In this special night lecture series, we delve deeper into our everyday cup of coffee. Because behind that morning ritual lies a long history. A story in which the Hortus turns out to play a striking role.
Chief curator Tom van der Molen of the Amsterdam Museum kicks off the lecture series and takes us on the journey of the coffee plant. This way we discover how a plant spread rapidly across the world in the 18th century – and which stories in Amsterdam are connected to it. From its origins in Ethiopia, via a greenhouse in Amsterdam – all the way to the plantations in South America.
Tom van der Molen is senior curator at the Amsterdam Museum.
The night lecture series in the Hortus ties in with the exhibition Koffie? Een Nederlandse geschiedenis in keramiek, which can be seen at the Princessehof in Leeuwarden from 10 October 2026 to 29 August 2027.