The history of Amsterdam

History of Amsterdam

The birth of Amsterdam
Amsterdam has a long and lively history. But compared to some other cities in The Netherlands like Utrecht (which was founded in the year 50 CE) and Nijmegen (founded in the 1st century BC) the founding of Amsterdam is still relatively recent. The floods of the river Amstel in the years 1170 and 1173 made locals decide to build a bridge and a dam at the Amstel river. These constructions ensured the name Aemstelredamme was given to the then still small fishing village. Over the centuries the name evolved into the current Amsterdam.

Amsterdam as a liberal refuge
Amsterdam prospered in the 14th century thanks to the trade with the Hanseatic League. De Wallen (which means the shores) area was founded in the 14th century and contains the Red light district. In the 16th century The Netherlands was known for its religious tolerance so Amsterdam attracted lots of people from foreign countries, including religious minorities, artists and philosophers. Examples are the Huguenots from France, Protestants from Flanders, Jews from the Iberian Peninsula and religious refugees from Spanish-controlled areas of Europe. The Jews gave Amsterdam its Hebrew name Mokum (which means “place”), a name which is still used by locals today.

The golden age
The 17th century became the Golden Age of Amsterdam. Amsterdam became the wealthiest city in the world and remained one of the richest cities for three centuries. It was leading in finance, spice trade and diamonds. Its port was also one of the most important ones in the world. The trading companies had a worldwide trading network from Amsterdam to all continents of the world. In 1602 the world’s first stock exchange market was founded in Amsterdam to fund the Dutch East India Company. The Dutch East India Company, which was headquartered in Amsterdam, became the richest company that has ever existed in human history, as it owned entire colonies and the biggest navy in the world. In this period the canals of Amsterdam were constructed to facilitate all the shipping of goods. The canal houses have beautiful gables and interesting architectural styles and facades which display the prosperity of that period. In the same period Dutch colonists settled on Manhattan Island in America and founded New Amsterdam, which was later renamed to New York on September 8th 1664.

Further expansion
Amsterdam had another important period of growth in the 19th century as the city became capital of The Netherlands and experienced it’s Industrial revolution. Furthermore the city had some major infrastructural improvements as a direct connection to the Rhine and a shorter connection to the North Sea was dug. This led to an expansion of the city where many new suburbs, a train station and museums arose.

The second world war
The Netherlands was invaded by Germany on May 10th 1940. During this period minorities were hunted down. Citizens exposed themselves and their families to great risks if they sheltered Jews. Nevertheless some citizens took that risk. One of the most famous stories of this period is that of Anne Frank, a Jewish girl who wrote a diary while she and her family were hiding in secret rooms behind a bookcase. The damage caused by the Second World War and other events made it necessary to redesign large parts of the city. New suburbs were built and organizations were established to restore the city center.

Modern day Amsterdam
Nowadays Amsterdam is the most populous city in The Netherlands. The city has 825.080 inhabitants, the metropolitan area has 1.590.520 inhabitants and the city region about 2.431.000 inhabitants. As the Netherlands is quite densely populated the urban area around Amsterdam actually covers the entire Netherlands and extends all the way into Germany and Belgium. Yet the Netherlands has remained surprisingly green with it’s many grasslands, canals and farms. With 180 different nationalities, the city of Amsterdam counts more different nationalities than any other city in the world. Many buildings in the city center have become monuments and the Amsterdam canal district has been added to the prestigious UNESCO World Heritage List.