This event is part of 150 Years of Mata Hari. This anniversary year is celebrated in Leeuwarden with art, dance, theatre, parties, exhibitions, tours, and much more. The programme runs from May 23 to August 7 (Mata Hari’s birthday) and can be found here.
A long, long time ago, around 1891, Margaretha Zelle left Leeuwarden for good. She walked through the station hall, waited for a while on the platform, and eventually boarded the train. She left little behind: her mother had passed away, and her father had disappeared. But in Leeuwarden remained her innocence, her youth, her sense of safety—things she would rarely find again elsewhere.
In that very same station hall, you can now find a pop-up exhibition by the Fries Museum, revealing who Mata Hari truly was. It shows the courage it took to make the choices she made, and what she had to endure—from the moment she stepped onto that train.
This exhibition has been curated by the Fries Museum. Since 2017, following the major Mata Hari exhibition, she has been given a permanent place in the museum. There you can explore The Lives of Mata Hari. Click here for more information about this permanent exhibition.
