The Nijsinghhuis is an important part of Drents Museum De Buitenplaats. The former town hall of the municipality of Eelde was purchased in 1971 by the couple Jos van Groeningen (1934-2018) and Janneke van Groeningen-Hazenberg (1943-2007). The founders of Museum De Buitenplaats paid the symbolic amount of 1 guilder for this. In return, they had to restore the now dilapidated house according to the requirements of the National Service for Monument Care.

In 1972, the couple started renovating the house and laying out the Museum Garden. The Van Groeningen couple lived in the house until their death, after which it became a fully-fledged part of the museum complex. The Nijsinghhuis can be visited every day, and a guided tour is given every Tuesday to Friday.

Wall paintings by Northern Realists

Jos and Janneke van Groeningen invited painters who belonged to the Northern Realists to paint the walls of their Nijsinghhuis. Matthijs Röling started in 1983 with the so-called Blue Room. This was followed by the library and later the walls of the entrance hall. Earlier, together with Wout Muller, he had provided the ceiling with a starry sky.

Wout Muller created an erotic cabinet in the back house. The windows of this cabinet look out onto the garden, prominently present on the painted panels. Pieter Pander provided the back wall of the coach house with a wall painting. Furthermore, Clary Mastenbroek and Olga Wiese each painted a room in the upper house.

Nijsinghhuis

Wall paintings by Northern Realists

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