Overzicht van de zuidgevel in de spuistraat - Amsterdam - 20424399 - RCE

The Spuistraat in downtown

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 ...

connects the Hekelveld to the

Spui A single-point urban interchange (SPUI, or ), also called a single-point interchange (SPI) or single-point diamond interchange (SPDI), is a type of highway interchange. The design was created in order to help move large volumes of traffic thro ...

. It runs roughly north to south, parallel to the Singel and the

Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal The Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal () is a street in the centre of Amsterdam. The street runs north-south without intersecting major streets other than the intersection with Raadhuisstraat at its halfway point, right behind the Royal Palace. On the eas ...

. At the

Royal Palace of Amsterdam The Royal Palace of Amsterdam in Amsterdam (Dutch: ''Koninklijk Paleis van Amsterdam'' or ) is one of three palaces in the Netherlands which are at the disposal of the monarch by Act of Parliament. It is situated on the west side of Dam Square i ...

, the Spuistraat crosses the

Raadhuisstraat Raadhuisstraat is a street in Downtown Amsterdam, in the Netherlands. It is located between Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal and Prinsengracht. The street is named after the former City Hall or Town Hall, now the Royal Palace and it contains the galle ...

and Paleisstraat. Originally the Spuistraat was a canal, the Nieuwezijds Achterburgwal. The canal was filled in in 1867, and the street renamed then.

History

Nieuwezijds Achterburgwal

The Nieuwezijds Achterburgwal (New Side Behind Bastion Wall) is a former canal in

, the Netherlands. From around 1380 to 1450 it was part of the town's defenses, forming the western limit of the medieval city of Amsterdam. Until about the 14th century, the river

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 riv ...

divided the city in two roughly equal parts--the Oudezijde with the Oude Kerk and the Nieuwezijde with the Nieuwe Kerk. In 1342 a simple earthen embankment was raised to protect the small town of Amsterdam, with a narrow canal in front of it where the Oudezijds Voorburgwal and

are today. As the town grew, new defenses were built further out: the

Oudezijds Achterburgwal The Oudezijds Achterburgwal, often abbreviated to ''OZ Achterburgwal'', is a street and canal in De Wallen, the red light district in the center of Amsterdam. Location and characteristics Just like the Oudezijds Voorburgwal, the OZ Achterburgwa ...

in 1367 and the Nieuwezijds Achterburgwal in 1380. At this time the town's population was between 3,000 and 5,000, so construction of the fortifications would have been a huge effort. To protect the city, a canal was dug on each side, with a city wall behind it made of dirt with a wooden

palisade A palisade, sometimes called a stakewall or a paling, is typically a fence or defensive wall made from iron or wooden stakes, or tree trunks, and used as a defensive structure or enclosure. Palisades can form a stockade. Etymology ''Palisade' ...

. When new fortifications were built around 1385, the existing ones became "Voorburgwal" ("voor" meaning "in front"), and the new ones "Achterburgwal" ("achter" meaning "behind"), on both the old side and the new side. This created the Oudezijds Voorburgwal,

, and Nieuwezijds Achterburgwal, dug in 1380. Amsterdam continued to grow, and in 1425 a broad new canal was dug further east of the town, where the

Geldersekade De Geldersekade linksonder op de Vogelvluchtkaart van Cornelis Anthonisz uit 1544. The Geldersekade is a canal and a street in Amsterdam that connects the Nieuwmarkt with the Prins Hendrikkade. The Geldersekade is in the easternmost part of De ...

and

Kloveniersburgwal Kloveniersburgwal is an Amsterdam canal flowing south from Nieuwmarkt to the Amstel River on the edge of the medieval city, lying east of the dam in the centre of Amsterdam. History The Kloveniersburgwal was dug at the end of the 15th century. ...

are today. Twenty five years later the Singel was completed round the west side of the city from the IJ to the

. The Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal no longer had a defensive purpose. The brewery "De Hooiberg" was established on the Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal in 1592 on the site now occupied by the

Hotel Die Port van Cleve Hotel Die Port van Cleve is a historical 4-star hotel on the Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal in Amsterdam. The hotel is situated in the centre of Amsterdam, immediately north of the Magna Plaza shopping centre, and west of the Royal Palace on the Dam ...

. It was very successful, and in the years that followed, the building was expanded between the Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal and Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal. In 1863 the building complex was bought by Gerard Adriaan Heineken. After the canal was filled in, Heineken moved his brewery to the Stadhouderskade in Amsterdam. The Nieuwezijds Achterburgwal had warehouses and stables that belonged to the larger houses on the Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal. In May 1621 the printer and newspaper publisher

Broer Jansz Broer is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Bert Broer (1916–1991), Dutch physicist and mathematician *Henk Broer (born 1950), Dutch mathematician *Jan-Martin Bröer (born 1982), German rower See also *Broeren Broeren is a sur ...

