Sint Antoniesbreestraat
Encyclopedia
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
, The Netherlands. The street runs south from Nieuwmarkt
Nieuwmarkt
Nieuwmarkt is a square in the centre of the Dutch capital Amsterdam. The surrounding area is known as the Nieuwmarktbuurt ....
square to the Sint Antoniesluis sluice gates.
Today Sint Antoniesbreestraat is primarily a shopping street with a variety of specialty shops. At the corner of Sint Antoniesbreestraat and Hoogstraat is an entry to the Nieuwmarkt stop of the Amsterdam Metro
Amsterdam Metro
The Amsterdam Metro is a mixed rapid transit and light rail system in Amsterdam, and its surrounding municipalities Amstelveen, Diemen, and Ouder-Amstel in the Netherlands. The network is owned by the city of Amsterdam and operated by the Gemeentelijk Vervoerbedrijf, the company that also operates...
system.
The street was originally a dike, the Sint Antoniesdijk, built to protect the city from flooding. Since the second half of the 17th Century, the southern section of the street (south of the sluice gates) has been called Jodenbreestraat
Jodenbreestraat
The Jodenbreestraat is a street in the centre of Amsterdam, The Netherlands. The street runs from the Sint Antoniesluis sluice gates to the Mr. Visserplein traffic circle...
("Jewish Broad Street").
In the 17th Century, the street was popular with artists such as the painter Rembrandt, who lived here from 1631 to 1635, at the home of art dealer Hendrick van Uylenburgh
Hendrick van Uylenburgh
Hendrick van Uylenburgh was an influential Dutch Golden Age art dealer who helped launch the careers of Rembrandt, Govert Flinck, Ferdinand Bol and other painters....
, and again from 1639 to 1656, in his own home (now in the Jodenbreestraat), which was built in 1606 and now serves as the Rembrandt House Museum
Rembrandt House Museum
The Rembrandt House Museum is a house in Jodenbreestraat in Amsterdam, Netherlands, where Rembrandt lived and painted for a number of years. It is now a museum...
. Other painters who lived in the street include Esaias Boursse
Esaias Boursse
Esaias Boursse , was a Dutch painter. His paintings were mainly genre works.- Biography :He was born in Amsterdam, the youngest son of immigrants from Wallonia. His parents, Jacques Boursse and Anna des Forest, married in 1618 in Amsterdam...
, who lived next door to Rembrandt, Nicolaes Eliaszoon Pickenoy
Nicolaes Eliaszoon Pickenoy
Nicolaes Eliaszoon Pickenoy was a Dutch painter of Flemish origin. Pickenoy was possibly a pupil of Cornelis van der Voort and presumably Bartholomeus van der Helst was his own pupil.-Life:...
, Cornelis van der Voort
Cornelis van der Voort
Cornelis van der Voort or van der Voorde was a Dutch Golden Age portrait painter from the early 17th century.-Life:...
, Roelant Savery
Roelant Savery
Roelant Savery , was a Flanders-born Dutch Golden Age painter.-Life:Savery was born in Kortrijk...
, Pieter Lastman
Pieter Lastman
Pieter Lastman was a Dutch painter . Lastman is considered important because of his work as a painter of history pieces and because his pupils included Rembrandt and Jan Lievens...
(in whose workshop Rembrandt served as apprentice), Justus
Justus Vingboons
Justus Vingboons was an Amsterdam architect. He was the brother of the better-known architect Philips Vingboons. Like his brother, Justus built in the "Dutch Classicism" style....
and Johannes Vingboons
Johannes Vingboons
Johannes Vingboons was a Dutch cartographer and watercolourist.-Life:Vingboons came from an artistic family. His father David Vinckboons was a successful painter and, of his five brothers, Philip Vingboons and Justus Vingboons were active as architects...
, their father David Vinckboons
David Vinckboons
David Vinckboons was a Dutch Golden Age painter of Flemish origin.-Biography:Vinckboons was one of the most prolific and popular painters and print designers in the Netherlands...
and the burgomaster
Burgomaster
Burgomaster is the English form of various terms in or derived from Germanic languages for the chief magistrate or chairman of the executive council of a sub-national level of administration...
Geurt van Beuningen
Geurt van Beuningen
Geurt van Beuningen was the son of a cheese-dealer, mayor of Amsterdam and administrator of the Dutch East India Company . He was one of the first of the VOC's subscribers in 1602. For years he was a member of the Amsterdam vroedschap.-Life:...
. Joan Huydecoper
Joan Huydecoper I
Joan Huydecoper van Maarsseveen took over the family tannery business and the trade in pelts and armaments. The name Huydecoper means literally 'buyer of pelts'. Huydecoper had a prosperous political career: first he was elected to the vroedschap of Amsterdam...
and Isaac de Pinto
Isaac de Pinto
Isaac de Pinto was a Dutch Jew of Portuguese origin, a scholar and one of the main investors in the Dutch East India Company....
grew up here.
Pinto's house, Pintohuis, still stands in the area, as many of the historical buildings were replaced by modern designs. The building is now a public library
Public library
A public library is a library that is accessible by the public and is generally funded from public sources and operated by civil servants. There are five fundamental characteristics shared by public libraries...
with an Italianate facade. The property was purchased by Pinto in 1651 and was remodeled immediately. Upon it's renovation, the building was the "talk of the town" due to the dramatic style of exterior and interior.
The best-known building in the Sint Antoniesbreestraat is Huis de Pinto, built in 1680 as the home of a wealthy Sephardi family of bankers and merchants. Across from the De Pinto House is a gate giving access to the Zuiderkerkhof, the square where the Zuiderkerk
Zuiderkerk (Amsterdam)
The Zuiderkerk is a 17th Century Protestant church in the Nieuwmarkt area of Amsterdam, The Netherlands. The church played an important part in the life of Rembrandt and was the subject of a painting by Claude Monet....
church stands.
The streets runs through the former Jewish quarter of Amsterdam.. During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
many residents were taken away to the Nazi concentration camps and the neighbourhood was left practically deserted. After the war the abandoned houses were left in a decrepit state and many were torn down. Plans were made to build new houses, as well as a highway and metro
Rapid transit
A rapid transit, underground, subway, elevated railway, metro or metropolitan railway system is an electric passenger railway in an urban area with a high capacity and frequency, and grade separation from other traffic. Rapid transit systems are typically located either in underground tunnels or on...
line through the street. These plans were met by heavy rioting in 1975. The highway plans were eventually abandoned; the metro however was constructed. New houses were built along the existing Sint Antoniesbreestraat, and the Huis de Pinto, which had become a symbol of the movement to save the neighbourhood, was renovated and now serves as public library.