aid building and tells the yard’s history. This is more than a list of ships: it is also about machinery, skills and the people who made construction possible.
The renewed crane display presents several different machines: a Kampnagel tower crane, a 150-ton Demag gantry crane, Hensen cranes and the Schelde 38 steam crane. Scale models of three cranes are on display, along with two of the four control units and a resistance cabinet preserved from a restored crane.
The museum building has its own shipyard history. The former first-aid building later housed the occupational health service. Following efforts to preserve the building and a period as a visitor centre, it was named Museum Scheldewerf in 2016.
The collection includes tools and objects used to build and maintain ships. Collecting began in the 1950s, partly to preserve knowledge of techniques and materials. Guides with a De Schelde background share their knowledge; thirty interviews were also recorded between 2006 and 2012.
Museum Scheldewerf is at De Willem Ruysstraat 100 in Vlissingen. It is regularly open on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from 1 to 5 pm.