HISTORY OF AMSTERDAM

Amsterdam has a very complicated and maybe for that reason very interesting history. Partly this history explains some of the odd phenomenons that still can be observed in nowadays Amsterdam.

Amsterdam started as a small fast expanding village on a very strategic spot at the place where the river Amstel flows into the former innersea the 'IJ'. At the beginning there could have been a conflict between the noble ruling the area and the bishop of Utrecht who he supported on the one side and the villagers and the earl of Holland on the other side. Anyway after Amsterdam was annexed by the earldom of Holland (around 1275) it got immediately so called city rights with several important privileges like the monopoly on the import of beer. Under is a picture of one of the left over houses from that early period.

In the early existance of the city people were catholic and the city had a strong religious character. This was intensified by the miracle of Amsterdam. A supposed miracle that happened in Amsterdam and that made the city a centre of pelgrimage. Below an old photo of the chapel that was built on the place of the miracle. Sadly enough it is destroyed The place doesn't exist in this form anymore. Under is a picture of before it was destorted:

During the 15 an 16th century Amsterdam became more and more important as a port and trade centre. Amsterdam had a natural port and it was a location where products for the rest of Holland had to be offloaded to be transported over for example the Amstel river and other inland waterways. This is how the Dam looked like a few centuries ago.

Around 1500 the first wall of the city was built. The Munttower, 'De Waag' and the 'Schreierstoren' are remainants of it. Under a picture of De Waag.

In the late 16th century a large part of the Netherlands (those days The Netherlands and Belgium) rebelled against the foreign ruler who had prosecuted a lot of people who sympathized with the new protestant convictions. Amsterdam was very long loyal to the king and only went over to the side of the rebels after it became completely isolated and impoverished fastly. From that time on the character of the city has always been predominantly pragmatic, non-fundamentalist, but also always with the business interests in mind. So the city was and is relatively tolerant to minority convictions but also a little bit without ideals if it comes to making money.

In the 16th and 17th century Amsterdam became the centre of trade in North Western Europe. Products like corn, wood and salt were brought from the countries around the East Sea and products like wine were brought from Southern Europe. Amsterdam functioned as market place where goods were unloaded, stored, traded and transported to their consumers. It was the place where a lot of prices of important products in Europe were determined. A lot of space was needed to store all the goods before they were transported to their final destinations. Below is a picture of the warehouses that were used to store the traded goods.

In the 17th Amsterdam became also the centre of the trade on Asia and it became a very important financial centre where currencies and government bonds of many European states could be traded. It grew very fast and a lot of traders became very rich. They built a lot of the many monumental houses along the canals that is Amsterdam famous for nowadays. Around 1650 the new cityhall nowadays royal palace was built. This picture shows how it looks inside.

From the middle of the 17th century on the economy began to slow down, ending in a economic downfall in the late 18th century. There were several causes; more competition in trading products from Asia and the development of new centres of trade like London. With the occupation of The Netherlands and Amsterdam by Napoleon and the blockade of all shipping and trade from the European continent by the British for almost 20 years the function of Amsterdam as centre of trade in Europe was destroyed for good. The period of economic downfall actually didn't end untill 1870/1880. The period was characterized by a lot of political clashes and instability. For example in the period between 1930 and 1960 there were much more communists in Amsterdam than in the rest of The Netherlands and during the war there were also more collaborators in Amsterdam than elsewhere in The Netherlands. In a certain sense those political tensions hasn't end untill the present. Amsterdam has had a very politically polarized climate since the second half of the 18th century. Under is a picture after a rebellion a couple of years before the second world war.

With the building of the Rijksmuseum (National Museum), the founding of a university, the new connection for ships to the North Sea through the 'Noordzeekanaal', the growing diamond industry, the city began to grow again around 1870. Major industries in those period were the port, the diamondindustry and more and more the leisure and cultural industry, with the many theatres, pubs and restaurants that developed. Under is a terrace on one of the main places to go out in Amsterdam, the Rembrandtplein.

During the second world war a large part of the jewish inhabitants of the city (before the war around 15% of the population) was killed. Diamond industry (many jews worked before the war in the diamondindustry) and the port became less important, the airport, tourism, the cultural sector, the financial sector and the media became more important.

We could tell much more about the history of the city. During our tours we do. You could fill in this form or call us (0031204750974) to book or plan a tour in the city or to ask for further information.

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