Toy Soldier Collector Magazine

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Dutch delight

Intrepid reporter Erwin Goossens visits the town of Ommen in the Netherlands, home of the Nationaal Tinnen Figuren Museum

Mid June in Ommen, a small town 140 kilometres North-West of Amsterdam, and Lou G. van der Aa is waiting for me up at the entrance to the Nationaal Tinnen Figuren Museum. Normally closed on Monday, Lou, the museum’s PR man and webmaster, was kind enough to open the doors so TSC could have a good look around.

The museum has its origins with an association of collectors, the ‘Nederlandse Stichting voor Modelfiguren - de Tinnen Tafelronde’ (www.modelfiguren.nl) which was founded in 1955. After a long search for a meeting and display space the association found refuge in the former town hall of Ommen. The museum has occupied a large part of this historic building which dates from 1832, since 1985. The museum collection numbers about 200,000 figures with more than 100,000 on display to the public at any given time. Twelve volunteers work for the museum, which since August 2001 has been officially registered as a ‘National Museum’. Guided tours are available as are information sheets in each and every room for those visitors wishing to take a more solitary tour of the museum.

For those who believe that historical figures are always limited to soldiers, this museum will be a bit of an eye opener. The collection offers much more than just solders and highlights the beauty and diversity of figures outside of the military genre. Lou insists on the word collection, which to me is more than justified as this museum is not simply a number of showcases filled with figures classified by subject or manufacturer. Walking through the corridors of the former town hall you experience a similar feeling to that you get when you are visiting an art gallery, very clean and sophisticated but also rather quiet.

The museum prefers to not have boring static displays and so often has different exhibits on rotation to keep things fresh. At the present time it is possible to view the collection of Wendelin Lonicer, a German musician (1939 – 2006) who collected musically themed figures ranging in variety from tribal musicians to rock ’n roll bands. Also on display currently is an exhibition on science fiction which includes influences from Manga and other fantasy universes with pieces on loan from another German association.

One of the permanent fixtures, and indeed highlights, is a collection of dioramas by Doctor Wieringa. Dr Wieringa was a mathematics teacher who, like many of us, had a passion for history. Between 1930 and 1965 he created around fifty extraordinary dioramas using flat figures which he had purchased, unpainted, from Heinrichsen in Nuremberg.

The National Hall

The National hall offers the visitor figures depicting both the military and civilian life of the Netherlands throughout history. All figures within this section were either made by or for ‘de Tinnen Tafelronde’. These include four famous dioramas featuring the battle of Ane in 1227, the battle between Otto II of Lippe, Bishop of Utrecht and rebelling Drenths (habitants from the ‘Drente’ region) under the command of Roelof van Coevorden. The Bishop called up his warlords to support him together with armies supplied by the Bishops of Munster and Cologne. This army met the Drenths, mostly armed with ‘farmers weapons’, on a field near the village of Ane. The Drenths knew that they had no real chance if they faced the Bishop’s army in an open field and so they lured the Bishop’s army into an area with swampy ground. The heavily armoured knights sank into the mud and were unable to fight, a tatic employed by the British at Agincourt nearly 200 years later! The Bishop lost his honour, his army and his life. These dioramas were undertaken at the request of the museum and were produced by Bähr and Lutchen from Leipzig.

Village in a building

A small, yet surprisingly accurate nineteenth century village square has been recreated on the first floor of the building. There is a foundry and a toy shop, and of course in the shop’s window some vintage toy soldiers. But Upon entering the shop you discover its filled with yet more toy soldiers, some were manufactured 250 years ago!

Our hobby is always looking for good ideas on how to attract younger collectors, yet the folks at the museum have already come up with a good one. During school holidays, or by appointment, children can attend demonstrations within the onsite foundry. The museum owns numerous metal moulds (some costing around 8,000 € each) from which the children can purchase, for a few cents per figure, castings which they can then paint during the museums day program. A great idea and one which is proving to be affective (and not dissimilar to what Games Workshop do in various countries).

The World’s biggest?

An impressive 26 square metre diorama depicting the Battle of Waterloo (Lou said it is the world's largest), which contains 10,000 tin figures is also on display and features not only sounds but also special lighting. The figures were created by Dr. Diederich from Berlin, with the scenery by the Umhey brothers from Lampertheim (Germany). I’m not sure if the claim of the world’s largest is justified though, admittedly in square metres it might well be but the Museum of Compiegne in France has a 25 square metre Waterloo diorama filled with 12,000 soldiers (I shall be covering this museum in a forthcoming issue).

In summation, this museum is extremely well laid out, features interesting and ever changing displays and is managed by a passionate team of volunteers. Add to this the fact that the German border is quite close by and the museum features one of the best collection of flat figures outside of Germany and the Nationaal Tinnen Figuren Museum is a great day out for any serious toy soldier collector.

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