Krameramtshaus (Grocers' Guild House), Munster

Found next to the Lamberti Church in Münster is the building formerly known as the Krameramtshaus. This building has existed since 1589 and was originally used as the gathering place for the members of and as a warehouse for the Kramergilde (Grocers' Guild). This is one of the oldest buildings in the city which has survived to the present day without any major restoration.

The Krameramtshaus gained particular fame in 1648 when the Congress of Westphalia was held in the Münster Town Hall. The Congress, otherwise known as the Peace (or the Treaty) of Westphalia, resulted in two peace agreements — namely: the Munster and the Osnabrück – which put an end to both the Thirty Years' War in the Holy Roman Empire and the Eighty Years' War of the Dutch for their independence from Spain. During these negotiations, the Krameramtshaus served as accommodation for the Dutch envoys.

The talks were held at different locations throughout the city, but it was in the Krameramtshaus that the Spanish-Dutch treaty was finally signed, on January 30, 1648, as a result of which the Netherlands was recognized as an independent state.

From 1909 to 1993, the building housed the Münster city library. Since 1995, after the University of Westphalia's "Center for Dutch Studies" moved in here, it has been called the "House of the Netherlands in the Krameramtshaus".

The Dutch Research Center is the only scientific institution in Germany dedicated exclusively to the research of and cultural exchange with the Netherlands and Flanders. Its library contains the most extensive in the country collection of literature (nearly 95,000 volumes) in the Dutch and Flemish languages.