The Sarphatistraat is a street in the center 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 ...

between Frederiksplein and Oostenburgergracht at the Cruquiuskade. The street crosses the

Amstel The Amstel () is a river in the province of North Holland in the Netherlands. It flows from the Aarkanaal and Drecht in Nieuwveen northwards, passing Uithoorn, Amstelveen, and Ouderkerk aan de Amstel, to the IJ in Amsterdam. Annually, the r ...

and forms an almost long connection between the southern part of the

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, we ...

and the

Oostelijke Eilanden Oostelijke Eilanden (; lit. Eastern Islands), also known as Oostelijke Eilanden en Kadijken (Eastern Islands and Quays), is a neighbourhood in the centre of Amsterdam, Netherlands, consisting of Kattenburg, Wittenburg and Oostenburg. Geography The ...

Location

The Sarphatistraat is the only street in Amsterdam that has the same name on both sides of the Amstel. It has been the first cycling street in Amsterdam since 2017, a street that is primarily intended for cyclists and where cars are a guest. At the Weesperplein the Sarphatistaat intersects the main Weesperstraat–Wibautstraat route (city route s112). The street is crossed by the Weesperplein to the north, a dual carriageway section of the Weesperstraat, and to the south side by the Rhijnspoorplein a dual carriageway section of Wibautstraat. At Roetersstraat there is a building complex known as Roeterseiland at the Sarphatistraat campus of the

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, nl, Universiteit van Amsterdam) is a public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The UvA is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in the city, the other being ...

. At the Alexanderplein the Sarphatistraat intersects with the Plantage Middenlaan. From 2009 to 2012, the Theater Instituut Nederland (TIN) was located at Sarphatistraat 53. The material has been transferred to the Special Collections of the University of Amsterdam . The Sarphatipark is not on this street. That park, also named after

Samuel Sarphati Samuel Sarphati (31 January 1813 – 23 June 1866) was a Dutch physician and Amsterdam city planner. Biography Sarphati's ancestors were Spanish and Portuguese Jews who arrived in the Netherlands in the 17th century. Though middle-class, his p ...

, is located in

De Pijp De Pijp (; English: The Pipe) is a neighbourhood of Amsterdam, Netherlands. It is located directly south of Amsterdam's city centre and it is part of the borough Amsterdam-Zuid, in a part of the city known as the Old South ( ''Oud Zuid''). It is se ...

History

The Sarphatistraat was named in 1870 after the physician

(1813–66), who had a major influence on the expansion and beautification of Amsterdam. He contributed to the creation of the

Paleis voor Volksvlijt The Paleis voor Volksvlijt (Dutch, meaning Palace of Popular Diligence) was a large exhibition hall in Amsterdam, located on the Frederiksplein, near the current location of De Nederlandsche Bank. The building was constructed between 1859 and 18 ...

on Frederiksplein and the

Amstel Hotel The InterContinental Amstel Amsterdam Hotel, commonly referred to as the Amstel Hotel, is a hotel in Amsterdam, capital city of the Netherlands, on the east bank of the river Amstel. In 2007, it was the only hotel in the Netherlands on the list ...

on Professor Tulpplein. The Sarphatistraat, which was called the Schans (Fortification) before 1870, is on the site of the city walls that fell between 1820 and 1840. The section between

Leidseplein Leidseplein (English: Leiden Square) is a square in central Amsterdam, Netherlands. It lies in the Weteringschans neighborhood ( Centrum borough), immediately northeast of the Singelgracht. It is located on the crossroads of the Weteringschans, Ma ...

and Frederiksplein was called the Weteringschans since 1872 and the section between Haarlemmerplein and Leidseplein was called

Marnixstraat Marnixstraat is a main street in the Dutch city of Amsterdam , on the western border of the Jordaan in the Amsterdam-Centrum. The street is located between Haarlemmerplein and Leidseplein, parallel to Lijnbaansgracht. History Marnixstraat is a ...

. On 14 August 1942, at the insistence of the German occupiers, a number of Amsterdam street names were changed by Mayor Edward Voûte. This applied to streets that were named after the Dutch royal family or after Jews. Until the end of

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 opposing ...

in 1945 the street was called Muiderschans. The famous first sentence from

Nescio Jan Hendrik Frederik Grönloh (born 22 June 1882 in Amsterdam; died 25 July 1961 in Hilversum), known by his pen name of Nescio (Latin for "I don't know"), was a Dutch writer. Grönloh was a businessman by profession, but as Nescio he is mainl ...

's book ''De uitvreter'' (''The Freeloader'') reads: "Apart from the man who found Sarphatistraat the most beautiful place in Europe, I have never known a more strange guy than the freeloader". Shortly before Nescio wrote this, writer

Frederik van Eeden Frederik Willem van Eeden (3 April 1860, Haarlem – 16 June 1932, Bussum) was a late 19th-century and early 20th-century Dutch writer and psychiatrist. He was a leading member of the Tachtigers and the Significs Group, and had top billing a ...

had expressed his opinion about unwelcome adjustments to the Sarphatistraat, while he thought it was the most beautiful street in Amsterdam.

Public transportation

*Tram lines 1 , 7 and 19 run through the Sarphatistraat. *At the intersection with Weesperplein and Rhijnspoorplein you will find the metro station Weesperplein in front of metro lines 51 , 53 and 54 . *Tram lines 14 cross the Sarphatistraat on Alexanderplein. *The first tram line in Amsterdam ran through the Sarphatistraat in 1875. This Leidscheplein - Plantage horse tram line ran via the Weteringschans and Sarphatistraat. After electrification in 1903, the tram lines 7 and 10 replaced them . Line 3 ran from 1906 to 1940 between Andrieszstraat and Alexanderplein . There was a railway yard between Alexanderplein and the Dageraadsbrug (along the Oranje-Nassau Kazerne) until 1906 . In 2004 line 10 on this part of the street was extended via the Czaar Peterstraat to the Eastern Docklands, Since then this tram line runs the full length of the Sarphatistraat but was replaced by line 7 on July 22, 2018.

Gallery

File:NIMH - 2011 - 0719 - Aerial photograph of Amsterdam, The Netherlands - 1920 - 1940.jpg, Aerial photo of the Sarphatistraat in a southerly direction File:Sarphatistraat met Artillerie-Kazerne, Amsterdam (ansichtkaart, kleur).jpg, Sarphatistraat from the Muiderpoort on the Alexanderplein in a westerly direction with a line #3 tram. File:Sarphatistraat Amsterdam ca 1903.jpg, Sarphatistraat, ca. 1903 File:Sarphatistraat, 1890.jpg, Sarphatistraat 1-15 in 1890, now partly demolished File:Brug246.jpg, Hogesluis

Notes

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sarphatistraat Streets in Amsterdam