Sea museum

Trunks filled with treasures from the sea

In our permanent exhibition, you will discover the story of a very unique and eccentric lady, or as she liked to call herself: ‘a wanderer’. Travelling by yourself in the 1950s was highly unusual, especially for a woman. Yet, that is exactly what miss Warners did. She travelled to more than eighty countries, each time returning with extraordinary stories and trunks filled to the brim with treasures from the sea.

Did you know?

In Dutch, the shell is called the ‘Spiny Horned Shell’. Miss Warners however did not like this name at all. She said that the shell should actually be called ‘a spiny lighthouse’.

“My name is miss Warners and it will stay that way until I die!”

Her fascination with shells began in 1955, when she found “an extremely fragile but beautiful little shell” on Mallorca’s beach: a spiny dye-murex shell or Bolinus brandaris. Struck by its beauty, miss Warners started collecting shells. Her collecting frenzy would eventually lead to the creation of Miramar Zeemuseum in Vledder.

Wunderkammer

Be amazed

Miramar Zeemuseum houses a unique collection of shells, sea creatures and other natural history objects. Many animals that you would normally expect to find in the sea, were collected by miss Warners during her travels around the world. In the Wunderkammer (cabinet of curiosities) of Miramar Zeemuseum, you will find a large part of her extensive collection of seashells, fish, crabs, starfish and sea urchins.

Did you know?

Kabouter (Gnome in English) is a red-eared guenon (Cercopithecus erythrotis erythrotis). Unfortunately, this monkey species is threatened with extinction. Their habitat is shrinking due to deforestation and the monkeys themselves are killed for their meat, which is known as ‘bushmeat’.

Reconstructed study

Living above the museum

Miss Warners’ collection also consists of items she received from indigenous peoples, universities and other museums during her many travels. One of her most peculiar gifts is the monkey Kabouter (or Gnome in English), which was given to her during her trip to the island Bioko, off the coast of West Africa. Kabouter is still on display in our museum. You can discover the story behind the donated monkey by visiting our museum.

In addition, Miramar Zeemuseum features a reconstruction of miss Warners’ study, which contains the original furniture, as well as many preserved animals and garments, showing us how she used to live above the museum. You can also discover some other personal effects here, such as journals, passports, and the letters of miss Warners.