Major Cities of the World!

Amsterdam - Museums

Amsterdam has several excellent museums and two of the best are next to each other. The Van Gogh Museum is a must for anyone interested in the artists work. It houses some of his most famous masterpieces beginning with his time in Holland to the period of his death in France. On the same square is the 250-room Rijksmuseum, which contains among its treasures a handful of exquisite Vermeers and one of the best Rembrandt collections in the world. “The Night Watch” is exhibited in the Hall of Honor and is most definitely a “work of art". Astonishing is only a portion of the original painting which had to be cut down to fit its intended spot in the citys old town hall. There is a copy of an uncut version of the painting hanging in the room just before the Hall of Honor.
The excellent Stedelijk Museum displays contemporary art including traveling exhibits from other countries.

Museum Amstelkring also known as “Our Lord in the Attic” is set in a 17th-century merchant house. It contains a secret Catholic church on the top floor. The house has its original furnishings giving a good idea of what life at that time was like.

If time permits take a look a Rembrandts house near the Waterlooplein (the artist lived there 1639-1657). And the church where he is buried at the Westerkerk, (youll walk passed it on the way to The Anne Frank House). Have a look for the crown on top of the church given to Amsterdam by Maximilian I in 1489 and you can also climb the spire for a great view of the city. There are also a number of other Rembrandt-related sites: the 13th-century Oudekerk (Amsterdams oldest church), where Rembrandts wife Saskia is buried. The 15th-century Waag (weigh station) where Rembrandt painted “The Anatomy Lesson” (it now houses the Jewish Historical Museum) and the Zuiderkerk (South Church) where he painted “The Night Watch".

Nemo

Renzo Piano build this great green building right on the entrance of the IJ-tunnel (near the Central Station) to house a museum for technology. Most people see just the bowlike form of the building, but is can also be conceived as a theater. The cityside of the building is one giant staircase which is free accessible. On a sunny day this is the perfect place for a picknick.
Open every day from 10am to 5pm. Closed on Monday (except during national school holidays), on Christmas day, on 1st January and on Queen’s day (30th April)

Tickets: 11 euro. Children below 4 are allowed to enter for free.
address: Oosterdok 2, Amsterdam
tel: 09009191100(0,35)
zipcode: 1000 AK

Rembrandt House

The 17th century house in which Rembrandt lived and worked from 1639 till 1658 is today still to be found in the Jodenbreestraat in Amsterdam. The house in which his son titus was born and his wife Saskia prematurely died is also the place where he painted and made his prints. In 1911 Rembrandt’s house became a museum and it now owns and houses almost all of Rembrandt’s etchings ( 250 in total). It is unique to see these exhibited in the very same surroundings in which they where created. Also to be found in the museum are a small number of his drawings as well as paintings by his pupils and his teacher (Pieter Lastman) Sigourney: Het 17e eeuwse huis waar Rembrandt heeft gewoont, met zijn vrouw Saskia bestaat nog steeds en kan bezocht worden. De collectie werken van de meester is misschien een beetje teleurstellend, maar het is wel erg leuk om te zien hoe hij zijn schilderijen maakte en welke hulpmiddelen daarvoor nodig waren.

address: Jodenbreestraat 4-6

Van Gogh

This is one the most popular museums in Amsterdam and not for nothing. It really is a nice museum. The paintings tell the story of Van Goghs tragic life, from his start in the Netherlands to his brilliant time in France.

The Van Gogh Museum first opened its doors in 1973. The building, designed by Dutch architect Gerrit Rietveld, houses the world’s largest collection of works by Vincent van Gogh: some 200 paintings, 500 drawings and 700 letters, as well as the artist’s own collection of Japanese prints.
The collection originally belonged to Theo van Gogh (1857-1891), Vincent’s younger brother. Following Theo’s death, it passed to his widow, Johanna van Gogh-Bonger (1862-1925). Although a number of works were sold, she retained a major group, representing all phases of Van Gogh’s oeuvre. On her death in 1925, her son, Vincent Willem van Gogh (1890-1978), inherited the collection. In 1962, on the initiative of the Dutch state, he transferred the works to the Vincent van Gogh Foundation. They are now on permanent loan to the Van Gogh Museum and form the nucleus of its collection.

The museum also has a large collection of works by other 19th-century artists: contemporaries and friends of Van Gogh’s - among them Paul Gauguin and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec - as well as a number of older artists whom he admired, such as Léon Lhermitte and Jean-Francois Millet. A great many of these works were collected by the Van Gogh brothers. Their original collection has been complemented through acquisitions and long-term loans from other institutions.