(1579–1652) settled on the Nieuwezijds Achterburgwal in a house named the "Silvere Can". He remained here for the rest of his career. The Donkere Sluis was built between 1625 and 1657 connecting the Singel to the Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal via the Nieuwezijds Achterburgwal. It provided a water route between the old city and the expansion beyond the Singel. Without it, water traffic had to use the Kattengat or the Boerenverdriet. With the third expansion, the grachtengordel (canal belt) had cross-canals at regular intervals, solving the problem. Since land was in short supply, in the 1661 the City horse stables were built over the Donkere Sluis. By the mid 1800s the canal mainly held warehouses and stables near the houses on

. The canal was a long, smelly ditch with uneven and narrow quays. The city council decided to fill in the Nieuwezijds Achterburgwal on 28 January 1866. The canal was filled in 1868 at the same time as the Kattegat, a ditch between Nieuwezijds Achterburgwal and the Stroomarkt. The purpose was to improve public health and to make the city more accessible. The change seems to have been popular with the residents. The name was changed to Spuistraat in November 1867 and a double row of chestnut trees was planted along it. On the south side, the street ends at the

As a street

Among the many alleys and streets connecting the Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal and Achterburgwal was the Stilsteeg; it and Korte Gasthuismolensteed were widened in 1875 to create the Paleisstraat. Around 1895 the Huiszittensteeg and the Korte Huiszittensteeg were widened to create the Raadhuisstraat. The first

horsecar A horsecar, horse-drawn tram, horse-drawn streetcar (U.S.), or horse-drawn railway (historical), is an animal-powered (usually horse) tram or streetcar. Summary The horse-drawn tram (horsecar) was an early form of public rail transport, wh ...

ran through the Spuistraat in 1877, from the

Dam Square Dam Square or the Dam () is a town square in Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands. Its notable buildings and frequent events make it one of the best-known and most important locations in the city and the country. Location and description ...

to the

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 ...

. It was replaced in 1903 by an electric streetcar, line 2, which ran to the Leidseplein by way of the Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal and Spui; in 1904 line 2 was added. The streetcar (electric tram) Amsterdam - Haarlem - Zandvoort (the Blue Tram) ran from 1904 to 1957 from the Raadhuisstraat through the southern end of the street, and from 1914 to 1957 it ended on the Spuistraat. From 1961 to 1974 a number of bus lines of the

Gemeentelijk Vervoerbedrijf The Gemeente Vervoerbedrijf Amsterdam (, GVB ; English: Amsterdam Municipality Transportation Company)Sometimes also written Gemeentevervoerbedrijf in Dutch. is the municipal public transport operator for Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands ...

ended on the Spuistraat. These days, the street is part of the city loop that guides traffic through downtown. Attempts by locals to have that loop shifted to the (wider) Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal have failed.

Notable buildings

*Spuistraat 12: Dominicus church, designed by Pierre Cuypers, built in 1886 on Spuistraat 12 / Korte Korsjespoortsteeg / Teerketelsteeg. Between 1845 and 1884 this was the location of the Roman Catholic

clandestine church A clandestine church ( nl, schuilkerk), defined by historian Benjamin J. Kaplan as a "semi-clandestine church", is a house of worship used by religious minorities whose communal worship is tolerated by those of the majority faith on condition th ...

, designed by R. van Zoelen, the Dominicus Schuilkerk. Before that, there was another clandestine church, the "Stadhuys van Hoorn", built by the

Dominican order The Order of Preachers ( la, Ordo Praedicatorum) abbreviated OP, also known as the Dominicans, is a Catholic mendicant order of Pontifical Right for men founded in Toulouse, France, by the Spanish priest, saint and mystic Dominic of Cal ...

in 1624. *Spuistraat 111-123: the back of th
Handelsvereniging Amsterdam
built in the style of the

Amsterdamse School The Amsterdam School (Dutch: ''Amsterdamse School'') is a style of architecture that arose from 1910 through about 1930 in the Netherlands. The Amsterdam School movement is part of international Expressionist architecture, sometimes linked ...

. The front of the building is in the style of the neorenaissance, on the Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal 162-170. *Spuistraat 137-139, corner of

, is the backside of the

Magna Plaza The Former Amsterdam Main Post Office, currently a shopping mall known as Magna Plaza, is a monumental building located at Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal 182, Amsterdam, Netherlands. It was built in 1895–1899 in Neo-Gothic and Neo-Renaissance style. ...

department store, formerly the main post office, built 1895-1899, designed by

Cornelis Peters Cornelis is a Dutch form of the male given name Cornelius. Some common shortened versions of Cornelis in Dutch are Cees, Cor, Corné, Corneel, Crelis, Kees, Neel and Nelis. Cornelis (Kees) and Johannes (Jan) used to be the most common given na ...

