History museums in Amsterdam

The Anne Frank House is the house where the Jewish girl Anne Frank was hiding with seven others for more than two years in World War II. The museum owns the original diaries and writings of Anne Frank. An important part of the museum is the ‘Achterhuis’, the place where Anne Frank hid and wrote her

The Rijksmuseum is located in a unique historical building from 1885 by architect PJH Cuypers. The museum is dedicated to Dutch art and Dutch history. The collection is exhibited in over two hundred rooms and includes works by Dutch masters such as Rembrandt van Rijn, Johannes Vermeer and Frans Hals

The Dutch Resistance Museum illustrates the history of people in times of war. The visitor learns about the Holocaust, resistance and daily life. The exhibition consists of authentic objects, film and audio clips, documents and photos. In addition there is a permanent exhibition on the Dutch East In

Museum Ons' Lieve Heer op Solder is a former clandestine church. The building looks like an ordinary canal house. It is one of the oldest museums in the Netherlands. The 17th century church with an altar, corridors and approximately 150 seats is situated in the attic. After the Protestant Reformatio

The National Maritime Museum holds one of the world's largest and most notable maritime collections including paintings, ship models, navigation instruments and sea charts. Discover 500 years of Dutch maritime history and its strong link to society of today and tomorrow. Fun and educational for all

Wereldmuseum Amsterdam is housed in an impressive national monument. It was built in 1926 and is located on the Oosterpark. The imposing central Light Hall offers a panoramic view of what the museum has to offer: three permanent exhibitions, multiple temporary exhibitions, and Wereldmuseum Junior. T

In the Jewish Historical Children Museum, children from 6 to 12 years are introduction to Jewish life and Jewish traditions.

The Amsterdam Dungeon is a unique blend of museum, theater, and attraction, offering visitors an immersive experience into the historical events of Amsterdam. The performances take place in eleven rooms, and visitors are accompanied by approximately seven actors. This unique combination provides a captivating way to learn about the city's past.

At the Houseboat Museum, you get the chance to experience first-hand what it’s like to live in a houseboat on an Amsterdam canal. The museum is located in the “Hendrika Maria”, a former cargo ship built in 1914. The cargo hold is now a cosy living space featuring all the conveniences and a surprisin

The Jewish Museum is housed in four synagogues. It is a modern museum about Judaism. Three exhibitions illustrate the culture and history of Jews in the Netherlands. The exhibitions consist of various utensils, paintings, drawings, films, photos and 3D presentations. Part of the museum is the Jewish

The Amsterdam Museum presents exhibitions on a wide range of urban issues. We share knowledge, show art and heritage, and tell relevant stories - past, present and future. Historical and contemporary stories that make the city what it is, in all its forms. We do this at our museum locations in the h

The Portuguese Synagogue, also called Esnoga, is a synagogue that dates to the 17th century. At the time of construction it was the largest synagogue in the world. The building is still used for worship by the Portuguese Jewish Community. The collection illustrates the four century history of the Po

The Royal Palace of Amsterdam is the palace of the royal family where visitors are received. When the palace is not used by the royal family, the building is open to the public. It was built between 1648 and 1665 as a town hall, designed by Jacob van Campen. Several works by famous artists refer to

Museum of the Canals is housed in a monumental seventeenth-century canal house. The museum illustrates the Amsterdam city expansion that was caused by the construction of canals. In addition to an interactive tour, there is a temporary exhibition in our period rooms.

Museum van Loon is located on the Keizersgracht in the house of the regent family Van Loon. Willem van Loon was the co-founder of The Dutch East India Company in 1602. One of the residents of this 17th century canal house was Dutch painter Ferdinand Bol, a pupil of Rembrandt. Portraits, silverware,

The Willet-Holthuysen House is housed in a double mansion from 1687. In the 19th century it was the house of Abraham Willet and his wife Louisa Willet-Holthuysen. The museum consists of a dining room, a ballroom, a garden room and a corridor on the first floor that illustrate how wealthy people from

The Amsterdam Pipe Museum is housed in a seventeenth-century canal house in Amsterdam. It offers the smoking culture in the world over 25 centuries, by exhibiting a collection of smoking pipes and tobacco-related paraphernalia. The collection consists of more than 30,000 objects, of which about thre

World-renowned expressionist building "Het Schip" ("the ship") is the most famous work by Amsterdam School architect Michel de Klerk, which was completed in 1921. The museum located in the building is dedicated to the Amsterdam School, an architecture style. The former post office designed by the a

In the Allard Pierson you discover the heritage collections of the University of Amsterdam. The permanent presentation, ‘From the Nile to the Amstel’, invites visitors on a journey through 10,000 years of cultural history. The presentation starts in ancient Egypt and, once renovations are completed,

The Amsterdam Tulip Museum demonstrates the history of the tulip in the Netherlands. The museum gives information on the tulip mania and the economic power of the flower during the Golden Age in the seventeenth century. The museum also shows how bulbs served as food for people during wars and the or

