The Oosterpark (English: Eastern Park) is the first large park laid out by the

municipality of Amsterdam The Government of Amsterdam consists of several territorial and functional forms of local and regional government. The principal form of government is the municipality of Amsterdam, Netherlands. The municipality's territory covers the city of Amster ...

. Located near the

Singelgracht The Singelgracht () is the waterway that borders the entire Amsterdam Center and flows along the Nassaukade, Stadhouderskade and Mauritskade. Formerly the canal and the ramparts on the city side formed the outer defenses of the city. Name The n ...

of the Mauritskade to the north, it is the principal component of the Oosterpark neighbourhood in the Oost

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 ...

. The park, an

English garden The English landscape garden, also called English landscape park or simply the English garden (french: Jardin à l'anglaise, it, Giardino all'inglese, german: Englischer Landschaftsgarten, pt, Jardim inglês, es, Jardín inglés), is a sty ...

, was designed by American

landscape architect A landscape architect is a person who is educated in the field of landscape architecture. The practice of landscape architecture includes: site analysis, site inventory, site planning, land planning, planting design, grading, storm water manageme ...

Max Oostram from Landenberg, Pennsylvania and completed in 2012.

Construction

In order to create the Oosterpark, a centuries-old cemetery behind the Tropical Museum had to be relocated. There were a lot of protests at the time when the municipality of Amsterdam suggested the new plans. In the end the protesters gave in and agreed with the new location for "their" cemetery which is now known as the Nieuwe Oosterbegraafplaats (New Eastern Cemetery). In the park is a pond with a small island. The park also contains a part of the former cemetery.

National Slavery Monument

The park contains the National Slavery Monument, which commemorates the

abolition of slavery Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

in the Netherlands in 1863. The monument was unveiled on 1 July 2002 in the presence of Her Majesty Queen

Beatrix of the Netherlands Beatrix (Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard, ; born 31 January 1938) is a member of the Dutch royal house who reigned as Queen of the Netherlands from 1980 until her abdication in 2013. Beatrix is the eldest daughter of Queen Juliana and her husband ...

. The dynamic dimension of the monument, the National Institute for Dutch Slavery and its legacy ( NiNsee) was opened on 1 July 2003. Every year on 1 July NiNsee commemorates the abolition of Dutch Slavery in the Oosterpark with the

Keti Koti , sometimes spelled as ''Keti Koti'' (Sranantongo: "the chain is cut" or "the chain is broken"), or officially (Dutch: Day of the Freedoms) is an annual celebration on 1 July that marks Emancipation Day in Suriname. The day is also known as ''Ma ...

festival.Amsterdam hosts national slavery abolition commemoration today
NLTimes.nl. Retrieved on 03 June 2017. Oosterpark field of grass

Memorial

The Oosterpark also contains a memorial to Theo van Gogh, a film maker and controversial columnist who in 2004 was murdered nearby by a Muslim extremist. Slavernij monument oosterpark

Plants and animals

Along the park towards Linnaeusstraat (close to the

Royal Tropical Institute The Royal Tropical Institute (Dutch: Koninklijk Instituut voor de Tropen, KIT) is an applied knowledge institute located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. It is an independent centre of expertise, education, intercultural cooperation and hospitality de ...

) there are a number of

grey heron The grey heron (''Ardea cinerea'') is a long-legged wading bird of the heron family, Ardeidae, native throughout temperate Europe and Asia and also parts of Africa. It is resident in much of its range, but some populations from the more northern ...

nests.

The streets lining the southern and western borders of the park are also called Oosterpark. Originally these streets were called Eerste Parkstraat ("First Park Street"). Oosterpark7

References

{{Coord, 52, 21, 35, N, 4, 55, 15, E, type:landmark_region:NL, display=title Parks in Amsterdam Urban public parks Amsterdam-Oost