Torture Museum

Abzocke! Touristenfalle! 7,50 € für etwas, was man auf dem Plakat vor dem Museum sehen kann. 3 Foltergeräte und viel falsch geschriebener Info-​Text. Wikipedia bringt mehr.

Skip it. There are some interesting contraptions on display, but the accompanying info cards explain WHY the devices were used rather than HOW, which sometimes left us confused as to what exactly is was that we were looking at. You are entirely unaccompanied, and it feels more like a walk-​through exhibition at a cheap carnival rather than an established museum. Not worth the time nor euros. The best part of the museum for us was the air conditioning.

The good news is it was pretty dark and small making it a bit spooky. And there were a few reproductions of medieval equipment, a cool chair with spikes, but the content was mostly graphics on the walls. Stylized line drawings showing medieval torture, but nothing like what you see on the internet on even on tv. Worse, there was no background or education aside from one paragraph descriptions of the drawings. Everyone is curious, especially with current events, but the delivery and lack of depth here was disappointing.

Gruesome exhibits of medieval torture in the Amsterdam museum.
The museum was of moderate interest to me after having twice been through military SERE schools — subjected to the techniques of military interrogation and milder forms of physical and psychological torture — and being a student of military history. However, I was impressed not so much by the museum’s exhibits but by man’s inhumanity to man.
Not a place I’d recommend if you have a great deal of unresolved trauma in your life.

wow! this is really disturbing in a can’t take your eyes off it kind of way. the people who came up with these devices should be subjected to them as punishment.

Petit musée sympa mais sans plus, moins grand que celui de Londres, pas trop cher comparé aux autres musées d’Amsterdam mais tout petit donc rapport/​qualité prix pas terrible… Vous découvrirez plusieurs instruments de torture, certains très connus d’autres moins, avec une petite note explicative historique (bourrées d’erreurs de traduction pour celles rédigées en français), dans des couloirs étriqués qui participent à l’ambiance glauque… Bien pour passer le temps.

Ziemlich enttäuscht von diesem Museum. Von einem mittelalterlichen Foltermuseum hätte ich mir mehr erwartet. Vorallem bei € 7,50 Eintritt. Ein Rundgang mit einigen Folterwerkzeugen und einem winzigen erklärenden Schaukasten, in sechs Sprachen –schauerlich beleuchtet und schwups war man schon wieder draußen. Kann ich nicht empfehlen.

Cool place. Lots of history. It was a small musuem decorated in a way reminiscent of a dungeon. The price was appropriate. I went with a coworker who looovveesss history and torture so he loved it. If it is not really your thing, then it is just ok. You can finish it in about an hour or less. We took longer because we read most of the signs. It is a self guided tour through the musuem.

We went here today & I feel disappointed. It cost € 7.50 to get in for a start, the displays were mostly drawings with little explanation. It was over very quickly & not worth the money.

If you happen to be in the area and are bored I suggest you check it out. It is pretty creepy as the place is fairly dark. It might also have to due with the fact I went by myself and there was no one else in there too. The exhibits were interesting, but nothing too fascinating.

Ein kleines Museum in denen Foltergeräte gezeigt werden. Allerdings muss man viel lesen. Die Infotexte gibt es in 6 Sprachen.

Not nearly as flashy and fun as Het Sexmuseum (anyone need a translation of that?), but it was still a cool place to go, since not much else was open around 7 PM. The torture devices are there with descriptions of how they were used. It’s a pretty reading-​heavy tour, if you don’t just want to stare at the devices and guess how they worked, but it was cool. I don’t think you’re supposed to touch most of it, but there is a good (if cliché) photo op in the stocks. If you have an hour and nothing else to do, you might as well check it out. Caution: not for the queasy of stomach. There aren’t many pictures, but the writing is graphic enough to make you squirm.

Eeeeeek! This place is exactly what they say it is. Super educational for me and makes me realize how fortunate I am for what I have. This museum is a little on the pricey side (IMHO) but a good way to see how people were actually punished back in the day

waste of money. maybe i’m spoiled as i’ve been to torture and crime museums all over the world, but this was by far the worst.
save your money for something else. there is nothing special here.

There are actually two torture themed museums in Amsterdam. My friend and I went to this one thinking it was the other so that possibly colored my perception of it. I wouldn’t say it’s bad, but it’s okay and nothing too special. The place only takes about half an hour to travel through (and that’s if you’re taking photos, going slowly and reading all the exhibits– otherwise, it’s much faster). It’s informative but some of the displays are kind of cheesy. I don’t know how much money and upkeep has been put into the museum. I think it’s in a prime location and probably attracts a lot of tourists which is why they can charge a somewhat steep price and not do too much to enhance the experience for their visitors. If you’re visiting Amsterdam and short on time, I would not recommend it. If you have plenty of time and want to learn about torture and see some silly exhibits then this is the place for you!

So, you have a few hours left before you depart Amsterdam, your mind is foggy and you don’t want to spend all day doing something and you want to see something unique. So why not check out a place that has devices that people were ruthlessly tortured with?
Well that is what I decided to do on one of my trips. I am pretty sure this place is near the flower market, a small little diversion with some dark and painful (literally!) history. Pay a few Euro and spend about 30m-​hour in here. The stuff I only read about in school came to life, right in front of me.
First of all, this place is dark and cool, and covered in stone– like a dungeon. They start of with the small stuff (saws, ball picks, tongue rippers, teeth pullers, etc), and work their way up to the most gnarly stuff (spine stretchers, iron maiden, rope devices). You can touch some of the stuff, but I suggest you don’t– as a lot of souls have been tortured with this stuff!
I like how near the end, they showcase the impaler, when all I will say is that I hope your bum likes to get torn. Mine hurts just talking about.
If you want to take a break and cool off for a while, this may be a place for you– but just remember a lot of this stuff is twisted and graphic, and can be too much for some crowds, so try to come here with an open mind. Don’t forget the ballgaggers!