. *Spuistraat 175: one side of the monumental building, behind the Royal Palace on the Dam, built around 1924 by royal architect Joseph Crouwel as the Rijkskantoorgebouw voor het Geld- en Telefoonbedrijf. It was turned into a supermarket in 2000, with offices on the upper floors. *Spuistraat 172: corner of Paleisstra, a bank building designed in 1932 by Christiaan Posthumus Meyjes jr. for the N.V. Kasvereeniging. *Spuistraat 210:

Bungehuis The Bungehuis is a monumental office building on the Spuistraat, Amsterdam, built in 1934. In 1971 the building was rented by the University of Amsterdam, which used it to house the department of humanities and later purchased it. The building is ...

, built in the 1930s by

Adolf Daniël Nicolaas van Gendt Adolf (also spelt Adolph or Adolphe, Adolfo and when Latinised Adolphus) is a given name used in German-speaking countries, Scandinavia, the Netherlands and Flanders, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Latin America and to a lesser extent in vari ...

and W.J. Klok, later used by 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 ...

's Department of Humanities *Spuistraat 216: the squat Vrankrijk. Opposite are the

Tabakspanden The Tabakspanden are a group of buildings standing on the Spuistraat in central Amsterdam, adjacent to the Keizerrijk and Wijdesteeg alleyways. Named after a former owner, the speculator Hendrik Tabak, they were mostly squatted from 1983 onward ...

, which had been mostly squatted from 1983 onwards. Slated for renovation (and luxury apartments), the squats were evicted in 2015. *Spuistraat 134: P. C. Hoofthuis, built by

Aldo van Eyck Aldo van Eyck (; 16 March 1918 – 14 January 1999) was a Dutch architect. He was one of the most influential protagonists of the architectural movement Structuralism. Family He was born in Driebergen, Utrecht, a son of poet, critic, essayist ...

and

Theo Bosch Theo is a given name and a hypocorism. Greek origin Many names beginning with the root "Theo-" derive from the Ancient Greek word ''theos'' (''θεός''), which means god, for example: *Feminine names: Thea, Theodora, Theodosia, Theophania, ...

in 1984, also used by the University of Amsterdam's Department of Humanities. *Spuistraat 274: bakery of D. C. Stähle, on the corner with the Raamsteeg, built in 1898 after a Jugendstil-design by Gerrit van Arkel. *Spuistraat 297: Gerzon building, built in 1924 by A. Moen for the Gerzon Bros, a fashion retailer, now a hotel.

Gallery

File:Spuistraat 39 RM5572.jpg, Rijksmonument Spuistraat 39 File:Spuistraat 303-RM5618.jpg, Rijksmonument Spuistraat 303 File:Exterieur OVERZICHT, (MAGNA PLAZA) - Amsterdam - 20285822 - RCE.jpg, Former main post office, now

, corner of Spuistraat and

; March 1994 File:Zijgevel - Amsterdam - 20021060 - RCE.jpg, Spuistraat 175, Rijkskantoorgebouw voor het Geld- en Telefoonbedrijf; augustus 1983 File:Singel, voorgevel Bungehuis, Letteren faculteit. - Amsterdam - 20021036 - RCE.jpg, Spuistraat 220, front of

, Department of Letters; October 1984 File:Voorgevels - Amsterdam - 20021053 - RCE.jpg, Spuistraat 85-87; April 1976 File:Schouten, Herman (1747-1822), Afb 010097001237.jpg , Nieuwezijds Achterburgwal, 147-151, with entrance to Huiszittensteeg. c. 1770. Gerrit Lamberts File:Nieuwe Zijds Achterburgwal, gezien in zuidelijke richting, links de brug over Kattegat.jpg , Nieuwe Zijds Achterburgwal, looking south, left bridge over Kattegat. Before 1900 File:Balthasar Florisz. van Berckenrode - Amsterdam (1625) Dam Square westward.jpg , 1625 map showing Dam Square, Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal, Nieuwezijds Achterburgwal and the Singel File:De Hooiberg brewery in 1864.jpg , De Hooiberg brewery on Nieuwezijds Achterburgwal in 1864 File:Cornelis de Kruyff, Afb 010097006241.jpg, Vondel's home, Spuistraat 188, formerly Nieuwezijds Achterburgwal. Cornelis de Kruyff, c. 1800

History

Nieuwezijds Achterburgwal

As a street

Notable buildings

Gallery

See also

Notes

References

Sources

External links