A report on Amsterdam

The Oude Kerk was consecrated in 1306 AD.
Amsterdam citizens celebrating the Peace of Münster, 30 January 1648. Painting by Bartholomeus van der Helst
Courtyard of the Amsterdam Stock Exchange by Emanuel de Witte, 1653. The Amsterdam Stock Exchange was the first stock exchange to introduce continuous trade in the early 17th century.
View of Vijzelstraat looking towards the Muntplein, 1891
Photochrom of Amsterdam's Dam Square at the beginning of the 20th century
The rebuilt Magere Brug, around 1938.
People celebrating the liberation of the Netherlands at the end of World War II on 8 May 1945
The 17th-century Canals of Amsterdam were listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 2010, contributing to Amsterdam's fame as the "Venice of the North". Along with De Wallen, the canals are the focal-point for tourists in the city.
Satellite picture of Amsterdam and North Sea Canal
Topographic map of Amsterdam
Large-scale map of the city centre of Amsterdam, including sightseeing markers,.
Nieuwendammerdijk en Buiksloterdijk, Amsterdam-Noord, winter 2010
The Westerkerk in the Centrum borough, one of Amsterdam's best-known churches
800px
A 1538 painting by Cornelis Anthonisz showing a bird's-eye view of Amsterdam. The famous Grachtengordel had not yet been established.
Rokin – November 1977
Herengracht
Prinsengracht
The Egelantiersgracht lies west of the Grachtengordel, in the Jordaan neighbourhood.
The Scheepvaarthuis, by architects Johan van der Mey, Michel de Klerk, Piet Kramer is characteristic of the architecture of the Amsterdam School.
The Begijnhof is one of the oldest hofjes in Amsterdam.
The Openbare Bibliotheek Amsterdam and Conservatorium van Amsterdam, two examples of 21st-century architecture in the centre of the city
The Amsterdam Stock Exchange, the oldest stock exchange in the world
The Zuidas, the city's main business district
Boats give tours of the city, such as this one in front of the EYE Film Institute Netherlands.
Spiegelgracht
De Wallen, Amsterdam's Red-light district, offers activities such as legal prostitution and a number of coffee shops that sell cannabis. It is one of the main tourist attractions.
An Amsterdammer waits for a traffic light to change at the Muntplein in the heart of Amsterdam.
The Rijksmuseum houses Rembrandt's The Night Watch.
The Van Gogh Museum houses the world's largest collection of Van Gogh's paintings and letters.
The Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam is an international museum dedicated to modern and contemporary art and design.
Rembrandt monument on Rembrandtplein
Coldplay performing at the Amsterdam Arena, 2016
The Concertgebouw or Royal Concert Hall houses performances of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and other musical events.
Stadsschouwburg, Amsterdam's best-known theatre
One of the decorated boats participating in the 2013 Canal Parade of the Amsterdam Gay Pride
AFC Ajax player Johan Cruyff, 1967
Femke Halsema has been the Mayor of Amsterdam since 2018.
Boroughs of Amsterdam
800px
Police headquarters of Amsterdam
King Willem-Alexander, Princess Beatrix, and Queen Máxima greeting Amsterdammers from the Royal Palace of Amsterdam during Willem-Alexanders inauguration in 2013
A tram crossing the Keizersgracht
The Amsterdam Metro is a mixed subway and above ground rapid transit system consisting of five lines.
Amsterdam Centraal station, the city's main train station
Amsterdam Airport Schiphol ranks as Europe's third-busiest airport for passenger traffic.
Police bicyclist crossing a bridge over the Prinsengracht
Bicyclist at Amsterdam
The Agnietenkapel Gate at the University of Amsterdam, founded in 1632 as the Athenaeum Illustre

Capital and most populous city of the Netherlands; with a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban area and 2,480,394 in the metropolitan area.

- Amsterdam

308 related topics with Alpha

Overall
Portrait of Hendrick de Keyser (1621 or 1625) by Thomas de Keyser

Hendrick de Keyser

2 links

Dutch sculptor, merchant in Belgium bluestone, and architect who was instrumental in establishing a late Renaissance form of Mannerism changing into Baroque.

Dutch sculptor, merchant in Belgium bluestone, and architect who was instrumental in establishing a late Renaissance form of Mannerism changing into Baroque.

