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Opening of ‘Redbad: the legendary king’, Fries Museum, Leeuwarden (NL)

People and environment

History and heritage

Once, in the distant, distant past, a legendary king ruled over the great kingdom of Frisia. His name was Redbad, the greatest king these lands have ever known. More than a thousand years after his death, we are finally getting to know this mighty North Sea king. The Fries Museum in Leeuwarden is gearing up for an epic exhibition. In ‘REDBAD: the legendary king’, 7th- and 8th-century Frisia – a North Sea region stretching from the Dutch to the North German coast and the Utrecht river basin – comes to life as never before...

About project REDBAD

The European funding programme ‘Interreg VI Germany-Netherlands’ has allocated two million euros towards the realisation of the REDBAD exhibition project. In 2026, the medieval Frisian king Redbad will be the focus of large-scale exhibitions in Leeuwarden and Emden (Germany), educational programmes in both countries, an academic publication, a book for the general public and a ‘role-playing game’. Co-funders are the provinces of Fryslân and Groningen and the State Chancellery of Lower Saxony.

The Fryske Akademy is coordinating the academic book, which will be published by Brepols Publishers. Other partners in the REDBAD project, alongside the Fries Museum, include the Ostfriesisches Landesmuseum Emden, Ostfriesische Landschaft, Learning Hub Friesland, Firda Educational Institution, the Lower Saxony Institute for Historical Coastal Research, the Mythemakers Foundation and the University of Groningen.

The exhibition ‘REDBAD: the legendary king’ at the Fries Museum in Leeuwarden promises to be a visual spectacle: it opens to the general public on Saturday 5 September. More information is to be found on the Fries Museum's website. The exhibition runs until 7 February, after which it will travel to the Landesmuseum Emden in Germany. 

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