The oldest mention of a village in Horst aan de Maas dates from 1219 and concerns Berkel/Horst. So that’s 800 years ago this year and we’re going to celebrate that. Open-air museum de Locht is very involved in this commemoration.
On the occasion of this eight hundredth anniversary, various activities will take place in the museum.

All 16 church villages of the municipality present themselves: from old core to young mining village, from the heart of the region to a bustling commuter village, from rose village to center of blueberry cultivation, from pearl on the Meuse to gem in the Peel.

The exhibition consists of 16 panels (one for each village), an entrance tower to the exhibition and a historical timeline from the year 8000 BC. The visitor enters the exhibition about the past from the present via the castle tower. You walk along the panels and see in photos characteristic elements of the 16 villages. There is a video screen with a film about Horst aan de Maas and 1 or 2 films per village.

There is also a music column available for the public in which a song from each village is played and in which various village dialects are incorporated.