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| History | |
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Main article: History of Amsterdam
The earliest recorded use of the name "Amsterdam" is from a certificate dated October 27, 1275, when the inhabitants, who had built a bridge with a dam across the Amstel, were exempted from paying a bridge toll by Count Floris V.[15] The certificate describes the inhabitants as homines manentes apud Amestelledamme (people living near Amestelledamme).[16] By 1327, the name had developed into Aemsterdam.[15] Amsterdam's founding is relatively recent compared with much older Dutch cities such as Nijmegen, Rotterdam, and Utrecht. In October 2008, historical geographer Chris de Bont suggested that the land around Amsterdam was being reclaimed as early as the late 10th century. This does not necessarily mean that there was already a settlement then since reclamation of land may not have been for farming—it may have been for peat, used as fuel.[17]
A woodcut depicting Amsterdam as of 1544. The famous Grachtengordel had not yet been established.
Amsterdam was granted city rights in either 1300 or 1306.[18] From the 14th century on, Amsterdam flourished, largely because of trade with the Hanseatic League. In 1345, an alleged Eucharistic miracle in the Kalverstraat rendered the city an important place of pilgrimage until the adoption of the Protestant faith. The Stille Omgang—a silent procession in civil attire—is today a remnant of the rich pilgrimage history.[19]
In the 16th century, the Dutch rebelled against Philip II of Spain and his successors. The main reasons for the uprising were the imposition of new taxes, the tenth penny, and the religious persecution of Protestants by the Spanish Inquisition. The revolt escalated into the Eighty Years' War, which ultimately led to Dutch independence.[20] Strongly pushed by Dutch Revolt leader William the Silent, the Dutch Republic became known for its relative religious tolerance. Jews from the Iberian Peninsula, Huguenots from France, prosperous merchants and printers from Flanders, and economic and religious refugees from the Spanish-controlled parts of the Low Countries found safety in Amsterdam. The influx of Flemish printers and the city's intellectual tolerance made Amsterdam a centre for the European free press.[21]
Dam Square in the late-17th century: painting by Gerrit Adriaenszoon Berckheyde
The 17th century is considered Amsterdam's Golden Age, during which it became the wealthiest city in the world.[22] Ships sailed from Amsterdam to the Baltic Sea, North America, and Africa, as well as present-day Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, and Brazil, forming the basis of a worldwide trading network. Amsterdam's merchants had the largest share in both the Dutch East India Company and the Dutch West India Company. These companies acquired overseas possessions that later became Dutch colonies. Amsterdam was Europe's most important point for the shipment of goods and was the leading Financial Centre of the world.[23] In 1602, the Amsterdam office of the Dutch East India Company became the world's first stock exchange by trading in its own shares.[24]
Amsterdam lost over 10% of its population to plague in 1623–1625, and again in 1635–1636, 1655, and 1664. Nevertheless, the population of Amsterdam rose in the 17th century (largely through immigration) from 50,000 to 200,000.[25]
Amsterdam's prosperity declined during the 18th and early 19th centuries. The wars of the Dutch Republic with England and France took their toll on Amsterdam. During the Napoleonic Wars, Amsterdam's significance reached its lowest point, with Holland being absorbed into the French Empire. However, the later establishment of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands in 1815 marked a turning point.
The Singel with the Munttoren in the background, ca. 1900.
The end of the 19th century is sometimes called Amsterdam's second Golden Age.[26] New museums, a train station, and the Concertgebouw were built; in this same time, the Industrial Revolution reached the city. The Amsterdam-Rhine Canal was dug to give Amsterdam a direct connection to the Rhine, and the North Sea Canal was dug to give the port a shorter connection to the North Sea. Both projects dramatically improved commerce with the rest of Europe and the world. In 1906, Joseph Conrad gave a brief description of Amsterdam as seen from the seaside, in The Mirror of the Sea. Shortly before the First World War, the city began expanding, and new suburbs were built. Even though the Netherlands remained neutral in this war, Amsterdam suffered a food shortage, and heating fuel became scarce. The shortages sparked riots in which several people were killed. These riots are known as the Aardappeloproer (Potato rebellion). People started looting stores and warehouses in order to get supplies, mainly food.[27]
National Monument - a memorial to the war victims
Germany invaded the Netherlands on May 10, 1940 and took control of the country. Some Amsterdam citizens sheltered Jews, thereby exposing themselves and their families to the high risk of being imprisoned or sent to concentration camps. More than 100,000 Dutch Jews were deported to Nazi concentration camps. Perhaps the most famous deportee was the young Jewish girl Anne Frank, who died in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.[28] At the end of the Second World War, communication with the rest of the country broke down, and food and fuel became scarce. Many citizens traveled to the countryside to forage. Dogs, cats, raw sugar beets, and Tulip bulbs—cooked to a pulp—were consumed to stay alive.[29] Most of the trees in Amsterdam were cut down for fuel, and all the wood was taken from the apartments of deported Jews.
