Old center – Local tips (art & culture)

The city’s art collection is since 1926 located in the Amsterdam Historical Museum. The museum has a rich collection of art, objects and archaeological findings which stands for the wealthy Amsterdammers. Furthermore photos and film material show the happy times as well as the drama of the modern lives, the poverty in the Jordaan area in the 19th century but also the idealism of the sixties.
Personally I think this is a museum with a lot of history in it and goes back a long time. The many buildings and rooms makes it a beautiful museum.

The master pieces are the map of Cornelis Antonisz from 1538, giving a bird’s-eye view of Amsterdam as well as the impressive Civic Guard paintings from the Golden Age which are hanged in the passage. Even when you are not a visitor of the museum you can walk through this passage, you really should see it.

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Amsterdam Historical Museum | Art & culture | Entrance fee € 10.00
Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal 357 | Old center | +31205231822
Mon – Fri 10:00 – 17:00, Sat – Sun 11:00 – 17:00

The Beurs van Berlage was built between 1898 and 1903 by the architect Hendrik Petrus Berlage (1856-1934) for the City of Amsterdam. Construction started in 1898 and was completed in 1903. It was Berlage’s first really large commission – and it would make him world famous.

The building was constructed alongside the Amstel river, where trading ships used to moor. The building was designed to accommodate all forms of stock trading. At the time, the Beurs van Berlage was referred to as the Koopmansbeurs (Merchant Stock Exchange); in it, commodities, stock, corn, currencies and ship’s cargoes were traded, as were, later, insurance and options. Since 1987, the building has been the venue for exhibitions, concerts, congresses and other events.
Underneath the centre of the original main entrance on Beursplein are the Vaults. Here, individuals could rent a safe deposit box in which to store their securities and other valuables.

Neoclassicism was usual for the 19th century, but Berlage broke with this style. Therefor The Beurs van Berlage is a milestone in the history of modern architecture. It was built in the same period as Amsterdam’s Central Station and the Rijksmuseum (see the Rijksmuseum article), but what is really special about the Beurs, is that 80% of it is authentic.

Berlage made his exchange building into a Gesamtkunstwerk (a work combining various arts, wherein each is subservient to the whole). Berlage and his contemporaries felt that a building should have one clearly delineated shape, governing all details (and thus also the interior). It is ‘Unity in plurality’, as Berlage puts it. The interior is still complete and everything was restored to their former glory and opened to the public.

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Beurs van Berlage | Art & culture, Music
Damrak 277 | Old center | +31205304141
Depends on exhibition & concert times

The area of the University of Amsterdam (UvA) called Binnengasthuis is usually remarkably quiet. Although you will always be aware of the presence of the students through their bikes that are parked in front of the buildings and alongside the canal-fence, it is also a residential area that is somewhat closed off from the traffic on the busy Rokin street nearby.

Binnengasthuis translates, a bit awkwardly perhaps, to Inner Guesthouse, which refers to the inner-city hospital for the elderly that used to be located in the university buildings.

The old entrances are located at the south ends of the Oudezijds Voorburgwal and Oudezijds Achterburgwal, and they will lead you to a gateway that gives shelters to a small book market. Sometimes the sound of jazz music from a salesman’s radio will float from one end to the other. At the whole hour it will be briefly disrupted by the students rushing in and out, but the quietness quickly returns after the next classes have started.

Another gate in the middle opens onto the courtyard of the faculty of Law. This beautiful little garden-like square is completely closed off from the city, quiet during classes and otherwise filled with students, smoking cigarettes or drinking coffee.

The quietness of the Binnengasthuis can be found

right in the middle of the city’s hustle and bustle. It is strategically located, a perfect start or end of a day of city-strolling, or, if it suits you, a relaxing break in the middle of it.

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Binnengasthuis | Art & culture | Free
Binnengasthuis | Old center
Mon – Sat 09:00 – 20:00 (mostly)

Café Crea is located on the grounds of some of the most beautiful buildings of the University of Amsterdam, and it is a haven for students looking for a break. As the place is divided into three smaller parts, the conversations of the guests do not bounce around against the walls, but fill the rooms with a pleasant humming.

Crea is one of my favorite places to go to when I need to study or write, want to drink coffee and read a newspaper, or drink a beer with fellow students. Located in a quieter part, but right the middle of the centre, it is a perfect base of operations to plan your explorations in.

In the meantime you can enjoy a delicious coffee, French toast, a sandwich or a bowl of soup, or even a decent and decently priced dinner between five and eight-thirty. With a different atmosphere in each of the rooms and a small patio on the canal side, you can be sure to find a spot that fits your mood.

The view from the patio is picturesque in a way that is typical for Amsterdam. Since I have been studying at the UvA, I have found the surroundings of Crea very inspiring. You feel very close to the history of the city and the university. When you are there, take the time to enjoy the atmosphere and stroll around between the university-buildings.

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Café Crea | Art & culture, Bars, Coffee & tea, Theaters, Restaurants (intern.) | Beer € 2.00
Turfdraagsterpad 17 | Old center | +31205251423
Mon – Sat 10:00 – 01:00, Sun 11:00 – 19:00

For the past four years I come here to see the Russian Ballet of Tsjaikovski. So far, I have seen the Nutcracker & Mouceking, the Swanlake and Cinderella. This year I am going to see Coppela. This one is actually from the Dutch Ballet, but really nice.

Each year I loved the performances and the atmosphere of the entire evening. It is lovely to go out once a year, all dressed up, to see these dancers doing the best they can.

