An ''Amsterdammertje'' () is the typical red-

brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing or painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors orange and black. In the RGB color model ...

steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistan ...

traffic bollard that is used to separate the pavement from the

street A street is a public thoroughfare in a built environment. It is a public parcel of land adjoining buildings in an urban context, on which people may freely assemble, interact, and move about. A street can be as simple as a level patch of di ...

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 ...

. ''Amsterdammertje'' is

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

for 'little one from Amsterdam'. The bollards bear the three Saint Andrew's Crosses from the coat of arms of Amsterdam. Since the 1980s, the city council has been removing and selling ''Amsterdammertjes''. __TOC__

History

Around 1800, many people in Amsterdam started to use bollards to protect the pavement in front of their houses. These bollards were made of

metal A metal (from ancient Greek, Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electrical resistivity and conductivity, e ...

(originally old

cannon A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder ...

s, see also Bollards),

stone In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...

, or

wood Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin ...

. In the late 19th century the first

cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron– carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impuri ...

bollards were made. From 1915 onwards there was a standard bollard of cast iron, weighing , with three Saint Andrew's Crosses from the coat of arms of Amsterdam. This bollard already looked like the modern ''Amsterdammertje'', although, amongst other differences, it was thinner and heavier. From 1972 the ''Amsterdammertjes'' were no longer made from expensive and heavy cast iron, but from plates of

, approximately high and weighing only . This type is currently used in the city; all 1915 type bollards have been replaced or removed. In 1984, there were approximately 100,000 ''Amsterdammertjes''. As

truck A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame constructi ...

s ran over the ''Amsterdammertjes'' more and more frequently, cars were able to pass between, and the bollards were no longer effective. In their place, the pavements were elevated slightly in the 2000s. Around two thousand ''Amsterdammertjes'' are being removed every year. In 2003, there were 37,616 ''Amsterdammertjes'' left.

References

{{Reflist Culture in Amsterdam History of Amsterdam Transport in Amsterdam Parking by city Street furniture

History

See also

References