Dam Square 1970: Counterculture Confronts Authority
Dam Square 1970: Counterculture Confronts Authority Dam Square was in the summer of 1970 a magnet for hippies and backpackers. They gathered around the National Monument, smoking marijuana, drinking, playing music and sleeping. Begging, disruptive behaviour and...
Gijsbrecht van Aemstel and Joost van den Vondel
Gijsbrecht van Aemstel and Joost van den Vondel Gijsbrecht van Aemstel is a legendary character and the main character in one of the most important plays in Dutch literature. The story of this brave knight and the downfall of medieval Amsterdam is an intriguing part...
Remnants of Medieval Amsterdam
Remnants of Medieval Amsterdam Amsterdam was founded in 1306, or to be more precise, this is the year in which (probably) city rights were granted (sources on the exact date vary). City rights gave privileges to a city. A city wall could be built, markets held, tolls...
Narrow Houses and Skinny Facades
Narrow Houses and Skinny Facades Judging by the number of extremely narrow houses along Amsterdam’s canals, you could conclude that in the seventeenth century when these houses were built, the locals were very slim. Some of these houses are as narrow as the...
Rembrandt as Portrait Painter
Rembrandt as Portrait Painter In the seventeenth century, in Rembrandt’s time, photography had not yet been invented and when people wanted their likeness taken, they went to a portrait painter, Rembrandt for example. That is exactly what Marten and Oopjen...