Yes, it is classical ballet, and I know that not everyone is into this, but what I really envy, is the story they are telling by dancing and the changing scenery. For me, this makes the whole fairytale complete!

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City Hall Stopera | Art & culture, Theaters | 4th category € 20.00
Amstel 3 | Old center | +31205518117
See the website for the program

Besides the Amstel Hotel, this is one of the most beautiful and prestigious hotels in Amsterdam!The Grand is filled with heritage listed examples of the city’s history dating back to 1578. In its origin this building was a monastery. Napoleon directed the City Hall on Dam Square in 1808 to Hotel The Grand, because he needed the building to become The Royal Palace.

Created in 1926 by Chris Lebeau, the First Class Marriage Chamber of Amsterdam’s City Hall is a work of art, with its figures and scenes depicting married life. The hotel is centered around the former council chamber, in which Her Majesty Queen Beatrix was married.

The council chamber is the largest convention room in the hotel itself. Robust wooden furniture, carpets, chandeleers all handmade. Bear in mind that the entire building is a historical monument and can not be changed without a legislation.

A small detail is the painting in the restaurant of Karel Appel, a famous painter in the Netherlands. The story about this painting is that after a previous renovation a wall was broken down and this painted wall was behind. After taxation it happened to be of great value.

Right now a part of the hotel is being renovated, but still open.

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Hotel The Grand | Art & culture, Bars, Coffee & tea, Restaurants (French)
Oudezijds Voorburgwal 197 | Old center | +31205553111
24 hours daily

NH Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky, a five star hotel located right at Dam Square, is a famous building which dates back to 1865. The original owner was Adolph Wilhelm Krasnapolsky, who bought a Polnish coffee location and rebuilded it into a popular restaurant. In 1879 he bought the buildings next door and turned them into hotel rooms. He is the one who invented the Winter Garden (Wintertuin) in the back yard, a hot-house with a glasdome and palms. The architect is G.B. Salm. Glas, iron and electricity were not very common at that time, so the Wintertuin is extraordinary.

The NH Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky has a Summer Garden and a monumental Winter Garden where you can enjoy an extensive buffet breakfast in the morning. In the a-la-carte restaurant Reflet, a varied selection of French style cuisine belle époque is served and in Shibli Bedouin an oriental cuisine. Lunch and high tea are served in the lounge overlooking the Dam, people really love it!

Book a room this website!

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Krasnapolsky Hotel | Art & culture, Coffee & tea, Restaurants (French & Oriental)
Dam 9-15 | Old center | +31205549111
24 hours daily

It is really remarkable to see what is behind the characteristics façade of this house at the canals. You could never imagine that in fact it is a hidden church built in the 17th century.

This hidden church in the attic was built because Catholics were not allowed to hold public services. They had to find a way to get together. It is a great historic building with many hidden secrets. Not only the church and the chapel are hidden, but also the altar and the paintings behind.

At this time, the chapel is still in use. You can even get married here. And it is also nice to go to with children, there is a kind of scouting expedition within the museum where children can find hidden images or play tools.

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Ons’ lieve heer op Solder | Art & culture | Adult € 7.00
Oudezijds Voorburgwal 40 | Old center | +31206246604
Mon – Sat 10:00 – 17:00, Sun 13:00 – 17:00

This building used to be the administration head office of the VOC, Dutch East India Company, built in 1606. Hendrick de Keyser built this renaissance style building. Besides all meetings of the regents, the meetings of the Heren XVII, the board of the VOC, were held here.

The VOC was the most successful and biggest Dutch Trade Company of Europe in the 17th and 18th century. It had a monopoly position of trading between Europe and Asia. Being the first multinational company in the world they went on the stock-market to finance the transport over water.

In 1798 the VOC was abrogated and in 1808 the building was in use of the Colonial management of the Batavian Republic.

This building has had many renovations and expansions over the years. Part of the East-Indonesian building is the Bus Home and the Urban Artillery Warehouse.

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Oost-Indisch Huis | Art & culture | Free
Kloveniersburgwal 48 | Old center | +31205252258
Mon – Thu 08:00 – 19:30, Fri 08:00 – 18:00

The Oude Kerk (”old church”) is Amsterdam’s oldest parish church, consecrated in 1306 by the bishop of Utrecht. It stands in Amsterdam’s main red-light district.

Before the revolution in Amsterdam on 26 May 1578 in which the Roman Catholics lost sole control of the city government, the Oude Kerk was principally Catholic. Following William of Orange’s defeat of the Spanish and the influence of Calvinists, the church was adopted by the Protestants.

In the same year, the Oude Kerk became home to the registry of marriages. It was also used as the city archives, the most important documents locked in a chest covered with iron plates and painted with the city’s coat of arms. The chest was kept safe in the iron chapel.

The church covers 3,300 square meters and the foundations were set on an artificial mound.

The roof of the Oude Kerk is the largest medieval wooden vault in Europe. The Estonian planks date back to 1390 and boast some of the best acoustics in Europe. Therefor, the church is used a lot for concerts and exhibitions.
The floor consists entirely of gravestones. The reason for this is that the church was built on a cemetery. Local citizens continued to be buried on the site within the confines of the church until 1865. There are approximately 2500 graves in the Oude Kerk, under which are buried 10,000 Amsterdam citizens.

I personally think it is not the nicest church in Amsterdam, but still very impressive.

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Oude Kerk | Art & culture, Festivals & events | Entrance fee € 5.00
Oudekerksplein (entrance South) 23 | Old center | +31206258284
Mon – Sat 11:00 – 17:00, Sun 13:00 – 17:00