Museumcollction

 The Grafisch Museum Groningen is a museum voor graphical industry, art and design. Our extensive collection includes historical printing presses, type setting machines, wooden and lead body types and printing tools and fully operational lithography and bookbinding workshops. You'll find a photo engraving workshop and the original studio of the Groningen printer and artist H.N. Werkman.

The museumcollection was mainly drawn from the province of Groningen and has been put together over a course of several decades. The museum focusses on the so called 'lead era', the time it was still comon to print with lead body types. The museum owns a great number of historical printing presses, like a steam press, a Columbian and several Heidelbergs as well as type setting machines from the 19th and 20th century with additional body types, matrices and printing rolls and tools. The majority of these machines still works today and demonstrations are held almost every day.

On the top floor of the museum you'll find H.N. Werkman's original studio. Werkman was a famous printer/artist from the city of Groningen who belonged to the avant garde movement in the twenties and published a renowned magazine, called 'The Next Call'. During the Second World War he collaborated with the illegal publishing company, De Blauwe Schuit, and printed books and leaflets wit an anti-war message. A few weeks before the liberation of Groningen he was executed.

This studio is used for workshops, activities and children's birthday parties.