Nieuwmarkt (; en, New Market) is a square in the centre of

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. The surrounding area is known as the

Lastage Lastage is a neighborhood in the Centrum borough of Amsterdam, Netherlands. It is located between the Geldersekade and Oudeschans canals, just east of old medieval city. Today, the neighbourhood is also known as Nieuwmarktbuurt due to the fact ...

neighborhood. It is situated in the

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...

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 ...

. The square is considered part of Amsterdam's

Chinatown A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Aust ...

, next to the De Wallen (

Red Light District A red-light district or pleasure district is a part of an urban area where a concentration of prostitution and sex-oriented businesses, such as sex shops, strip clubs, and adult theaters, are found. In most cases, red-light districts are partic ...

). There are over 20 cafés and coffeeshops facing the square. There is a daily market on the square, as well as an organic food market on Saturdays and a market for antiques and books on Sundays in the summer months. The Nieuwmarkt is dominated by a building known as 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 ...

, originally a gate in the Medieval city walls but converted into a weighing house after the walls were demolished in the 17th century. The square was created when the canals around the Waag were filled in 1614, and was used as a marketplace (hence the name). In

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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

the square was used by the

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

s as a collection point for

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...

s who had been rounded up to be sent to the concentration camps. In the 1970s many buildings on and around the square were torn down to make way for a planned metro and highway which was to run right through the Nieuwmarkt neighbourhood. This led to heavy rioting, known as the Nieuwmarkt Riots (''Nieuwmarktrellen''), in 1975 and, ultimately, abandonment of the highway plans. The metro, however, was constructed, and Nieuwmarkt is now a station on the

Amsterdam metro The Amsterdam Metro ( nl, Amsterdamse metro) is a rapid transit system serving Amsterdam, Netherlands, and extending to the surrounding municipalities of Diemen and Ouder-Amstel. Until 2019 it also served the municipality of Amstelveen but thi ...

(subway) system.

References

External links

Documentation about the Nieuwmarkt riots at the Amsterdam City Archives
{{Parks and squares in Amsterdam Squares in Amsterdam Holocaust locations in the Netherlands