Overview

I, Amsterdam

Once upon a time there was a small fishing village on the banks of the river Amstel in a land that was below the sea level. Then in the 13th century, the enterprising inhabitants of the village built a dam on the river just before it entered the Ij making the mouth of the Amstel a natural harbor. With the obvious advantages of having a natural harbor at hand, the residents of the village ‘Amstelledamme’ were also granted freedom from paying a bridge toll Count Floris V. The certificate issued exactly on 27 October 1275 gives the first instance of the usage of the name “Amsterdam”. Taking this enterprising nature of the inhabitants into consideration it is little wonder how this small fishing village turned into one of the largest colonial powers in the next few centuries.

During the Dutch Golden Age (1585-1672), Amsterdam was considered the world’s most important port, a leading center of finance and diamond trade. From its humble origins, Amsterdam became a force to reckon with and a commercial empire reaching all the way to India and South East Asia in the 17th century. Today Amsterdam has become one of the favorite haunts of the adventure loving, liberal tourist and attracts people from all over the globe.

With its radical view on life and its liberal outlook on everything within it, Amsterdam is a delight to visit. The all night coffee houses giving company to the world’s best known red light district is a charming proposition few people can resist. Amsterdam is home to two of the world’s most renowned painters – Rembrandt and Vermeer and the cities several museums pay homage to the works of these and other remarkable artists like Vincent Van Gogh. Thousands of tourists to Amsterdam therefore, are art lovers who soak up the beauty of Van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” or Rembrandt’s portraits and depictions of biblical scenes.

A big draw for tourists to Amsterdam is its wide, well kept and serene canals, its windmills and the castles built by its various rulers. If none of these are what you want from a vacation, you could try taking a bicycle tour, go to a concerts or lung it out at an Ajax football game.

The Amsterdam Story

According to the legend, two Frisian fishermen and their dog, a Keeshond, found respite from a storm in the Zuiderzee on the banks of the river Amstel. The sea-sick dog threw up and later that night the fishermen dreamt of building a chapel for St. Olaf on the spot where they were sleeping. They built the chapel and marked the beginning of a whole new city in the world!

By the 13th century the small settlement had metamorphosed into a flourishing village whose inhabitants fished in the abundant waters of the Zuiderzee. As the village expanded, more huts had to be built. Since the village lay on marshy land, the huts were built on “Werden” – raised mounds of earth that kept the floor of the hut away from water. But the long term, viable solution came in the form of a dam, built by the villagers on the river Amstel just before it entered the Ij. This first dam was built in the place marked today as the Dam Square.

On October 27, 1275, the inhabitants of the village were also granted freedom by Count Floris V from paying Bridge Toll on Dutch Waterways allowing them to focus more closely on fishing and trade. “City rights” were conferred upon the village in 1300 and the small hamlet was named Amstelledamme – “Dam on the Amstel”. Later the name Amstelledamme gave way to Amsterdam and that’s how this once humble fishing village is known today.

In the 14th century, Amsterdam flourished as an important commercial power mostly due to its trading with the nations of the Hanseatic League. It also gained the status of a pilgrimage city after the 1345 Eucharistic Miracle occurred near the Kalverstraat. After the protestant faith became the more dominant religion in the 16th century, the Dutch led a rebellion against Phillip II of Spain resulting in the Eighty Years’ War and Dutch independence. One of the positive outcomes of this war, pushed forward by its leader, William the Silent, was the exemplary religious tolerance that the nation shows today.

The period from 1585 to 1672 is known as Amsterdam’s Golden Age when the city ruled the worldwide naval trading network. Expeditions to far off places on the globe were financed by Amsterdam’s rich merchants and all this while the city itself was experiencing several changes like the building of the canal system in the city. By the end of the century, Amsterdam was being counted as the most important port of Europe and a leading financial center of the world.

However, during the 17th and 18th centuries, the city’s fortunes dipped as it grappled with a huge influx of immigrants and a devastating bubonic plague during 1663 to 1666. By the time the sun rose on the 19th century, Amsterdam was loosing its sheen as a prosperous city. The Napoleonic Wars saw Amsterdam going to a new low but the institution of the Dutch Monarchy had a very positive impact on the situation.

The end of the 19th century and the onset of the Industrial Revolution brought about a period of renewed glory for Amsterdam and the city invested in the construction of museums, a new train station and the Concertgebouw. The construction of the Amsterdam-Rhine Canal and the North Sea Canal also during this period, made trade and communication with the rest of Europe easier. Another wave of expansion just before the WWI saw the new suburbs rising across the river Amstel.

The war ravaged the city but Amsterdam arose from it only to face another war in just a few decades. The German occupation of Netherlands in 1940 faced the atrocities of a Nazi government and the persecution of its Jewish citizens – the most poignant remnant of which lies today in the Anne Frank Huis. The Second World War depleted the city’s resources and nearly broke its spirit. But the city arose again like a Phoenix and progressed to become one of the most peaceful, radical and invigorating places in Europe.

Today it is the 5th busiest tourist destination in the world and attracts tourists from all over the globe.

The Best Season

A city for all seasons, Amsterdam seems to give its best to tourists during summers, spring time as well as fall, though winter may be a tad bleak it still isn’t too cold to go out. As with other seasons, winter too, has its plus points here. Accommodation, the biggest problem in Amsterdam, is nearly done away with during winters because there aren’t many tourists.

Traditionally, April to July is the time when Amsterdam is placed top of most tourists’ lists. Summer is a pleasant affair with temperatures not straying beyond a comfortable 22 degrees C. Easter and the months of July and August see the largest stream of tourists gushing in and when it is ‘flower-power’ time from April to May, there are yet more people touching down at Schiphol.

Spring time sees some amount of rain but it is never worse than the October to mid May period when it rains the proverbial canines and felines and floods the canals. However, the spring damp isn’t so hard to face especially when the whole city celebrates it with delightful window boxes full of tulips and daffodils swaying in the breeze. In all, regardless of the seasons and their eccentricities, weather is never a big deterrent to the visiting Amsterdam and as they say “The best time to travel to Amsterdam is whenever you can!”