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Anne Frankhuis Review

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Anne Frankhuis

Address: Prinsengracht 267, Centrum, Amsterdam
Phone: 020/556-7105
www.annefrank.nl

Anne Frank House

Category: Museums/Galleries
Location: Canal Ring

Write a review | Avg. member rating: 4.6/5

Fodor's Review:

Anne Frank is by far one of the most famous authors of the 20th century, testimony to the inspiring story of a girl who died at age 15 in a tragic end of the two-year saga. In the pages of The Diary of Anne Frank (published in 1947 as The Annex by her father after her death) the young Anne kept her sad record of two increasingly fraught years living in secret confinement from the Nazis. Along with the van Daan family, the Frank family felt the noose tighten, and so decided to move into a hidden warren of rooms at the back of this 1635-built canal house.

Anne Frank was born in Germany in 1929; when she was four her family moved to the Netherlands to escape growing anti-Jewish sentiment. Otto Frank operated a pectin business and decided to stay in his adopted country when the war finally reached the Netherlands in 1940. In July 1942, the five adults and three children sought refuge in the attic of the annex "backhouse," or achterhuis, of Otto's business in the center of Amsterdam, in a hidden warren of rooms screened behind a hinged bookcase. Here, as one of many onderduikers ("people in hiding") throughout all of Amsterdam, Anne dreamed her dreams, wrote her diary, and pinned up movie-star pictures to her wall (still on view). The van Pelsen family, including their son, Peter (van Daan in Anne's journal), along with the dentist Fritz Pfeffer (Dussel) joined them in their cramped quarters. Four trusted employees provided them with food and supplies. In her diary, Anne chronicles the day-to-day life in the house: her longing for a best friend, her crush on Peter, her frustration with her mother, her love for her father, and her annoyance with the petty dentist, Dussel. In August 1944, the Franks were betrayed and the Gestapo invaded their hideaway. All the members of the annex were transported to camps, where Anne and her sister, Margot, died of typhoid fever in Bergen Belsen a few months before the liberation. Otto Frank was the only survivor of the annex. Miep Gies, one of the friends who helped with the hiding, found Anne's diary after the raid and kept it through the war. Now, millions of children read it and its tale of humanity's struggle with fascism.

Cost: EUR 7.50
Open: Sept.-Mar., daily 9-7; Apr.-Aug., daily 9-9

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Member Reviews and Ratings

Reviewed by Traveler313 from USA on 7/17/09
This is a fantastic museum as it is not only powerful and interesting but also in a beautiful location with some small shops and many cafes. The line also moves quite fast, despite popular belief, and it is definently worth the wait!