It focuses on the culture associated with the everyday lives of ordinary people, and demonstrating the old way of life in the Netherlands.

The park is about 44 hectares in area, and includes around forty buildings such as antique houses, farms, and factories from various parts of the Netherlands and historical periods.

According to Hoefer, the rise of industrialization and urbanization were causing regional differences to disappear, and traditions and craftsmanship threatened to vanish.

During World War II, the museum was hit with incendiary bombs, which caused a building in the Zaanse buurt to go up in flames.

The Multimedia Library of the museum contains pictures, slides, diagrams, videos, and audio recordings documenting Dutch folklife.