Discover the wheelchair-friendly CoVisit at Our Lord in the Attic Museum
In 2024 Able Amsterdam became a proud partner of Our Lord in the Attic Museum. Providing accessibility feedback has been one of the many things I have been able to do as part of our partnership.
Amsterdam is a city packed with history museums and centuries-old architecture. One unique museum about Amsterdam’s past is Our Lord in the Attic Museum (Ons’ Lieve Heer op Solder in Dutch). Behind the unassuming facade of this historic canal house lies a breathtaking hidden gem — a 17th-century Roman Catholic church.
As a historic monument with European heritage status, strict regulations prevent the original church building from being made wheelchair accessible. Nonetheless, accessibility is high on the museum’s agenda. In an effort to make the museum inclusive for everyone, the team at Our Lord in the Attic Museum has developed an innovative solution: the CoVisit. Read on to discover how the wheelchair-friendly CoVisit allows visitors of all levels of mobility to experience the museum.
Catholicism in 17th-century Amsterdam
Our Lord in the Attic Museum’s church was built upon the request of a wealthy Catholic merchant, Jan Hartman, and first used in 1663. During this time, Amsterdam was under Protestant rule. Catholics were oppressed, and Protestant worshippers took over the city’s churches and monasteries. Publicly practicing Catholicism (and other non-Protestant religious beliefs) was strictly forbidden.
In private, however, people were free to think and believe what they wanted. Local anti-Catholic laws were not strongly enforced, and Amsterdam’s Protestant leaders were tolerant of Catholicism being practiced behind closed doors. Catholics in Amsterdam came together to practice their religion in hidden churches. The church at Our Lord in the Attic Museum was one such place.
While Amsterdam originally had dozens of hidden churches, Our Lord in the Attic Museum is one of The Netherlands’ only surviving hidden churches today. If you’d like to learn more about the church’s history, visit this page.
The front of Our Lord in the Attic Museum
Accessibility of Our Lord in the Attic Museum
Our Lord in the Attic Museum is made up of its historic (church) building and a newly renovated building. Due to numerous staircases, the historic part of the building cannot be accessed by wheelchair. This includes the grand salon, multiple bedrooms with traditional Dutch built-in bedstee beds; a kitchen with blue and white Dutch tiles; and the spectacular church attic.
The new part of the museum is wheelchair-friendly. This includes the main entrance and reception area, with lockers; an exhibition floor with changing (modern) exhibitions; the introductory museum video; the museum café, and the museum gift shop. The new part of Our Lord in the Attic Museum also has a lift and a wheelchair-friendly toilet.
Due to numerous staircases, the hidden church cannot be accessed by wheelchairs users — however, the virtual CoVisit provides an innovative way to experience the museum
The CoVisit: Creating an inclusive experience for all
Over the last few decades, Our Lord in the Attic Museum has prioritised accessibility. The virtual CoVisit allows visitors with limited mobility to ‘experience’ the historic church building from afar.
The CoVisit works by having one visitor (for example, a wheelchair user) seated behind a screen in a designated area of the new part of the museum, while another visitor (for example, a friend or family member) walks around the historic museum building.*
The friend or family member (let’s call them the ‘guide’) is given a special tablet. The Wifi connection allows the wheelchair user to see what is happening through the tablet’s camera in real time.
* If you’d like to experience the CoVisit but are visiting the museum independently, a museum employee will happily step in as your CoVisit ‘guide’.
Taking in the images of historic rooms during my CoVisit experience
Using the CoVisit camera from the point of view of the ‘guide’
Both the wheelchair users and ‘guide’ are connected to a headset and microphone, allowing them to interact. The person using the computer screen also sees panoramic photos of the rooms, alongside live video and audio. By hovering the tablet over the audio guide sensors in each room, the ‘guide’ activates the audio guide for both individuals at the same time. This innovative experience is available in both Dutch and English.
While the historic architecture and monumental status of Our Lord in the Attic Museum prevent it from being physically accessible, the CoVisit allows visitors of all levels of mobility to be included — via real-time video, audio guides, and photos — on a visit to this unique museum.
A range of inclusive adaptations have also been made for visitors who are blind/ partially sighted; visitors who are hard of hearing; and visitors accompanied by a service dog. Our Lord in the Attic Museum additionally provides free entrance for chaperones, allowing wheelchair users (and visitors with a range of disabilities) to bring a ‘guide’ at no extra ticket cost.
Lockers are at a range of heights
A new wheelchair-friendly exhibition space for changing exhibitions
The wheelchair-friendly museum café serves coffee, tea, and a range of cakes
The designated CoVisit space with a screen and seat
The wheelchair accessible toilet at Our Lord in the Attic
The wheelchair-friendly museum gift shop on the ground floor of the building
Future accessibility improvements
Our Lord in the Attic Museum’s dedicated team continuously seeks to enhance the museum’s accessibility. One important team member is Trees van Mansfeld, who works in the museum’s Education and Accessibility department.
When I spoke to Trees in the summer of 2024, she provided insight into Our Lord in the Attic Museum’s accessibility goals, including:
Improving the quality of CoVisit images shown onto the computer screen, and gathering new panoramic photos;
Updating the CoVisit technology as new and improved devices become available;
Making the CoVisit experience accessible to multiple users at once (at present, it can only be used by one team of two people at a time);
Creating exciting opportunities for the CoVisit to be connected not just to another person behind a computer in the museum, but to individuals all over the world.
Feeling inspired to visit Our Lord in the Attic?
For further wheelchair accessibility information, visit Able Amsterdam’s Our Lord in the Attic page. To learn more about Our Lord in the Attic, its history, and exhibitions, visit the official museum website.
