Amsterdams Historisch Museum
Encyclopedia
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
about the history of Amsterdam
History of Amsterdam
Amsterdam has a long and eventful history. The origins of the city lie in the 13th century, when fisherman living along the banks of the River Amstel built a bridge across the waterway near the IJ, then a large saltwater inlet. Wooden doors on the bridge served as a dam; these protected the town...
. Since 1975, it is located in the old city orphanage between Kalverstraat
Kalverstraat
The Kalverstraat is the busiest shopping street of Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands. It is named after the kalvermarkt that was held here until the 17th Century....
and Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal
Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal
The Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal is a street in the centre of Amsterdam. The street runs more or less north-south, and the Raadhuisstraat runs west....
.
History
The museum has been located since 1975 in a building that was originally constructed in 1580 as Amsterdam's orphanage. The building was extended by brothers HendrickHendrick de Keyser
Hendrick de Keyser was a Dutch sculptor and architect born in Utrecht, Netherlands, who was instrumental in establishing a late Renaissance form of Mannerism in Amsterdam...
and Pieter de Keyser
Pieter de Keyser
Pieter de Keyser was a Dutch Golden Age architect and sculptor...
before Jacob van Campen
Jacob van Campen
Jacob van Campen , was a Dutch artist and architect of the Golden Age.-Life:He was born into a wealthy family at Haarlem, and spent his youth in his home town. Being of noble birth and with time on his hands, he took up painting mainly as a pastime...
rebuilt it in 1634. The orphanage continued in this building until 1960.
Collection
The museum exhibits various items related to the history of Amsterdam, from the Middle AgesMiddle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
to the present time. Many of the original furnishings of the city orphanage are on display, as are artifacts relating to the Rasp house, the former house of correction in Amsterdam where the prisoners were forced to rasp wood to make sawdust. As of 2011, the museum manages 70,000 objects kept in various buildings and storage areas. Of those, approximately 25,000 have been photographed and are available to the public online. To celebrate the change of their name (dropping the word "Historical") and the 10th anniversary of Wikipedia
Wikipedia
Wikipedia is a free, web-based, collaborative, multilingual encyclopedia project supported by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation. Its 20 million articles have been written collaboratively by volunteers around the world. Almost all of its articles can be edited by anyone with access to the site,...
on January 15, 2011, the museum "gave" Wikipedia a USB stick with the online photo collection to symbolize the public release of their high quality digital photographs made of their collection. This includes all two dimensional objects that were already free of copyright, but new is the set photos of three dimensional art.
The museum has on display paintings, models, archeological findings, photographs, but also less likely items such as a playable carillon
Carillon
A carillon is a musical instrument that is typically housed in a free-standing bell tower, or the belfry of a church or other municipal building. The instrument consists of at least 23 cast bronze, cup-shaped bells, which are played serially to play a melody, or sounded together to play a chord...
, a "white car" (environment-friendly vehicle from the 1960s) and a real Jordaan
Jordaan
The Jordaan is a district of the city of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. The area is bordered by the Lijnbaansgracht canal to the west, the Prinsengracht to the east, the Brouwersgracht to the north and the Leidsegracht to the south...
café.