The Amsterdam Museum, known until 2010 as the Amsterdam Historical Museum, is an Amsterdam-based museum dedicated to the city's past and present. Due to the renovation of its main location, the museum is temporarily located in the building the
Amstelhof on the
Amstel River, together with
the Hermitage Amsterdam and the dependence of the
Museum van de Geest.
History
The museum opened in 1926 in the
Waag, one of Amsterdam's 15th-century city gates. It has been located since 1975 in a former convent that was used from 1581 onwards as Amsterdam's municipal orphanage. The building was extended by
Hendrick and his son
Pieter de Keyser, then rebuilt by
Jacob van Campen in 1634. The orphanage operated in this building until 1960.
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Collection
The museum exhibits various items related to the history of Amsterdam, from the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
to the present time. Many of the original furnishings of the city orphanage are on display, as are artifacts relating to the ''Rasp house'', the former house of correction in Amsterdam where the prisoners were forced to ''rasp'' wood to make sawdust. As of 2011, the museum manages 70,000 objects kept in various buildings and storage areas. Of those, approximately 25,000 have been photographed and are available to the public online. To celebrate the change of their name (dropping the word "Historical") and the 10th anniversary of Wikipedia on January 15, 2011, the museum "gave" Wikipedia a
USB stick with the online photo collection to symbolize the public release of their high quality digital photographs made of their collection. This includes all two-dimensional objects that were already free of copyright, but new is the set photos of three-dimensional art.
The museum has on display paintings, models, archeological findings, photographs, but also less likely items such as a playable
carillon
A carillon ( , ) is a pitched percussion instrument that is played with a keyboard and consists of at least 23 cast-bronze bells. The bells are hung in fixed suspension and tuned in chromatic order so that they can be sounded harmon ...
, a
Witkar (environment-friendly vehicle from the 1960s) and a
replica
A 1:1 replica is an exact copy of an object, made out of the same raw materials, whether a molecule, a work of art, or a commercial product. The term is also used for copies that closely resemble the original, without claiming to be identical. Al ...
of
Café 't Mandje
Café 't Mandje is a bar in Amsterdam, Netherlands. It is located in Zeedijk street and was opened in 1927 by Bet van Beeren, herself a lesbian. The Amsterdam Museum holds the replica of 't Mandje.
't Mandje is often presented as the first gay ba ...
(a famous pub in the Red-light district where prostitutes, pimps, seamen and lesbian women came together).
Amsterdams Historisch Museum.jpg, The coat of arms of Amsterdam above the entrance to the museum.
Abraham de Vries - regents of the city orphanage in Amsterdam.jpg, Regents of the old city orphanage, painting by Abraham de Vries can still be seen in the wall of the regent's room where it was installed in 1633 CE.
Amsterdam Museum.JPG, One of the modern galleries in Amsterdam Museum.
References
External links
Amsterdam Museum
{{Authority control
City museums in the Netherlands
Local museums in the Netherlands
History museums in the Netherlands
History of Amsterdam
Museums established in 1975
Museums in Amsterdam
Rijksmonuments in Amsterdam