Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters

Take your next trip with Atlas Obscura!

Our small-group adventures are inspired by our Atlas of the world's most fascinating places, the stories behind them, and the people who bring them to life.

Visit Adventures
Trips Highlight
Central Asia yurt night stars
Uzbekistan • 15 days, 14 nights
Central Asia Road Trip: Backroads & Bazaars
from
A view of Brașov’s Old Town.
Romania • 12 days, 11 nights
Legends of Romania: Castles, Ruins & Culinary Delights
from
View all trips
Top Destinations
Latest Places
Most Popular Places Random Place Lists Itineraries
Add a Place
Download the App
Top Destinations
View All Destinations »

Countries

  • Australia
  • Canada
  • China
  • France
  • Germany
  • India
  • Italy
  • Japan

Cities

  • Amsterdam
  • Barcelona
  • Beijing
  • Berlin
  • Boston
  • Budapest
  • Chicago
  • London
  • Los Angeles
  • Mexico City
  • Montreal
  • Moscow
  • New Orleans
  • New York City
  • Paris
  • Philadelphia
  • Rome
  • San Francisco
  • Seattle
  • Stockholm
  • Tokyo
  • Toronto
  • Vienna
  • Washington, D.C.
Latest Places
View All Places »
The Eye of God at Newchurch in Pendle
St. Govor’s Well.
St. Govor’s Well
Shivsrushti
Pierced domes of Hammam Seffarine.
Hammam Seffarine
Latest Places to Eat & Drink
View All Places to Eat »
Cacio e pepe lasagna combines two classics.
C'è pasta... E pasta!
Spaghetto taratatà is named for the sound of rattling sabers.
Giano Restaurant
The gnocchi here get blanketed in a sugo with braised oxtail.
Cesare al Pellegrino
Romans insist you should feel the cracked peppercorns and cheese grains on your tongue.
Flavio al Velavevodetto
Tripe is fried to a crisp.
L’Osteria della Trippa
Recent Stories
All Stories Video Podcast
Most Recent Stories
View All Stories »
Haleakalā National Park’s summit region, shrouded in the pre-dawn fog.
Beware the Legends Behind These National Park Souvenirs
25 days ago
For Aguilar-Carrasco, nature is a powerful reminder of the interconnectedness of all life.
How Can National Parks Be Made Accessible to All? AO Wants to Know.
26 days ago
Podcast: Finding ‘The Great Gatsby’ in Louisville
27 days ago
Here’s which treats you can safely lug home without risking a fine.
Dear Atlas: What International Food Can I Legally Bring Into the U.S.?
28 days ago

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All the Netherlands Lisse Black Tulip Museum

Black Tulip Museum

A journey through 430 years of bulbiculture in the Netherlands.

Lisse, Netherlands

Added By
Sandra Lang
Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
Black Tulip Museum main entrance.   Camoz87/public domain
Black Tulip Museum main entrance.   Camoz87/public domain
Keukenhof tulip garden in Lisse, near the museum.   Roel van Deursen/cc by 2.0
Biochemistry of tulips.   Vololona / Atlas Obscura User
Black Tulip Museum   Vololona / Atlas Obscura User
Town center of Lisse in front of the museum.   Vololona / Atlas Obscura User
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

Located in the Lisse town center, close to the famous Keukenhof flower garden, this small museum tells the story of Dutch tulip farming and breeding from the late 16th century until today. From tulip-themed artworks to harvesting machines to modern plant genomics, the collection covers a wide range of topics related to this fascinating flower that wrote history.

Early documents indicate that the first “tulipmania” likely broke out in the 15th century in the Ottoman Empire, when early botanists started to breed, grow, and classify various tulips and enjoy their beauty in their gardens. Soon European botanists caught the obsession and used their academic networks to fill royal gardens all over Europe with the exotic flower. On top of scientific reasons for breeding tulips, for example as a medical plant, botanists started to supply an ever-growing group of private tulip collectors.

