Welcome to Amsterdam, the city of merchants and trade. Throughout history, Amsterdam has more than once been a centre of business, conquering the world’s seas and reaching to the far ends of the earth. Today we will take you along the canals to show you how Amsterdam evolved from a small shipping port to a city notoriously famous for its open atmosphere and seemingly limitless possibilities. So let us go on an active journey through the ages of history and opportunity and see if we can make a merchant out of you yet!

Amsterdam city of merchants

We start at the heart of Amsterdam at the monument on Dam Square. The majestic statue you see here is symbolic of the pride and mentality of the people of Amsterdam: never give up and always look forward. This is where, every year, the Dutch commemorate the victims of the Second World War. Let us cross the street towards the Royal Palace.

Monument on Dam Square

You are now at the very place where Amsterdam was founded. On this square, around the year 1250, the people of Amsterdam built a dam across the River Amstel. Ships could sail as far as this square to unload and trade their goods. Can you imagine this place back in those days? Market stalls selling the freshest and most exotic of products: fish from the Zuiderzee, figs from Italy, spices from as far away as Africa? This square was then, as it still now, the heart of Amsterdam’s spirit of commerce and trade. Because of its central location and significance, it was the centre of the expansion, prosperity and growth of the city of Amsterdam; growth that eventually paved the way for the construction of the famous canal ring. Dam Square has been Amsterdam’s foremost trading Centre ever since and even today, the Stock Exchange is just around the corner. One of the most prominent buildings on this square was the ‘waag’, or weighing-house, where all the merchandise was weighed. This trading point was torn down about two hundred years ago, although many people in Amsterdam regret its disappearance. So why was this building torn down? Do the quiz via the button in the top right of the menu screen

Dam Square

Can you imagine that centuries ago we would most likely have been walking on water? The Dutch have always been famous for their ingenuity in using the water to their benefit, battling the sea and storms by building dykes and watermills to reclaim precious land. The year is 1585 and prince Maurits is battling the plague and war at the same time. Tens of thousands of people are on the run and the fortified city of Amsterdam is seen by many as a safe haven, so it becomes the centre of refuge. This exponential growth in people attracts merchants and traders of all kinds. It doesn’t take long before Amsterdam becomes an open-air market. Money brings art and science, which, in turn, bring books and more trade. Stone houses replaced wooden houses to protect the overcrowded city from being burnt to the ground in the event of a fire. There were just too many people living in Amsterdam and something had to change. As you will find out shortly, this led to something spectacular…

Towards the canals

It is the year 1619. The stewards of Amsterdam decide to start building the canals to give Amsterdam its current characteristic street pattern: a city centre surrounded by a ‘singel’, a certain type of town canal, along with three town canals that run parallel to each other. You are now at the first of those three canals. This is the Herengracht, the innermost of the three main city canals. When they built the canals, they wanted to make sure the project would boost the economy, but they also wanted to ensure that it would look sophisticated and reflect the wealth and social status of the merchants. These houses were not constructed randomly, but were placed along the canals in a structured, wellthought-out street plan. The waterways acted as transport routes for shipping and trade and the finest houses were built to reflect Amsterdam’s success and growth. With this canal, the first expansion of the canal ring as we know it today was begun. The people who lived on the Herengracht have been the subject of many great works by the famous painter, Rembrandt van Rijn. This canal was only the beginning, as we shall soon find out; the city had much bigger plans….

The canal ring: herengracht

By 1660, the first expansion of the canals had proved to be successful and Amsterdam was thriving. This led to the decision to expand the city even further by adding more canals. You are now at the start of the second expansion, the Keizersgracht. The city council of Amsterdam wanted the finest houses to be built on the inner canals for the trade merchants and nobility, while industry was situated on the outer canals. As we will see later on, this led to the development of specific differences between the various areas of the Amsterdam canal district. All the swampland surrounding Amsterdam meant, in fact, that the land alongside the canals was not fit for building houses. So for each and every house, hundreds of 30-metre-long wooden poles were driven into the ground to support the buildings and prevent them from sinking into the ground. A real trader knows that insuring his business is a key requisite. Can you find the historic insurance building on this canal? Go towards the building to get a bonus badge and an extra story.

The canal ring: Keizersgracht

In 1904 the construction of this building, the first “Dutch life insurance company”, was completed. This great Art Nouveau building was, until the 1970s, considered to be a disgrace to the city. Now, it is one of the most remarkable and distinctive buildings of this city and provides a modern display of entrepreneurial spirit. The first insurance in Amsterdam dates back to 1592 and was an insurance for sea cargo. Because of the risks involved, it meant that ships where not allowed to be fully loaded any more and the merchants were obliged to reduce the risk of cargo loss by spreading their cargo between multiple ships. This practice led to the well-known expression “spreading the risk”.

Hidden bonus

Not everything on the Amsterdam canals is a story of fortune. Amsterdam’s canal ring has some sad chapters too and one of them is the famous story of Anne Frank. During the Second World War, she went into hiding in the house on your left. At first sight, it looks like a normal ‘grachten pand’, or canal house. But did you know that an entire second house was built behind this one? That is why it was such a good hiding place for the Frank family. However, this annexed house also had offices on the ground floor, which meant that the people hiding there could not use one side of the house during office hours. The people who worked in the offices thought that the house only contained storage space in the rooms above, so no footsteps must be heard, whatever the cost. In fact, the people in the offices had no idea that there was an entire house next door to them because they never went into the garden and could not see the other side of the building. Nonetheless, the people hiding in the house were discovered on 4 August 1944 and arrested. To this day, nobody knows who betrayed them. What sound did Anne hear every day, when writing her diary? Choose the correct answer on your phone.