To expensive just to see torture devices they used in the old days. It was alright but I expected a little bit more.

franchement pas terrible ! Du déjà vu. pour les novices peut etre

An interesting privately owned and operated small museum very near the flower market. Many actual instruments used for extracting confessions and executing law breakers. Made me VERY glad not to have lived when these were in apparent common use and that we have progressed in most countries.
Allow about an hour or so to see the exhibits.

I went here while backpacking through Europe almost a decade ago now. I agree that the place is pretty cramped, especially considering being surround by devices of death and all things macabre. The one image that seems to be burned in my memory was a torture device called a «Judas Cradle» that was essentially a pyramid that a victim would forced to sit on.
See:
Yeah, I wasn’t quite right after I walked out this place let me tell ya.

We thought it would be interesting. Who would’ve thought to find a torture museum in Amsterdam? When we saw it, we couldn’t resist. What a bummer though. Thought it would cooler things to see. Some of the items didn’t seem to make much sense. Overall, it’s a good way to get out of the weather for a little while or to kill time before going to a real museum.

On another rainy day in Amsterdam (and yes, there are many) we were looking for something to do indoors to escape the terrible weather for a while. Having exhausted all the standard museums such as the rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh, and of course the sex museum, we decided to give the torture museum a go.
Entrance is € 7.50 for adults which I think is a little excessive given the small size of this museum.
The museum itself is quite cramped and poorly lit in places. The contents are interesting and fairly well labeled, and it will give you a good insight into numerous forms of torture used in the middle ages.
However, there seems to be something missing here to really grab peoples attention. It’s also over pretty quickly and could definitely be improved.
Maybe one to move to the bottom end of your «must see in Amsterdam» list.

The Torture Museum provides an interesting (if not slightly macabre) trip into the history of torture in theory and in practice. With relics and reproductions of the devices used throughout the ages to interrogate and punish people accused of crimes, this museum is not for the easily disturbed.
There are a lot of different floors/​levels to this museum, with narrow passages that add to the feeling that you can’t escape the reality of our often brutal past.
It’s located close to the flower market which means that you can walk across a bridge and use the multitudes of tulips to wash away the images of pushing up daisies.

Just terrible.
Most houses in Amsterdam were built tall and narrow (brief history lesson: they were taxed on how wide their property was, thus creating tall, thin, and deep houses)… this «museum» was extra tiny and extra narrow. Dimly lit, I followed a bunch of my friends up a tiny stairwell which commenced our «tour.» It was more like a self-​guided walk-​through where we got to read little descriptions of what each displayed «tool» or «device» (self-​inflicted or not). The collection was not expansive. They had surprisingly little considering it was a «museum.» The least they could’ve done was add a scary soundtrack or have a random person in costume chasing you around.
Not impressive and certainly a waste of time and euros. The flower market nearby was way cooler. You can use that 5 euros and put it towards 10 tulip bulbs or even a cannabis starter kit, just saying… it was a total waste of $

Das Museum ist realtiv klein (und dafür recht teuer), aber ziemlich umfangreich. Mir hat es gut gefallen, da es mit seiner spärlichen Beleuchtung und den kleinen verwinkelten Gängen eine passende Atmosphäre kreiert. Bei jeder Bewegung knarrt der Holzboden und hin und wieder kann man andere Besucher vor Entsetzen und Ekel aufjaulen hören. Neben einigen originalen Folterinstrumenten und zahlreichen Bildillustrationen finden sich mehrsprachige Informationstafeln mit kurzen prägnanten Informationen zu verschiedenen Foltertechniken. Man sollte sich hier wirklich ein wenig Zeit zum Entdecken, Vorstellen und Gruseln nehmen. So nah ist man den Untiefen des menschlichen Wesens sonst selten.

Whilst we had a good 8 hours to spend for our Amsterdam layover, our pastor had the idea to visit a particularly interesting place that frankly, i never knew would exist. Even if i were aware of its existence, i would think that you’d want to visit more «touristy» places. However, more than the ghastly and petrifying images one would conjure up in thinking by hearing the word, the Torture Museum is also a relevant trip into a dark corner of history of the Netherlands
(And no, this place has nothing to do with any sexual fetishes! lol)
After we made it to the Centraal Station in central Amsterdam, we got on board the neat trams that criss-​cross the city. i was made the group navigator, even though i don’t know a word of Dutch and it was my first time ever in Amsterdam. Thankfully, i had done my homework beforehand and we got to the museum without a problem
For adults, the entrance is € 5 (about US $ 7 today) and for children € 3,50 (about US $ 5)
Going inside the museum was uneventful until we made our way inside and went up the stairs, where we were greeted with a host of various devices of torture on display. As you make your way through the tour, you can read about how and why people were mercilessly put through such treatment. Quite scary to think that only a few hundred years ago, people could do such things to others
i’m not a sadist or anything, but i think it was a more meaningful tour than just going to the zoo or an art museum

Le musée de la torture est un lieu très instructif mais attention aux âmes sensibles ! On y réalise que ce sont les motifs les plus vertueux (comme la religion) qui ont mené aux pires horreurs… La palme revenant sans doute à l’inquisition.
Un musée hors du commun comme seule la ville d’Amsterdam sait en offrir !

curioso museo en el que podras observar numerosos utensilios con los que se podia provocar dolor, carteles en varios idiomas sobre cada uno de ellos, entrada 7 €, curioso de ver, pero tampoco indispensable