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 The Amstelhof ( en, Amstel court), was a retirement home that is the Hermitage Amsterdam museum. It was built near the Amstel river in 1682 by the diaconate of the Dutch Reformed Church after having received an inheritance of the rich merchant ...

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 A weighhouse or weighing house is a public building at or within which goods are weighed. Most of these buildings were built before 1800, prior to the establishment of international standards for weights, and were often a large and representative ...

, 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 Hendrick may refer to: People * Hendrick (given name), alternative spelling of the Dutch given name Hendrik * Hendrick (surname) * King Hendrick (disambiguation), one of two Mohawk leaders who have often been conflated: ** Hendrick Tejonihokarawa ( ...

and his son

Pieter de Keyser Pieter de Keyser (c.1595 – 15 September 1676 (buried)) was a Dutch Golden Age architect (''bouwmeester'') and sculptor. He followed in the footsteps of his father Hendrick de Keyser and completed a number of Hendrick de Keyser's buildings a ...

, then rebuilt by

Jacob van Campen Jacob van Campen (2 February 1596 - 13 September 1657) was a Dutch artist and architect of the Golden Age. Life He was born into a wealthy family at Haarlem, and spent his youth in his home town. Being of noble birth and with time on his hand ...

in 1634. The orphanage operated in this building until 1960.`

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 a ...

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 A USB flash drive (also called a thumb drive) is a data storage device that includes flash memory with an integrated USB interface. It is typically removable, rewritable and much smaller than an optical disc. Most weigh less than . Since first ...

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 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 (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 The coat of arms of Amsterdam is the official coat of arms symbol of the city of Amsterdam. It consists of a red shield and a black pale with three silver Saint Andrew's Crosses, the Imperial Crown of Austria, two golden lions, and the motto of ...

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