Photo Guy Ackermans Wageningen. I found a free ticket for the Wageningen Museum. And, well, what harm could come from delving into the deep recesses of Wageningen’s history?
I rode my green bike through the city centre and arrived at the Wageningen Museum. Or rather, the tiny Wageningen museum. A grey-haired man behind the counter was engrossed in a novel about the French Revolution. When I started talking to him, I witnessed the man catapult himself approximately 230 years into the future. Upon his arrival in the present, I handed him my ticket, which he cut precisely along the dotted line.
Once in the museum, I passed the mammoth jaw and knight’s helmet quickly in search of something unique. Hidden in an otherwise sleep-inducing text on the Wageningen development plans, I read the beautiful words “tanners’ homes”. These are the homes of tanners, who make leather out of animal hides. The beauty of the phrase lies not in its meaning but in the way it looks and sounds. Asif it is sung rather than spoken.
In one of the films, I suddenly saw that the “W” had disappeared from the face of Hotel de Wereld
On the museum’s second floor, I found resistance newspapers, uniforms and video clips illustrating Wageningen’s narrative of the Second World War. Wageningen’s claim to fame is, of course, the fact that the peace negotiations with the Germans were held in Hotel de Wereld. In one of the films, I suddenly saw that the “W” had disappeared from the face of Hotel de Wereld. Hence, the peace negotiations took place in Hotel de Ereld.
I don’t think anyone ever noticed the vanished W in Wageningen’s history. After this discovery, I wondered what happened to the W from Hotel de Wereld. Perhaps Wageningen was originally called Ageningen. Who knows? Only a time traveller can tell…
Philip Timmers (19) is a first-year bachelor’s student in International Development Studies. He likes gardening and is always up for some fun. He enjoys reading in nature on warm summer days.
