The Nieuwe Keizersgracht is a canal in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

, part of the eastern

Grachtengordel The Grachtengordel (, "canal belt (girdle);" known in English as the Canal District) is a neighborhood in Amsterdam, Netherlands located in the Centrum district. The seventeenth-century canals of Amsterdam, located in the center of Amsterdam, wer ...

(canal belt).

Location

The Nieuwe Keizersgracht is an extension of the

Keizersgracht The Keizersgracht (; "Emperor's canal") is a canal in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. It is the second of the three main Amsterdam canals that together form the Grachtengordel, or canal belt, and lies between the inner Herengracht and outer Prinsengr ...

, between the Amstel and

Plantage Muidergracht The Plantage Muidergracht is a canal and street in the Plantage neighborhood of Amsterdam. On and along the Plantage Muidergracht, near Roeterseiland, are some of the buildings of the University of Amsterdam, originally built for courses or subfac ...

in the

Plantage Plantage is a neighbourhood of Amsterdam, Netherlands located in its Centrum borough. It is bordered by the Entrepotdok to the north, Plantage Muidergracht to the east and south and Nieuwe Herengracht to the west. In the centre of the neighbourhoo ...

neighborhood of the

Amsterdam-Centrum Amsterdam-Centrum is the inner-most borough and historical city centre of Amsterdam, Netherlands, containing the majority of the city's landmarks. Established in 2002, Amsterdam-Centrum was the last area in the city to be granted the status of s ...

district. There are two bridges over the Nieuwe Keizersgracht: bridge no. 241 (Weesperzijde) and no. 240 (Weesperstraat).

History

The Keizersgracht, the second of the three main canals of the canal belt, was built in 1612. The part between the Amstel and

Leidsegracht The Leidsegracht () is a canal in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. It is a cross-canal in Amsterdam-Center that connects Herengracht, Keizersgracht, Prinsengracht and Lijnbaansgracht and flows into the Singelgracht at Marnixstraat. History The Leid ...

is part of the explanation of 1658. With the last extension, the part east of the Amstel was dug. This last part, the Nieuwe Keizersgracht (also called the Jewish Keizersgracht ), was located in the prosperous part of the Amsterdam Jewish quarter, as were the

Nieuwe Herengracht The Nieuwe Herengracht () is a canal in Centrum district of Amsterdam. The canal is an extension of the Herengracht that runs between the Amstel and the Scharrebiersluis (lock) leading to the Schippersgracht from the Entrepotdok. It is in the Pla ...

and the

Nieuwe Prinsengracht The Nieuwe Prinsengracht is a canal in the Plantage neighborhood of Amsterdam, an extension of the Prinsengracht in the eastern Grachtengordel (canal belt). Location The Nieuwe Prinsengracht runs between the Amstel and the Plantage Muidergracht. ...

Monuments and architecture

Exterieur OVERZICHT, VOORGEVEL - Amsterdam - 20278591 - RCE

*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 ...

was built in 1681 between the Nieuwe Keizersgracht and the Nieuwe Herengracht as a home for the elderly in need of care. After a major renovation, the

Hermitage Amsterdam Hermitage Amsterdam is a branch museum of the Hermitage Museum of Saint Petersburg, Russia, located on the banks of the Amstel river in Amsterdam. The museum is located in the former Amstelhof, a classical style building from 1681. The dependenc ...

, a branch of the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, opened its doors here in 2009 . *The Van Limmikhof (Nieuwe Keizersgracht 1A) from 1895 is between the side entrance of the Hermitage Amsterdam (Nieuwe Keizersgracht 1) and the Weesperstraat. There is also Het Hodshonhuis, from 1876. The buildings, like the 18th-century houses Het Corvershof and Amstelrank on Nieuwe Herengracht, were commissioned by the Diaconie to accommodate and care for the elderly and the sick. The houses are part of the Amstelhoven complex, which used to include the building that now houses the Hermitage Amsterdam. They still house organizations related to De Protestante Diaconie Amsterdam and share the "

Mien Ruys Wilhelmina Jacoba Moussault-Ruys (14 February 1904 – 9 January 1999), was a Dutch landscape and garden architect. Her gardening legacy is maintained in the Dutch town of Dedemsvaart, which is home to the ''Tuinen Mien Ruys''. With people such a ...

