Amsterdam Museum, Amsterdam

The Amsterdam Municipal Archives have 35 kilometers of archives. It's a collection of millions of maps, paintains and drawings.
The library has next to books also a sound and picture/movies archive.

The archives are housed in the Bazel building; the former headoffice of the "Nederlandsche Handel-Maatschappij (NHM)".

Guided tours in Englisg are available, but have to be booked in advance at telephone number +31-20-2511619. The themes are: Power in Mokum, Young and old in Amsterdam, Art and Culture, Money and Trade or Religion.

Visiting hours:
Tu-Fr: 10AM - 5PM
Sa-Su: 11AM - 5PM

Exhibition from 8 september 2011 - 8 januari 2012: '50-'60 Amsterdam Nieuw West
Admission: € 5.00 (adult)

the amsterdam history museum is located in 16th century orphanage. the museum has many displays and maps depicting the the development of the city. the museum also has a number of works of art by famous amsterdam artists. a couple of examples, rembrandt, "the anatomy lesson of dr. jan deijman", gerrit berckheyde, "the flower market", nicolaas van der waay, "girls from the civic orphanage" and d.d. van santvoort's "the regentesses and the two housemistresses of the spinhuis". an interesting museum to visit. open daily.

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The museum changed name on 1/01/2011 and is now called Amsterdam Museum.

Being housed in the former civic orphanage, the Amsterdam Historical Museum kept the "Regenten kamer", where the governors of the "Burgersweeshuis" orphanage held their meetings, as it was at the end of the 19th.c. with furniture and paintings of the 17th.c.
The museum has a number of items, mainly paintings, on display concerning this aspect of the "social security" in Amsterdam some centuries ago. At this civic orphanage were only admitted children from "poorters" or burghers of the city.
Other children were accommodated in the many religious orphanages.
Plague epidemics in those times left many orphans. A numbers of paintings show how they were dressed in a red and black uniform, fed, their daily life.
Surprising is too see that children did drink beer at table. It was a beer with a very low alcohol degree, by the brewing process and cooking of the grain most bacteria's present in the water were destroyed so that it was less dangerous for health to drink beer than just water. The orphans' diet was generous and there was low mortality.
The orphanages were run by a set of regents or regentesses who were almost without exception individuals appointed from the Amsterdam elite. Matrons were responsible for the daily running.

A number of large paintings show the regents or regentessen. Remarkable are the paintings "Clothing the Orphans in the Deaconate Orphanage" 1657 by Jan Victors and "Regenten" by Cl. Moyaert.

Open: Monday to Friday 10 - 17 h
Saturday and Sunday 11 - 17 h
Price (2011): 10 €,
6 - 18 yr 5€
Free with museum card (can be bought here).

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The museum changed name on 1/01/2011 and is now called Amsterdam Museum.

This is a quite interesting museum especially now that the Rijksmuseum shows only one fifth of its collections.
The Historic Museum combines history and arts over 3 periods in 24 rooms of the former Civic Orphanage:
Period 1350-1550 at rooms 1-3 showing the story of the small settlement on the river Amstel.
Surprising are the excavated objects found in cesspits such as clay pipe fragments. The AHM has 200.000 archaeological objects of all kinds found in Amsterdam.

Period 1550-1815 is certainly the most interesting with rooms 4-12 who show a large number of art works of this period which includes the Golden Century.
Most interesting are models of shipyards and maritime paintings showing the Dutch maritime power of that age. Famous is the painting of Willem van de Velde the Younger "The Gouden Leeuw on the IJ at Amsterdam", (1686). This was once the former flagship of Admiral Cornelis Tromp.
Interesting is the model (1742) of an eastindiaman from the VOC (Dutch East India Company) being transported on a ship's camel. These were long caissons that encased the ship's hull. When full of air they raised the ship out of the water. The Amsterdam harbour was difficult for deep vessels to enter due to sandbanks.

From this period are also on display a large number of good paintings with landscapes, winter landscapes, town views, church interiors, still life and the famous civic guard paintings on which I will come back.

Period 1815-2000 with rooms 13-24 starts at the end of the French rule under Napoleon. The visitor will find here a beautiful doll-house as well as paintings from the very good Dutch Impressionist School.
It shows the happy times as well as the drama's (the terrible winter of 1944) of the modern Amsterdam.

There is a grand tour and a short one of the highlights.