Portrait of Hendrick de Keyser (1621 or 1625) by Thomas de Keyser
Part from Westertoren, gravure in Architectura Moderna (1631) by Salomon de Bray
Playful entrance of tower Zuiderkerk (1614) by Hendrick de Keyser
Hendrick de Keyser by Jonas Suyderhoff after Thomas de Keyser
Top of the Montelbaanstoren (1606)
Oost-Indisch Huis in the court yard is attributed to HdK (1606)
thumb|Entrance Zuiderkerk in Zanddwarsstraat (1607) by HdK
Weigh house in Hoorn built with Belgian Fossil (1609)
Exchange by Hendrick de Keyser (1613)
Beurspoortje by HdK, drawing by Gerrit Lamberts
Zuiderkerk (1614)
Singel 142 (left) and Oudezijds Voorburgwal 57, both designed by HdK (1615?)
Playful entrance Bank van Lening (1616)
Entrance of the weigh house (1617)
Design of Haarlemmerpoort
Bergpoort in Deventer (1619)
Munttoren (1619)
Design of the City hall in Delft
Noorderkerk
Statue of Erasmus in Rotterdam

Most of his works appeared in Amsterdam, some elsewhere in the Dutch Republic.

Arrest of Dutch Jews by the Nazis, February 1941 (Jonas Daniël Meijerplein)

February strike

1 links

General strike in the German-occupied Netherlands in 1941, during World War II, organised by the then-outlawed Communist Party of the Netherlands in defence of persecuted Dutch Jews and against the anti-Jewish measures and activities of the Nazis in general.

General strike in the German-occupied Netherlands in 1941, during World War II, organised by the then-outlawed Communist Party of the Netherlands in defence of persecuted Dutch Jews and against the anti-Jewish measures and activities of the Nazis in general.

Arrest of Dutch Jews by the Nazis, February 1941 (Jonas Daniël Meijerplein)
German soldiers at the Jonas Daniël Meijerplein during the raids
Leaflet announcing the strike
De Dokwerker (the dock worker) on the Jonas Daniël Meijerplein in Amsterdam

The direct causes were a series of arrests and pogroms held by the Germans in the Jewish neighbourhood of Amsterdam, the Jodenbuurt.

Vondel in 1665

Joost van den Vondel

3 links

Dutch author of Christian poetry and verse dramas.

Dutch author of Christian poetry and verse dramas.

Vondel in 1665
Joost van den Vondel: Palamedes oft vermoorde onnooselheit
Portrait of Joost van den Vondel by Cornelis de Visscher, 1657

The Vondel family was left adrift and lived at Frankfurt am Main, Bremen, Emden, and Utrecht, before eventually settling at Amsterdam in the newly formed Dutch Republic.

Randstad

11 links

Bubble map showing the population sizes of larger towns and cities in the Randstad circa 2012
Amsterdam
Zuidas
The Hague
Rotterdam
Utrecht
A RandstadRail LRV between Zoetermeer and The Hague

The Randstad ("Rim" or "Edge" City) is a roughly crescent-shaped conurbation in the central-western Netherlands, consisting primarily of the four largest Dutch cities (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht); their suburbs, and many towns in between, that all grew and merged into each other, containing almost half the country's population.

250px

Amsterdam Oud-Zuid

3 links

250px

Oud-Zuid (English: Old South) is the name of a neighbourhood and of a (larger) former borough (stadsdeel) of Amsterdam.

Historical map of the Netherlands (1658) with the Zuyder Zee

Zuiderzee

3 links

Shallow bay of the North Sea in the northwest of the Netherlands, extending about 100 km (60 miles) inland and at most 50 km (30 miles) wide, with an overall depth of about 4 to 5 metres (13–16 feet) and a coastline of about 300 km (200 miles).

Shallow bay of the North Sea in the northwest of the Netherlands, extending about 100 km (60 miles) inland and at most 50 km (30 miles) wide, with an overall depth of about 4 to 5 metres (13–16 feet) and a coastline of about 300 km (200 miles).

Historical map of the Netherlands (1658) with the Zuyder Zee
The Dutch defeat the Spanish fleet at the Battle on the Zuiderzee in 1573.
Vliestroom indicated by arrow
Landsat photo
Map of the Zuiderzee Works in the Netherlands

The disaster marked the rise of Amsterdam on the southwestern end of the bay, since the seagoing traffic of the Baltic trade could now visit.

Almere

2 links

Planned city and municipality in the province of Flevoland, Netherlands, bordering Lelystad and Zeewolde.

Planned city and municipality in the province of Flevoland, Netherlands, bordering Lelystad and Zeewolde.