" courtyard garden adjacent to the museum. *In 1772 the Wittenberg, an Evangelical - Lutheran Parish House for old men and women, was opened on Roetersstraat between Nieuwe Keizersgracht and Nieuwe Kerkstraat. The Amsterdam city council provided a parcel "freely" along the Muidergracht (now Nieuwe Keizersgracht) and did not ask for taxes. This gesture was accepted with great thanks and because of this generosity, the building could also become larger than originally intended. *The imposing Van Brants-Rushofje at Nieuwe Keizersgracht 28-44 was built in 1733 by order of Christoffel Brants to a design by

Daniel Marot Daniel Marot or Daniel Marot the Elder (1661–1752) was a French-born Dutch architect, furniture designer and engraver at the forefront of the classicizing Late Baroque Louis XIV style. He worked for a long time in England and the Dutch Republic ...

to accommodate childless older women. The board consisted of regents appointed by Lutheran elders. The beautiful façade of the

Style Louis XIV The Louis XIV style or ''Louis Quatorze'' ( , ), also called French classicism, was the style of architecture and decorative arts intended to glorify King Louis XIV and his reign. It featured majesty, harmony and regularity. It became the official ...

double-paved house looks like a patrician canal house and shows a symbolic relief that symbolizes kindness. Below that is the noble weapon of Brants. Above the door is the name of the courtyard with a poem. *Hofje van Merchtheid, Nieuwe Keizersgracht 94, better known as Occo's hofje, was built in 1774 for Roman Catholic care for the elderly. The handrails of the special sidewalk are designed in

rococo Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...

style and end in an eagle's head.

Famous residents

*Abraham Henriquez de Ferrera, major shareholder of the

Dutch East India Company The United East India Company ( nl, Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, the VOC) was a chartered company established on the 20th March 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating existing companies into the first joint-stock ...

(VOC) . *

Isaac de Pinto Isaac de Pinto (10 April 1717 – 13 August 1787) was a Dutch merchant and banker of Portuguese Sephardic Jewish origin who was one of the main investors in the Dutch East India Company, as well as a scholar and philosophe who concentrated on Je ...

(1717–87), philosopher during the

Age of Enlightenment The Age of Enlightenment or the Enlightenment; german: Aufklärung, "Enlightenment"; it, L'Illuminismo, "Enlightenment"; pl, Oświecenie, "Enlightenment"; pt, Iluminismo, "Enlightenment"; es, La Ilustración, "Enlightenment" was an intel ...

and, among other things, governor at the VOC. He lived for a long time on the Nieuwe Keizersgracht with Abraham Henriquez de Ferrera, a major shareholder of the VOC.

Miscellaneous

*The restaurant of the Hermitage Amsterdam "Neva" museum is freely accessible via the Nieuwe Keizersgracht 1 entrance. *Stichting Landelijk Homojongeren Overleg (LHJO), was located in a basement on the Nieuwe Keizersgracht. In 1991, they temporarily took over the edition of the '' Expreszo'' magazine, which made national publication and individual sales possible. *The Jewish Council resided on Nieuwe Keizersgracht 58 during the Second World War, until the dismantling and deportation of employees in September 1943. *At number 24 a plaque was placed on 13 December 2009 in memory of the Jewish family Kok, who were deported from this building during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and later killed in

Auschwitz Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...

and

Mauthausen Mauthausen was a Nazi concentration camp on a hill above the market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regu ...

. File:Oorlogsmonument nieuwe keizersgracht.jpg , War memorial File:Nieuwe keizersgracht amstel hermitage.jpg , Nieuwe Keizersgracht (north side), looking towards the Amstel. Right: the Hermitage. File:Hermitage 07-2009.jpg , View from Nieuwe Keizersgracht 1; the Hermitage side entrance. On the right the rear of the Corvershof.

Notes

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nieuwe Keizersgracht Canals in Amsterdam