The first tulip bulb made it to the Netherlands in the 1590s when it was introduced by the Dutch botanist Carolus Clusius, the new director of Leiden Hortus Botanicus. The region between Amsterdam and Antwerp provided perfect conditions for large-scale tulip agriculture and soon became the international hub for harvesting tulip bulbs. While professional breeders were continuously creating new kinds of tulips and made a good living from the sales, the local population lived in poverty and strongly depended on the unreliable bulb harvest. Tulip fashion trends could change just as quickly as the weather that could destroy the hard work of a whole year.

Then in 1637, the bulb bubble burst. Bulbs of desired tulips could reach frightfully high prices, which were traded on a pre-modern stock market. The ongoing speculative activities came to an end when the tulip market crashed, an event that is generally said to be the first “speculative bubble” in history. Though some investors committed suicide in the wake of their losses, it was probably the local farmers who suffered most from having produced loads of tulips they were not able to sell. And since a vast part of the agricultural land was covered with tulip fields, there was even a shortage of food.

The Black Tulip Museum in Lisse (or Museum De Zwarte Tulp in Dutch) details the fascinating history of this humble bulb and the great influence it has had in Holland. Fittingly, the museum's name comes from Alexandre Dumas’ 1850 novel La Tulipe Noire, which tells the story of another chapter in tulipmania, the infamous race among breeders striving to grow the first tulip that blooms all in black, and the crimes they committed to reach their goal.

Related Tags

Flowers Economics Agriculture History Museums Museums And Collections Botanical Gardens

Know Before You Go

The museum is open from Tuesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Object descriptions and audio guides are available in English language.

Community Contributors

Added By

Vololona

Edited By

Meg

  • Meg

Published

February 8, 2019

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
Sources
  • Tulipomania: The Story of the World's Most Coveted Flower & the Extraordinary Passions It Aroused. Mike Dash (2001).
Black Tulip Museum
2A Grachtweg
Lisse
Netherlands
52.259029, 4.554653
Visit Website
Get Directions

Nearby Places

Keukenhof Gardens

Lisse, Netherlands

miles away

European Space Research and Technology Centre

Noordwijk, Netherlands

miles away

Buitenschot Land Art Park

Hoofddorp, Netherlands

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Lisse

Lisse

Netherlands

Places 2

Nearby Places

Keukenhof Gardens

Lisse, Netherlands

miles away

European Space Research and Technology Centre

Noordwijk, Netherlands

miles away

Buitenschot Land Art Park

Hoofddorp, Netherlands

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Lisse

Lisse

Netherlands

Places 2

Related Places

  • Amsterdam Tulip Museum.

    Amsterdam, Netherlands

    Amsterdam Tulip Museum

    Tucked in the back of a flower shop, its collection details the fascinating history of the Netherlands's iconic symbol.

  • Historical markers at Willa Cather Memorial Prairie.

    Red Cloud, Nebraska

    Willa Cather Prairie

    Over 600 acres of idyllic open grassland honor Nebraska’s georgic storyteller.

  • One of the galleries in the modern section of the Manchester Jewish Museum.

    Manchester, England

    Manchester Jewish Museum

    A Victorian synagogue-turned-museum chronicles centuries of Jewish life.

  • Aldeburgh, England

    Moot Hall

    One of the best preserved Tudor public buildings in Britain was once used for witch trials.

  • Reykjavik, Iceland

    Árbær Open Air Museum

    The history of Reykjavik told through a historical village and live actors.

  • Entrance to the museum inside the Factory

    St. Petersburg, Florida

    Museum of Motherhood

    Hands-on activities, childbirth artifacts, and a library are all part of this tiny, one-room museum that examines motherhood and women’s roles throughout history.

  • Entrance to FAM

    Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

    First Americans Museum

    The largest single-building tribal cultural center in the U.S. is an expansive museum in Oklahoma City.

  • Rock Springs, Wyoming

    Rock Springs Historical Museum

    A local museum remembers one of the worst acts of anti-Chinese violence in American history.

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Family Trip
  • Food & Drink
  • History & Culture
  • Wildlife & Nature
  • FAQ
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2025 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.