Amsterdam is known as the Venice of the North, boasting many historical places. Magere Brug bridge in Amsterdam stands out amongst these historical gems as an incredible site to behold.
Visit Anne Frank House to gain an impression of life as it was for Anne and her family while living in hiding during WWII. The house still shows how it looked during that era while also displaying Anne’s authentic diary.
Anne Frank House
Over one million visitors annually flock to Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, an iconic museum that commemorates the hiding place where young Jewish girl Anne Frank wrote her diaries during World War II. Witnessing how two families used it as shelter from Nazi persecution from July 1942 until 1944 can be sobering, while viewing Anne’s real diary brings her story vividly alive.
Opekta or front house and Achterhuis (rear annexe), connected by an enclosed courtyard, create a feeling of intimacy that makes the museum accessible and homelike. Here you will find exhibits about those hiding and those helping them as well as original objects from that time period on display.
Homomonument
On Amsterdam’s peaceful waterfront lies the heart of LGBTQ+ life: it serves as both an arena for celebration and remembering past injustice, while providing a window into discrimination and prejudice, and serving as an educational tool.
Homomonument was unveiled for the first time by Karin Daan and unveiled publicly for public display in 1987 as an original of its kind. Comprised of three detached pinky granite triangles representing past suffering and persecution, present celebration of gay life and future vigilance; its pink triangle has its origins in Nazi concentration camps where men identified as homosexual were required to wear cloth badges that featured it – it has since come to symbolize pride, power and power against discrimination.
The Homomonument was constructed to commemorate homosexual victims of WWII; its wider social meaning has become contentious, particularly during annual Remembrance Day dance parties at its site (Zebracki 2017). Furthermore, it serves as an arena for local activism against homophobia.
Van Gogh Museum
The Van Gogh Museum boasts the world’s most extensive collection of Vincent van Gogh paintings and drawings. As one of Amsterdam’s and the Netherlands’s most-visited museums, this attraction remains popular with visitors.
This exhibit showcases an impressive breadth of Van Gogh’s masterpieces, such as Sunflowers and Almond Blossoms, while charting his progression as he battled mental illness. After his death in 1890, his complete works collection was left to his brother Theo who in turn left it on to Johanna van Gogh-Bonger who in turn passed it along to her widow Johanna van Gogh-Bonger – ultimately becoming part of Johanna van Gogh-Bonger’s collection today.
The museum was inaugurated in 1973, comprising two buildings designed by Gerrit Rietveld – the Rietveld building and Kisho Kurokawa’s Kurokawa wing – which house its permanent collection of paintings, drawings, letters and other media by Vincent Van Gogh himself as well as 19th century contemporaries such as Auguste Rodin, Claude Monet and Odilon Redon.
Rijksmuseum
The Rijksmuseum is the national museum of the Netherlands and contains an expansive collection that has had an impactful role in Dutch history. Notable exhibits include paintings by Rembrandt, Vermeer and De Hooch as well as many lesser-known artists. Furthermore, there is also a range of Delft dishes, sculptures and Asian art in its storage facilities.
Rijksmuseum underwent an innovative renovation process during its most recent refurbishment; instead of following suit with other museums’ art collections, they arranged their art into an artistic journey spanning Dutch history. This creative way of viewing artworks makes the whole experience much more captivating while reducing fatigue caused by viewing too many masterpieces at once.
Stedelijk Museum
Stedelijk Museum stands as one of Europe’s premier modern art institutions, boasting collections spanning 20th-century styles – from abstract painting to video art – that span from abstract painting.
The museum boasts an extensive design collection. Here, visitors can admire works by artists such as Tapio Wirkkala, Joseph Hoffmann, Gerrit Rietveld and Claude Monet.
Building dates back to 1895 and was designed by Adriaan Willem Weissman. Mels Crouwel added a white synthetic wing designed by him in 2012, creating an exhibition area of over 8,000 square meters combined. STEDELIJK BASE provides access to works from its permanent collection organized according to artists, movements and social themes.
