Amsterdams Historisch Museum (Amsterdam Historical Museum)

Amsterdams Historisch Museum (Amsterdam Historical Museum) Review

Any city that began in the 13th century as a boggy swamp to become the trading powerhouse of the world in the 17th century has a fascinating story to tell, and this museum does it superbly. It's housed in a rambling amalgamation of buildings, once a convent, which was used as Amsterdam's Civic Orphanage. If you approach it from Spui, walk past the entrance to the Begijnhof and straight ahead for the glassed Schuttersgalerij (Civil Guards Gallery) lined with huge portraits of city militias. Though not in the same league as the The Night Watch, you can see them for free. The David and Goliath statues that dominate one end of the hall used to be in the stylishly revamped museum café Mokum, which you can access from Kalverstraat through an impressive doorway. Surrounding the café terrace are rows of wooden lockers once used by the orphans but now adorned with photos and artwork depicting Amsterdam's cultural life.

Inside the museum, the satellite-imagery blast through Amsterdam's growth and development just off the entrance hall is brilliantly executed. You can follow a chronological route through the 24 galleries with period objects, film, and exhibits or skip about. On the art front, there are many fine portraits and cityscapes, but don't miss the 1538 Bird's Eye View of Amsterdam by Cornelis Anthonisz, the Anatomy Lesson of Dr Deijman (1656) by Rembrandt, or Hendrik Breitner's Portrait of Dam Square (1898). The Golden Age and VOC empire-building period is well covered, of course, but social and cultural history of the 20th century is just as good. It's a great museum for kids. You can winch a horse out of a canal using Sinck's contraption, or ride a bike through the 1920s. Luud Schimmelpennink was way ahead of his time when he proposed car-sharing schemes in the 1960s (and free white bikes, too), and here's an original to (virtually) steer round Amsterdam. Marvelous.