400 years of Town and Gown

The exhibition Student in Groningen 1614-2014 will run at the Groninger Museum from 1 March to 31 August. For 400 years, students have been a colourful, lively and critical element in the city of Groningen. All kinds of aspects of student life in Groningen are illustrated with the help of objects, original photos and films.

Masquerades and friendship books

A great deal of attention is paid to the many masquerades. These historical processions were held between 1836 and 1914 and made a great impression on the population of the city. Expressions of typical student culture, with their own hats, songs, club colours and posters, they play the main role in the exhibition. These regularly organized processions provided enjoyment and entertainment in the city. Extraordinary friendship books dating to the 17th and 18th centuries are also being exhibited. Students wrote verses and dedications and sometimes even made drawings in these alba amicorum.

400 years of the University of Groningen

The exhibition is being organized within the framework of the 400th anniversary of the University of Groningen and has been made possible by loans from the Groningen University Museum, the Groningen University Library, the Groningen Archives, senates/boards and ex-members of numerous student associations and private collectors.

It is the first of three exhibitions being organized around the RUG400 theme For Infinity. The other two exhibitions are:
- 400 years of knowledge in the Der Aa-kerk and
- Art and Scholarship in the University Museum.
The exhibitions are independent, but together they tell the wider story of scholarship in Groningen. More information about these exhibitions can be found on the website of the University of Groningen Lustrum Office.