Many new suburbs, such as Osdorp, Slotervaart, Slotermeer, and Geuzenveld, were built in the years after the Second World War.[30] These suburbs contained many public parks and wide, open spaces, and the new buildings provided improved housing conditions with larger and brighter rooms, gardens, and balconies. Because of the war and other incidents of the 20th century, almost the entire city centre had fallen into disrepair. As society was changing, politicians and other influential figures made plans to redesign large parts of it. There was an increasing demand for office buildings and new roads as the automobile became available to most common people.[31] A metro started operating in 1977 between the new suburb of Bijlmer and the centre of Amsterdam. Further plans were to build a new highway above the metro to connect the Central Station and city centre with other parts of the city.
Subway station Nieuwmarkt with historic images of the Newmarket riots
The incorporated large-scale demolitions began in Amsterdam's formerly Jewish neighbourhood. Smaller streets, such as the Jodenbreestraat, were widened and saw almost all of their houses demolished. During the destruction's peak, the Nieuwmarktrellen (Nieuwmarkt riots) broke out,[32] where people expressed their fury about the demolition caused by the restructuring of the city.
As a result, the demolition was stopped, and the highway was never built, with only the metro being finished. Only a few streets remained widened. The new city hall was built on the almost completely demolished Waterlooplein. Meanwhile, large private organisations, such as Stadsherstel Amsterdam, were founded with the aim of restoring the entire city centre. Although the success of this struggle is visible today, efforts for further restoration are still ongoing.[31] The entire city centre has reattained its former splendor and, as a whole, is now a protected area. Many of its buildings have become monuments, and in July 2010 the Grachtengordel (Herengracht, Keizersgracht, and Prinsengracht) was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List.[33]
[edit] Tags:Keizersgracht,Netherlands,Utc,Kingdom Of The Netherlands,Ing,Amstel,Bridge Toll,Floris V,Nijmegen,Rotterdam,Utrecht,Reclamation Of Land,Peat,City Rights,Hanseatic League,Eucharistic Miracle,Kalverstraat,Adoption Of The Protestant Faith,Stille Omgang,Procession,Philip Ii Of Spain,Religious Persecution,Protestants,Spanish Inquisition,Eighty Years' War,Dutch Revolt,William The Silent,Dutch Republic,Religious,Jews,Iberian Peninsula,Huguenots,Flanders,Free Press,Dam Square,Golden Age,Dutch East India Company,Dutch West India Company,Financial Centre,Stock Exchange,Wars,French Empire,United Kingdom Of The Netherlands,Concertgebouw,Industrial Revolution, | |
| Geography | |
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Satellite image of Amsterdam
Astronaut View of Amsterdam
Amsterdam is part of the province of North-Holland and is located in the west of the Netherlands next to the provinces of Utrecht and Flevoland. The river Amstel terminates in the city centre and connects to a large number of canals that eventually terminate in the IJ. Amsterdam is situated 2 metres above sea level.[3] The surrounding land is flat as it is formed of large polders. To the southwest of the city lies a man-made forest called het Amsterdamse Bos. Amsterdam is connected to the North Sea through the long North Sea Canal.
Amsterdam is intensely urbanized, as is the Amsterdam metropolitan area surrounding the city. Comprising 219.4 square kilometres of land, the city proper has 4,457 inhabitants per km2 and 2,275 houses per km2.[34] Parks and nature reserves make up 12% of Amsterdam's land area.[35]
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| Climate | |
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Amsterdam has an oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification Cfb), strongly influenced by its proximity to the North Sea to the west, with prevailing westerly winds. Winters are mild. Amsterdam, as well as most of the North-Holland province, lies in USDA Hardiness zone 8b, the northernmost such occurrence in continental Europe. Frosts mainly occur during spells of easterly or northeasterly winds from the inner European continent. Even then, because Amsterdam is surrounded on three sides by large bodies of water, as well as having a significant heat-island effect, nights rarely fall below −5 °C (23 °F), while it could easily be −12 °C (10 °F) in Hilversum, 25 kilometres southeast. Summers are moderately warm but rarely hot. The average daily high in August is 22.1 °C (71.8 °F), and 30 °C (86 °F) or higher is only measured on average on 2.5 days, placing Amsterdam in AHS Heat Zone 2. Days with measurable precipitation are common, on average 187 days per year. Amsterdam's average annual precipitation is 915 millimetres (36.0 in). A large part of this precipitation falls as light rain or brief showers. Cloudy and damp days are common during the cooler months of October through March.
