I AMsterdam is the motto and the brand for the people of Amsterdam and the city itself. This logo was created in 2004. Its purpose was to draw attention worldwide, The citizens embraced it, and it embodies that this is a city for everyone. It has grown, population wise, every year since the mid 80's to 1.2 million citizens in 2025. Amsterdam saw its beginnings in the 1200's as a small fishing village located at the mouth of the Amstel River. Through the years Amsterdam has been through many changes, both good and bad. Today it is a focal point of business and maritime service. While the Mississippi River has never been conquered by the U.S.A., the Dutch managed to control the Amstel River. They excel in flood control. The city is below sea level, so flood control is a good skill to have. Amsterdam draws thousands of tourists each year that come to visit Kukenhof Gardens and many museums. Among these museums are the Anne Frank museum .
Amsterdam went through a very dark period in its history from 1940 from to 1945 during the German occupation in WW II. More about that later,
After a good night's sleep we were ready to explore Amsterdam and learn its history. We had set up a walking tour before we traveled over here. Our tour guide was a young man by the name Krijn, a recent history graduate from the University of Amsterdam. Krijn grew up in Amsterdam and enjoyed sharing the history of his native city to a group of visitors. We met with him at 11:00 AM and he spent the next two hours talking about the history of Amsterdam. Krijn was passionate about his job, and he made history come alive.
We were in the Dam Square, the central square of Amsterdam. He discussed a tragic event that occurred on the last days of WW II in Dam Square. The 7th day of May 1945 was the day the Germans surrendered and there were thousands of citizens enjoying the end of WW II. There was a group of German soldiers in an office building overlooking the cheering crowd in Dam Square. For whatever reason the Germans opened fire on the crowd. This was a horrible massacre... 253 people were wounded and 32 people lost their lives. The details of this event can be found online... another horror with no real justification. We ended our tour at the Anne Frank home. I will talk abour this on another post.
A note on the picture on the bottom of the two houses. There was a tavern in the house on the right. It was a regular hangout for German soldiers in WW II. Little did they know, while they were imbiding in the tavern, Jewish citizens were in hiding above them. They were never found out. Today the tavern is in business as a highend restaurant.
Tomorrow we will go to Keukenhof Gardens.
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| Crusing on the canal |
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| Markers for Jewish citizens that perish at the hands of the Germans |
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| Rotterdam after German Bombing |
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| Our tour guide |
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| Canal view |
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| Public urinal |
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| Two houses, identical, built by a father for his two daughters |
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