The city Amsterdam

The foundation
Amsterdam was first mentioned in documents written in the year 1275 A.C. with Floris V. The population was settled near the dam in the river the 'Amstel'. The municipal rights were obtained ±1300 A.C.

The early phase of trading
Farming was made difficult due to the floodings in the 12th century. This caused the citizens to focus on other possibilites to earn an income. Therefore they became fishermen. These activities took place on the 'Damrak' (the oldest dock of Amsterdam).

Becoming a trading city
Hereafter Amsterdam was slowly turning into a trading city. The fishermen brought their spare fish to other cities where after they were more and more bringing other products to Amsterdam.

Introduction of the beer-tax
The count of Holland introduced the tax on beer in 1323, which had to be paid in Amsterdam. This privilege lead to a big trade of different goods in that time.

Conflict with the Hanze cities
Amsterdam was a member of the Hanze cities. These cities made a pact to co-operate with each other. However in 1438 a war started between these cities due to a conflict on the east see. In 1441 Amsterdam did "win", ensuring a good economic position, which lead to the big commercial succes in the Golden Age.

The Dutch Revolt
During the 'Dutch Revolt' the Spanish rulers of Amsterdam were expelled and protestant 'Orange' municipality. It was in this war that the Belgium 'Antwerpen' was overthrown in 1584-1585. With 'Antwerp' out of the picture 'Amsterdam' could even grow more. Amsterdam was now one of the most powerful cities in Europe with a flourishing economy and a big fleet of ships sailing the seven seas.

The end of the Golden Age
The 'Golden Age' ended when the French invaded the republic in 1672. Although the industry was deteriorated the trading of goods remained quite consistent. The bankers could take an advantage in these days because of the war in Europe since the Republic was neutral. The rulers of other countries lend money from the bankers in Amsterdam to fund their war (e.g. England).

The 4th Anglo-Dutch war
The war from 1780 to 1784 was devastating for Amsterdam leading to a diminishing economy. The fall of the Republic was a fact.

The invasion of Napoleon
In 1795 Amsterdam was invaded again but this time lead by Rutger Jan Schimmelpenninck and the Batavian Republic was born. However not for long... It was 1806 when Napoleon invaded the republic and expelled the rulers and a new age began: The French age.

The return of 'Orange'
Hard times began for the population as the economy was falling more than it did ever before and the citizens were living in poverty. In 1813 Napoleon was about to be defeated and the 'Orange' took back Amsterdam. It was in 1814 that the King of the Netherlands is crowned in the new Church of Amsterdam (the capital! city).

More on wikipedia about: Amsterdam , Dutch Revolt , Fall of Antwerp , fourth Anglo-Dutch war

The 'Rijksmuseum' (official website)

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This is the biggest museum of the Netherlands. It was founded in 1800 in The Hague. It was moved a few years later to Amsterdam and it was then when it got the name 'Rijksmuseum'.
One of the famous works of Rembrandt is on display here; The night watch. Others are the work of Frans Hals and Johannes Vermeer.

You can save a lot of time if you avoid the waiting line by ordering a ticket online.

Van Gogh museum (official website)

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This museum was build in 1972 and contains 200 paintings of the famous painter Vincent van Gogh, more than 400 drawings and about 700 letters. Other paintings in this museum are works from Pablo Picasso and Claude Monet.

Just as with the 'Rijksmuseum' it is possible to order tickets online.

The Anne Frank museum (official website)

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Anne Frank was a Jewish girl who had to go into hiding during the second World War. In the rear of a house in Amsterdam was the hiding place of her family and five other refugees.
During this time she kept a diary about her fears, feelings and happenings. In 1944 Anne and her family were betrayed whereafter they were transported to the concentration camp Bergen-Belsen. She died due to typhus in this camp.
Nowadays it is possible to visit the house of Anne Frank (the Anne Frank house) and the Anne Frank museum, which is located directly next to it.

Artis Zoo (Official website)

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The Artis zoo is a lot more than an ordinary zoo. It is divided into: the aquarium, the botanical gardens, the zoological museum, the geological museum and the planetarium.
It is a beautiful place to learn about animals, planet earth and the cosmos.

Nemo science center (Official website)



The science center is a place for people of all ages. Especially fun is that visitors are triggered to touch everything and explore the wonderful world of science.
During your visit at the center you can explore various exhibitions about technology and science and get answers to the "how?" and "why?" questions you had.

Madame Tussauds (Official website)

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Never had the change to make a picture of you and your idol? Well this is your chance! Madame Tussauds has statues of almost all the celebrities in the world. These include rock-stars like Freddy Mercury and pop queens like Madonna or political pioneers like Mahatma Ghandi.

The stadium "Amsterdam Arena" (Official website)

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Ajax is the soccer team of Amsterdam. It was founded in 1900 and have won the national cup 28 and the world cup 2 times. The stadium has a capacity of 50.000 seats.
Many famous soccer players have played for AFC AJAX. This list contains e.g. Johan Cruijff, Marco van Basten, Dennis Bergkamp, Edgar Davids, Clarence Seedorf and many more.
It is possible to visit the club during a game. You have to order tickets at the online ticket service.

Melkweg (Official website)

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The 'Melkweg' has something fun for everyone. In this old factory you can go to a concert, the theater, the movies or enjoy a photo exhibition. Basically it covers five disciplines: music, dance/theatre, film, photography and media art.

Sensation White/Black (Official website)

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Sensation is a yearly event in the Amsterdam Arena. Yearly, approximately 40.000 people, visit this dance event.
There are two editions: Black and White, which focus on different music styles. The black edition contains music from the hardtrance, jumpstyle/techno, hardstyle and hardcore genre. On the opposite site the white edition focusses on dance, trance and other 'light' house genres.
If you want to visit this event you must order tickets (a possibility is Ticket Unlimited).

Various

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There are hundreds of bars and discotheques where you can have fun in Amsterdam.

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It is possible to visit Amsterdam by plane. The royal dutch flight enterprise (KLM) is situated here and happy to fly you in from everywhere in the world.

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Besides visiting museums it is possible to make a tour on the canals in Amsterdam. For a day you can just lay back and relax while a guide will tell you everything about the beautiful places in Amsterdam.

The canals were build hundreds of years ago and were used for transport and as a sewer. Today these canals still exist and during your visit you can make a tour on a boat through the city for only a few euros.

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• Is build on piles because the soil is very swampy?


• There live approximately 750.000 people in Amsterdam?


• These people are from 179 nationalities?


• This number the highest is from all the cities in the world?


• Roughly a quarter of the surface of Amsterdam consists of water?