The Nieuwe Kerk is a church building from the early 15th century. It is one of the most important monuments of Amsterdam. It is the place where the Dutch head of state is inaugurated. Changing temporary exhibitions are organized in the building on, among other themes, religions, cultures and treasur

Museum Tot Zover shows how people dealt with death in the past, and how they deal with it now and in the future. Central topics in the museum are the body, rituals, memento mori and mourning and remembrance. The collection includes death masks, paintings, miniature hearses and urns and caskets. Chil

The Molen van Sloten – Kuiperijmuseum includes an original ‘poldermolen’ and a museum where visitors learn how barrels are made. The Molen van Sloten is a functioning ‘poldermolen’ and is the only mill in Amsterdam that is daily open to the public. It is a ‘stellingmolen’ with a backside that was re

The Hollandsche Schouwburg is a war memorial for the Dutch Jews that were murdered in the Second World War. The permanent exhibition on the Holocaust in '40-'45 focusses on the deportation of the Jews. Videos, photos, models and various objects illustrate the discrimination, deportation and extermin

Learn all about the Nazi persecution of the Jews in the Netherlands. The National Holocaust Museum tells the story of the Nazi persecution and murder of the Jews of the Netherlands. Before the Second World War, Jews and non-Jews lived side by side. They had the same rights. But during the war, the

The Amsterdam City Archive is the historical documentation centre of Amsterdam. It has a total of 35 kilometers of archives. The core of the archives are the archives of the city and the city’s government institutions, businesses and services. In addition to archives of the government, the Amsterdam

The Multatuli Museum is located in the Multatuli House, the birthplace of the 19th century Dutch writer Eduard Douwes Dekker. The writer is also known as Multatuli, his pseudonym. The collection illustrates the work and life of Eduard Douwes Dekker and includes his desk, books, a globe, utensils and

Step into another world! Wereldmuseum Junior is the children's museum of the Wereldmuseum Amsterdam. A dynamic design makes the exhibition area a completely different world. The children are immersed in it. The subjects come to life and children take an active part in the exhibition. Everyone’s curi

The Persmuseum is the repository for the Dutch journalistic heritage. The collection includes newspapers and magazines from 1600, political posters and drawings. The permanent exhibition illustrates four hundred years of news in the Netherlands. The exhibition features the creation of the press in t

Bijzondere Collecties is part of the University of Amsterdam. It includes the heritage of the University of Amsterdam. The collection consists of more than a thousand separate collections, including collections of rare and precious books, prints, photographs and manuscripts. Central topics are book

Huize Frankendael is the only remaining ‘buitenplaats’ in Watergraafsmeer. Huize Frankendael combines space, peace, culture, nature and gastronomy. It includes an English styled garden, an authentic carriage house and art exhibitions in ‘landhuis’ Frankendael. On Sunday, tours are organised to learn

Museum 't Kromhout Kromhout is a ‘working museum’ that features a collection of engines that are manufactured by Firma Kromhout. All engines that are on display are still functional and will be demonstrated. The museum also features an original forge from the nineteenth century and a film room with

The Luther Museum Amsterdam is located in the Wittenberg building in Amsterdam from 1772. The building with the regents' rooms, the corridor and the church hall is the most important piece in the collection. In addition, the museum exhbiits paintings by Breenbergh and Ruysdael, silverware and authen

Housing complex De Dageraad is the Amsterdam School in its purest form. Architects Michel de Klerk and Piet Kramer were commissioned to design all facets of the streetscape. In addition to the street facades, they also designed the rear facades and house plans. This led to gesamtkunstwerk in which b

Enter the most beautiful canal house in Amsterdam. Discover the grandeur of this unique merchant's house on the Herengracht. When it was built at the beginning of the 17th century, it was already a landmark for many people, and it still is. Behind the imposing facade with many decorations, the int

Come and take a look at the stately Gemeenlandshuis. The house is surrounded by water and has a hall with beautiful stucco work, a monumental staircase and rooms with large fireplaces and a view of the surroundings. The Hoogheemraadschap was located here for almost 275 years. Discover the halls wher

The Dutch Resistance Museum Junior is part of the Dutch Resistance Museum that focuses on children. Children go back to the beginning of World War 2 in a time machine. There they are introduced to four eye witnesses who were children at the time. Henk, Jan, Nelly and Eva tell the about their experie

Torture Museum Amsterdam is a museum dedicated to instruments of torture. The art of torture, and the history of torturing are illustrated. Images and objects used by torturers, including authentic instruments of torture illustrate the world of torture. The collection includes a guillotine, a ‘rekta

In a Victorian living room, host Martin Oudbier tells the story of the teapots that are exhibited in the museum.

The Computer Museum exhibits a collection on technical and scientific electronic computing equipment that illustrates the progress in computer technology and its use from World War II to the present day.