Children’s Corner

Hi fellow time travellers!

My name is Henk and I am an experienced Dutch time traveller interested in exploring the history of places with my journeys. I was wondering if you would be willing to travel with me this time? I am going to travel back to the Prehistoric Era of the city of Maastricht and then travel through all the following time periods right back to where we are now. On our trip, we will meet the Neanderthals, the Romans, the Franks and many other folks from the Middle Ages that lived in Maastricht. Isn’t that just so exciting?

Wait, what did you say…?

You are coming along?

Yay!!!! Okay, I’ll get the time machine ready for us. Click here for more instructions! Let our journey begin!

Listen to Henk narrate his journey!

Prehistoric Era

Dear diary,

Listen to Henk narrate this entry!

Today I used my time machine to travel to the prehistoric era! Wow, it is so beautiful. I discovered that the oldest archaeological finds of the Netherlands have been found near Maastricht. People in this era do look a little different from me. These people are called Neanderthals. Check out this image!

Neanderthals were very smart for the time they were living in. They made sure to use their resources and created cool and useful tools like the antler pick and axe.

I did run into some unexpected trouble during the journey. That cave lion was so scary that I had to quickly jump into the time machine and save myself.

Antler Pick

Prehistoric Socketed Axe

Roman Times

Jar of Silenus

Roman Roof Tile with Imprints of a Dog

The Frankish Period

Frankish Necklace

Frankish Bead

Dear Diary

I used my time machine for a quick escape and I’m happy that my new dog friend came with me. I decided to name her Roma, after the period she came from. We took a walk back to the city, which was far away from where the time machine dropped us.

On our walk we realised how much Maastricht has changed from the Roman period to the Frankish period. In the Frankish era, Maastricht was a rich city. There was a lot of trade and the Christian church, which was very prominent in this era, also caused there to be a lot of wealth in the city. The Franks also had a big impact on the Dutch language as it is nowadays. All so interesting.

There was a market happening in town and I found some beautiful jewellery. I bought some Frankish beads and an amethyst necklace. Oh, I am so excited! Beads and jewellery were often used by their wearers to show off to other people their wealth. I guess this is something that is still true today. On our way back to the time machine we came across thieves who wanted to steal our new jewels. Thank goodness we made it to the time machine before they robbed us!