Climate data for Amsterdam (1981–2010 data)
Month
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Year
Average high °C (°F)
5.8
(42.4)
6.3
(43.3)
9.6
(49.3)
13.5
(56.3)
17.4
(63.3)
19.7
(67.5)
22.0
(71.6)
22.1
(71.8)
18.8
(65.8)
14.5
(58.1)
9.7
(49.5)
6.4
(43.5)
13.8
(56.8)
Daily mean °C (°F)
3.4
(38.1)
3.5
(38.3)
6.1
(43.0)
9.1
(48.4)
12.9
(55.2)
15.4
(59.7)
17.6
(63.7)
17.5
(63.5)
14.7
(58.5)
11.0
(51.8)
7.1
(44.8)
4.0
(39.2)
10.2
(50.4)
Average low °C (°F)
0.8
(33.4)
0.5
(32.9)
2.6
(36.7)
4.6
(40.3)
8.2
(46.8)
10.8
(51.4)
13.0
(55.4)
12.8
(55.0)
10.6
(51.1)
7.5
(45.5)
4.2
(39.6)
1.5
(34.7)
6.4
(43.5)
Precipitation mm (inches)
78.5
(3.091)
57.3
(2.256)
72.8
(2.866)
46.2
(1.819)
59.3
(2.335)
70.8
(2.787)
77.6
(3.055)
85.5
(3.366)
85.3
(3.358)
100.1
(3.941)
93.7
(3.689)
87.5
(3.445)
914.6
(36.008)
Sunshine hours
63.2
87.5
126.3
182.7
221.9
205.7
217.0
197.0
139.4
109.1
61.7
50.5
1,662
Source no. 1: KNMI[36]
Source no. 2: KNMI[37]
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| Cityscape and architecture | |
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A bird's-eye view of Amsterdam's city centre
Amsterdam fans out south from the Amsterdam Centraal railway station. The Damrak is the main street and leads into the street Rokin. The oldest area of the town is known as de Wallen (the quays). It lies to the east of Damrak and contains the city's famous red light district. To the south of de Wallen is the old Jewish quarter of Waterlooplein. The 17th century canals of Amsterdam, known as the Grachtengordel, embraces the heart of the city where homes have interesting gables. Beyond the Grachtengordel are the former working class areas of Jordaan and de Pijp. The Museumplein with the city's major museums, the Vondelpark, a 19th century park named after the Dutch writer Joost van den Vondel, and the Plantage neighbourhood, with the zoo, are also located outside the Grachtengordel.
Several parts of the city and the surrounding urban area are polders. This can be recognised by the suffix -meer which means lake, as in Aalsmeer, Bijlmermeer, Haarlemmermeer, and Watergraafsmeer.
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| Canals | |
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Main article: Canals of Amsterdam
Boat on the Prinsengracht in 2006
The Amsterdam canal system is the result of conscious city planning.[38] In the early 17th century, when immigration was at a peak, a comprehensive plan was developed that was based on four concentric half-circles of canals with their ends emerging at the IJ bay. Known as the Grachtengordel, three of the canals were mostly for residential development: the Herengracht (where "Heren" refers to Heren Regeerders van de stad Amsterdam (ruling lords of Amsterdam), and gracht means canal, so the name can be roughly translated as "Canal of the lords"), Keizersgracht (Emperor's Canal), and Prinsengracht (Prince's Canal).[39] The fourth and outermost canal is the Singelgracht, which is often not mentioned on maps, because it is a collective name for all canals in the outer ring. The Singelgracht should not be confused with the oldest and most inner canal Singel. The canals served for defence, water management and transport. The defences took the form of a moat and earthen dikes, with gates at transit points, but otherwise no masonry superstructures.[40] The original plans have been lost, so historians, such as Ed Taverne, need to speculate on the original intentions: it is thought that the considerations of the layout were purely practical and defensive rather than ornamental.[41]
A woodcut (1885) of the Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal, a canal that is now filled in
Construction started in 1613 and proceeded from west to east, across the breadth of the layout, like a gigantic windshield wiper as the historian Geert Mak calls it – and not from the centre outwards, as a popular myth has it. The canal construction in the southern sector was completed by 1656. Subsequently, the construction of residential buildings proceeded slowly. The eastern part of the concentric canal plan, covering the area between the Amstel river and the IJ bay, has never been implemented. In the following centuries, the land was used for parks, senior citizens' homes, theatres, other public facilities, and waterways without much planning.[42]
Over the years, several canals have been filled in, becoming streets or squares, such as the Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal and the Spui.[43]
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| Expansion | |
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Main article: Expansion of Amsterdam
After the development of Amsterdam's canals in the 17th century, the city did not grow beyond its borders for two centuries. During the 19th century, Samuel Sarphati devised a plan based on the grandeur of Paris and London at that time. The plan envisaged the construction of new houses, public buildings and streets just outside the grachtengordel. The main Tags: | |
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