The Van Gogh Museum is located on the Museumplein in Amsterdam, between the Rijksmuseum and the Stedelijk Museum. The entrance to the Van Gogh Museum is at Paulus Potterstraat, number 7 The museum can be reached with trams 2 and 5 from Central Station. The museum is easily accessible for the disabled. All floors can be reached by lift; wheelchairs and buggies are available free of charge. Sigourney: Dit is absoluut het populairste museum van Amsterdam, maar vooral bij de touristen. Het museum toont niet alleen werk van Van Gogh, maar concentreert zich ook op tijdgenoten als Paul Gauguin and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Breitner e.t.c. en in een steeds ruimer verband schilders en kunstenaars die een band met Van Gogh hebben. De oorsprong van de collectie ligt bij Theo van Gogh, Vincents jongere broer Samen met het Kroller Muller museum bezit het Van Gogh de belangrijkste werken van deze schilder.

address: Paulus Potterstraat 7

Anne Frank House

Justine Trout: The most dramatic and powerful attraction in Amsterdam is the Anne Frank hiding place. As you climb the stairs to their little attic, each step becomes heavier and heavier with the realization of what transpired in the middle of this beautiful tranquil city. People from all over the world stand in line in cold and rain to see where a young girl touched the heart of the world with the diary that has been translated into more languages than any other book, except the Bible.

opening hours : 9.00 - 19.00 until 21:00 in summer
Closed Yom Kippur

Hermitage Amsterdam

From february 2004 on Amsterdam will have its own Hermitage:The first phase of the Hermitage Amsterdam will open to the public on 28 February 2004. Small temporary exhibitions drawn from the rich collection of The State Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg will be presented in six rooms. Each exhibition will be on view for around 5 months. For the inaugural exhibition the finest Greek gold jewellery from the treasure rooms of the Hermitage will be coming to Amsterdam. This Greek gold was found during various expeditions to the Black Sea, where there were Greek colonies. This spectacular jewellery dates from the 6th to the 2nd century BC. In the Olympic year 2004 more than 100 precious items from the rich treasury of the Hermitage will be on view in Amsterdam. They are examples of fine craftsmanship executed in bracelets, earrings, necklaces and spectacular golden wreaths. Later in 2004 there will be an exhibition on the life and the collections of the last Tsar and Tsarina, Nicholas and Alexandra, followed in 2005 by an exhibition on Venetian painting with masterpieces by Tintoretto, Guardi, Canaletto and Tiepolo. The exhibitions in Hermitage Amsterdam will explore the themes of anthropology, history and art.

The Neerlandia Building is the first phase of the master plan for the Hermitage Amsterdam. By the end of 2007 the whole Amstelhof will be in use by the Hermitage Amsterdam, with a total exhibition floor space of over 4,000 m2. The cost of renovating the Neerlandia Building will be 4 million euro, and the whole plan has a building budget of 39 million euro. The costs will be met with the aid of the sponsor, the Sponsor Loterij, and the subsidising bodies, the Province of North Holland, the City of Amsterdam and the W.E. Jansen Fund.

address: amstelhof

Ajax Museum

A bit of a rip off. Displays different things from the history of Ajax but you have to be a big fan to think its worth you money and time. The stadium istelf is quite nice, though.
Sigourney says: The stadium is impressive, but the museum is just for real fans. I thought it was a rip-off.

address: Amsterdam Arena

Allard Pierson Museum

Good museum of Antiquities, collections of Egyptina, Etruskan, and Near Eastern artefacts. An important part of the collection was donated from the private collection of the Royal family. The museum is located in an old Bank Building dating from the mid 19th century. Jerome: It’s a great museum if you happen to like plaster, there are few large statues, lots of small stuff and a great plaster collection from the 19th century. Admission is free if you have a students card. Sigourney: Misschien doet dit musseum een beetje stoffig aan, het is beslist een bezoekje waard. Het Allard Pierson richt zich voor een belangrijk deel op studenten scholieren, dus de wisselende tentoonstellingen zijn makkelijk te volgen, zonder de kwaliteit uit het oog te verliezen. Op zolder wordt een 19e eeuwse gipscollectie bewaard, met afgietsels van de meest beroemde klassieke beelden.

opening hours : Closed on mondays

Amsterdams Historisch Museum

Situated in a former monastary this museum tells the story of the city of Amsterdam. You will be fascinated by the interactive tools and all the daily stuff of Amsterdam people of the last centuries. Discover how they build ships or how flats looked like 200 or 300 years ago. The museum has the only museumstreet in the world, which is made for people passing by during their shoppings: a street connecting the inner court of the museum with the court of the adjacent begijnhof. On the walls of this street there are 17th century paintings for witch you do not have to pay to see them. Okee, there not as fine as the ones you can see in the Rijksmuseum, but what can you expect?

There’s also a really fine restaurant with a statuegroup of David and Goliath. The origin of this group is still a mystery. Sigourney: In het voormalig burger weeshuis vertelt dit museum de geschiedenis van de stad. Hier vindt je de enige museumstraat ter wereld, een stukje straat met 17e eeuwse meesters aan de muur. Het museum ligt tussen de Nieuwezijds en de Kalverstraat dus perfect als je aan het sjoppen bent. De binnenplaats is verbonden met het Begijnhof, ook even langslopen! In het restaurant ‘David en Goliath’ staat levens groot de gelijknamige beeldengroep waarvan de oorsprong nog steeds onduidelijk is.hendrickx :

address: Kalverstraat 92

Jewish Historical

Open daily 1 lam-5 pm, closed on Yom Kippur. The Jewish Historical musuem is located near the Waterlooplein and offers a good introduction into the history of Jews in the Netherlands. Housed in an old synagogue. In this old synagoge, the last peace of the railway track to the Westerborg concentration camp is still embedded in the street.

address: Jonas Daniël Meijerplein 2-4
openinghours: 11.00 - 17.00, closed Yom Kippu