Open: Monday to Friday 10 - 17 h
Saturday and Sunday 11 - 17 h
Price (2011): 10 €,
6 - 18 yr 5€
Free with museum card (can be bought here).
Photos are allowed.

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The "Schuttersgalerij" Civic Guards’ Gallery of the Amsterdams Historisch Museum, called Amsterdam Museum since 1/01/2011, is a glass-roofed walkway with free access to the public.

Militia guilds were first formed in the Middle Ages by the civic authorities to be called out in emergencies. Members of the civic guard were well-to-do burghers. They had to buy their own equipment and arms. They held firing practice in shooting galleries known as 'doelen' (= targets). Each civic guard was named after its weapon. There were crossbowmen and longbowmen, and harquebusiers. The latter carried firearms, the harquebus or 'klover' in Dutch.

The militias regularly commissioned group portraits, so-called militia paintings.
Today some 125 militia paintings survive. Amsterdam and Haarlem were the major centre of production.
The famous "Night Watch" of Rembrandt is one among many but is unique because it shows a Civic Guard Company moving, marching on, while the others are mainly static.

The members of these civic guards had to pay to be portrayed. It is known that in Haarlem the price was about 60 Florin of that time per person. For the "Night Watch "the price was about 100 Florin per person. In the 17th c. a weaver earned about 200 Florin per year.
Ordinary guardsmen did not appear in a civic guard painting. Having to pay for their own weapons was enough.

15 huge paintings of the Amsterdam Civic Guards are on (free) display in the "Schuttersgalerij" Civic Guards’ Gallery which is a glass-roofed walkway (closes at 17 h). Best known is "De Compagnie van kapitein Joan Huydecoper" (1648) by Govert Flick.

Open: Monday to Friday 10 - 17 h
Saturday and Sunday 11 - 17 h
Price museum: 10 €, The "Schuttersgalerij" Civic Guards’ Gallery is free.
6 - 18 yr 5€
Free with museum card (can be bought here).

Its called now Amsterdam Museum
Before it was an orphanage.

Since 1926 the Amsterdam (Historical) Museum has provided a home for the city's art collection. This has been accumulated since the seventeenth century when a gallery was first opened at the town hall on Dam Square. Over the years many objects from urban institutions were added to this, including militia portraits, and portraits of governors, the guild silver collection and the David and Goliath statues.

Opening hours 2011
Monday to Friday 10.00 - 17.00
Weekends and national holidays 11.00 - 17.00 hour

Closed on 1 January, 30 April (Queens Day) and 25 December.
Closing time on 4 May (Remembrance Day) is 14.00 hour.
Closing time on 5, 24 and 31 December is 16.00 hour.

prices 2011

Adult €10,-
Child between 6 and 18 year €5,-
Child under 6 free
Holland Pass, CCEurope, CJP, Cultuurkaart, ISIC, ITIC, IYTC
Cards €7.50
University of Amsterdam Student Card €5,-

Stadspas, I Amsterdam Card, I amsterdam Congress Card, Vereniging Rembrandt, ICOM, Museumkaart free entrance

Audio tours
Highlight Audio tour €4,-
The two museum entrances can be accessed from Kalverstraat 92, Sint Luciënsteeg 27 and Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal 357. The museum is a twelve-minute walk from Amsterdam's Central Station, via Damrak, Dam Square and Kalverstraat.

The regentenkamer is at the Amsterdam Historisch Museum.origanal renovated room from the orphanage. if you come from the kalverstraat and walk into the entrance go to the right. you can look into that room for free. this room is like when it was an orphanage. at the entrance to the left you have a desk you can ask person who works here for the free room to see.

2011 its not free to see the room no more but we were already in the room when we found out lol

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The Ámsterdam Historical Museum chronicles the compelling story of the growth of this city. The museum is housed in a splendid 17th century former civic orphanage. Exhibitions include objects from the museums collection, as well as audiovisual displays and interactive media. This is comprised of hundreds of photos and fragments of historic film, documentaries and movies from dutch archives. The Ámsterdam Historical Museum is divided into chronological periods.

El Museo Histórico de Ámsterdam narra la fascinante historia del crecimiento de esta ciudad. El museo está ubicado en un espléndido edificio del siglo XVII, un antiguo orfanato. Incluyen objetos de la colección de museos, así como presentaciones audiovisuales y medios interactivos. Este se compone de cientos de fotos y fragmentos de la histórica película, documentales y películas de los archivos holandeses. El Museo Histórico de Ámsterdam se divide en períodos cronológicos.