Satellite image of the Flevopolder
Topographic map of Almere, September 2014
Overview map of Almere
Kunstlinie Almere Flevoland (formerly known as "Schouwburg Almere")
Rob Verlinden, 2012
Michaëlla Krajicek, 2016

However, after World War II housing was needed for the rapidly growing population of Amsterdam and two towns were planned in the polders Oostelijk Flevoland and Zuidelijk Flevoland.

Map of the pre-Roman Iron Age in Northern Europe culture(s) associated with the Proto-Germanic language, ca 500–50 BCE. The area south of Scandinavia is the Jastorf culture.

Dutch language

4 links

West Germanic language spoken by about 25 million people as a first language and 5 million people as a second language, constituting most of the population of the Netherlands (where it is the only official language countrywide) and about 60% of the population of Belgium (as one of three official languages).

West Germanic language spoken by about 25 million people as a first language and 5 million people as a second language, constituting most of the population of the Netherlands (where it is the only official language countrywide) and about 60% of the population of Belgium (as one of three official languages).

Map of the pre-Roman Iron Age in Northern Europe culture(s) associated with the Proto-Germanic language, ca 500–50 BCE. The area south of Scandinavia is the Jastorf culture.
Area in which Old Dutch was spoken
The Utrecht baptismal vow
Title page of the Statenvertaling (1637) reads: Biblia ... Uyt de Oorspronckelijcke talen in onse Neder-landtsche tale getrouwelijck over-geset. (English: From the Original languages into our Dutch language faithfully translated.
The location of Suriname in South America
The Dutch Caribbean at both ends of the Lesser Antilles, lining the Caribbean Sea
Standard Dutch used in a 1916 ad in South Africa before Afrikaans replaced Dutch for use in media
The distribution of Afrikaans across South Africa: proportion of the population speaking Afrikaans at home
The 27-letter compound hemelwaterinfiltratiegebied (rainwater infiltration area) on a traffic sign in Zwolle, Netherlands
Dutch uses the digraph IJ as a single letter and it can be seen in several variations. Here, a marking saying ("line/route" + "bus"; the tram lane also serves as bus road).
The distribution of the primary Germanic languages in Europe in around AD 1: North Germanic North Sea Germanic, or Ingvaeonic Weser-Rhine Germanic, or Istvaeonic Elbe Germanic, or Irminonic East Germanic Lighter-colored areas denote areas of either mixed settlement, such as between East-Germanic and Balto-Slavic peoples, or possible settlement, such as the Istvaeones within the Roman Empire or the Ingvaenes in Northern Denmark.

The urban dialects of the Randstad, which are Hollandic dialects, do not diverge from standard Dutch very much, but there is a clear difference between the city dialects of Rotterdam, The Hague, Amsterdam and Utrecht.

Pierre Cuypers

Pierre Cuypers

2 links

Dutch architect.

Dutch architect.

Pierre Cuypers
The Rijksmuseum was designed by Cuypers in a combination of both Renaissance and Gothic styles in the late 1870s. The result is similar to the Hôtel de Ville in Paris in what is considered to be "French Neo-Renaissance" style. However, at the Rijksmuseum the Gothic elements seem to outweigh the Renaissance and the building, despite the English Renaissance quoins, and chateauesque roofs, is sometimes considered to be Neo-Gothic.
Pierre Cuypers statue (by August Falise), Munsterplein, Roermond (Netherlands)
{{ill|Sint-Lambertuskerk (Veghel)|nl}}, (Netherlands)
{{ill|Sint-Antonius van Paduaklooster (Brussel)|nl}}, (Belgium)
{{ill|Vondelkerk|nl}}, Amsterdam (Netherlands)
Castle de Haar, Haarzuilens (Netherlands)
Munsterkerk, Roermond (Netherlands)
St. Joseph Cathedral, Groningen (Netherlands)
Eastern front of the Mainz Cathedral. The central tower dates back to Cuypers work in 1875.
Perfume fountain for the Dutch contribution to the Centennial Exposition in 1876

His name is most frequently associated with the Amsterdam Central Station (1881–1889) and the Rijksmuseum (1876–1885), both in Amsterdam.

Hendrik Petrus Berlage

2 links

Dutch architect.

Dutch architect.

Beurs van Berlage in Amsterdam
Kunstmuseum Den Haag in The Hague
St. Hubertus Hunting Lodge, Hoge Veluwe National Park

Hendrik Petrus Berlage, son of Nicolaas Willem Berlage and Anna Catharina Bosscha, was born on 21 February 1856 in Amsterdam in the Netherlands.