The museum where the history of the sixteenth- and seventeenth-century witch hunts is brought to life. When were you accused of witchcraft and what would happen to you if you were? Why is the Heksenwaag in Oudewater world-famous?

Since its establishment, Museum de Heksenwaag has focused on telling the history of the witch persecutions in the 15th, 16th and 17th century.
The weighhouse in Oudewater was unique in Europe. People who were accused of witchcraft and thus placed outside society, dehumanised and made ‘different’, were given a fair chance to prove their innocence here.

For decades, this story of justice and humanity is told at the museum. The exhibition ANDERS?! makes a connection between the mechanisms of exclusion in the past and today.

The witch trials, where centuries ago innocent people were burnt at the stake, are now taking place on social media. Children are still bullied at school, there is discrimination and homosexuality is still punishable in 70 countries and in 11 countries you can even be sentenced to death for being homosexual. People are still excluded, treated as inferior or even cancelled (online). The misogyny of the past is also still felt in the lives of many women today.

This groundbreaking exhibition connects the historical witch hunts with today’s societal challenges surrounding exclusion and discrimination.