Anne Frank's House

If you want the best view of the Amsterdam canals, then this is your chance. This is the Westerkerk, the most famous church in the canal ring. Its fame comes from the fact that its distinctive tower can be seen from pretty much anywhere in Amsterdam’s inner city. To see this spectacular view, you can climb its tower, the Westertoren. From the top of the tower you have a wonderful view of the canal ring and you can see all the way from the harbours in the North to the Rijksmuseum in the South. The tower is easy to spot because of its characteristic dome with the crown on top. You don’t see many church towers like this one in Northern Europe. In fact, the Westerkerk is the only church in the Netherlands with a cross like that on the top. The inside of the Westerkerk also deserves a visit. Despite its sober appearance and solemn interior, compared with that of Catholic churches, this Protestant house of worship is certainly worth a look. The way the light strikes the interior of this awesome church is remarkable and creates a unique ambience. Some of Amsterdam’s historical heroes have been buried in this church, such as the artist, Rembrandt van Rijn, who painted the ‘Night Watch’. But do you know why the Westerkerk has this distinctive tower that no other church has? Answer the question and receive your next badge and a bonus location.

The Westerkerk and its tower

That was the right answer! Now, as a bonus, we will show you the location of a quaint café where you can dress up as if you were in the golden age. Check it out, or continue your tour. It is called mengformule and it is situated at the rozengracht 42.

Picture yourself

The growth and success of trade in Amsterdam have been celebrated throughout its history and the celebrations have not been limited to the streets and houses. These canals have been used throughout the centuries for transport, business, living and leisure and the festivities and celebrations held on them are a tradition that goes back to the Middle Ages. The water of Prinsengracht is always full of boats on sunny days, but once or twice a year it is really busy; that is, when the canals of Amsterdam become the scenes of popular festivals. For instance, an annual concert is held on Prinsengracht, where you are standing now: an orchestra on a floating stage plays classical songs from the previous century and, of course, the canal is packed with boats full of people who come to listen. Once a year, there is a massive party on the canals: ‘Koningsdag’, or ‘King’s Day’, a national holiday. Until recently, the same day was called ‘Koninginnedag’ or ‘Queen’s Day’, but King Willem-Alexander succeeded his mother, Princess Beatrix, in 2013, so the name was changed from ‘Queen’s day’ to ‘King’s Day’. Many Dutch people come here specifically to participate in this national day of celebration and the canals are chock-a-block with party-goers dressed in orange. If you want to see what King’s Day is like in the canal ring, watch the video. At the next location we’ll find out that this is not the only part of Amsterdam where people celebrate.

Celebrations on the Canals

When the canals where constructed, the working class and the warehouses needed to be connected to the waterways as well, but since the inner canals where reserved for houses of the rich, they decided to build the industrial area between the outer canals and the city walls. If you look to the other side of the canal, you can see one of those areas. This is the ‘Jordaan’ district, a working-class area that is, in some ways, the complete opposite of the canal ring. This true blue-collar district is now one of the most colourful and lively parts of Amsterdam. The Jordaan is the birthplace of true Amsterdam balladeers and a wealth of Dutch folk music. In the ‘Jordaan’, the houses are generally smaller and the streets narrower. As you can see, the magnificence of the stately canals makes way for the homely, intimate ambiance of the ‘Jordaan’, partly because this district’s street plan differs from that of the canal ring: the ‘Jordaan’ has plenty of tiny alleys, enhancing its snug and friendly atmosphere. But where did the money come from to build all of this….?

The 'Jordaan' district

Merchants and traders from Amsterdam sailed the globe and changed the world as we know it in both a positive way and a negative way. When a Dutch merchant named Willink arrived in America, he scammed the Native Americans out of their land and proceeded to set up a new company there, called the ‘Holland Land Company’. He sold the land to the settlers in America and became incredibly wealthy. Willink was the ‘go to guy’ at that time and it was former president, John Adams, that signed a trade treaty with the Holland Land Company in exchange for financial help. Adams received 30 million dollars from Willink (which would roughly translate to 22 billion dollars at current rates), money that was used to build the America that most of us know today. The loans and interest made Amsterdam even richer and shopping areas with exotic products began to emerge, our next location being one of the oldest..

Impact in the world

Once the canals had been built, the wealth that was produced by trade also created a need for shops and places to buy all sorts of exciting and exotic things; luxury goods from the far ends of the world. These streets, where we are walking now, were actually some of Europe’s first prime shopping streets. These days, this area is called the ‘Nine Little Streets’, named after the nine different side streets connecting the three main canals of the canal ring. Wolvenstraat, which you are on now, is the most central of these nine side streets. This part of the canal ring has its own special ambiance and it is popular among tourists, who love to spend entire mornings or afternoons wandering around the area. This trendy district, which boasts all sorts of stylish boutiques, cafés and galleries, is much quieter compared to Leidsestraat and the area around Leidseplein, which we will come to in a minute. The tiny shops you see here will soon make way for the large chain stores of Leidsestraat. Walking through the ‘negen straatjes’, you can see clearly how the different blocks of houses are distributed along the canals: the largest and grandest houses, where the wealthy merchants resided, line the canals, while the middle classes lived in the side-streets. This explains why the houses on the side streets are smaller and less decorative.

The nine streets

With an abundance of trade, you need storage facilities to be abundant as well. If you look around, up and down the canal, you will be able to see several Amsterdam warehouses. In the old days, all sorts of goods would have been stored in these warehouses, such as food, wood or spices brought to Amsterdam by ship. The name of the warehouse often reveals the sort of goods stored in it or the origin of the wares: the ‘Africa’ the ‘Grain Bearer” and the ‘Spanish House’, for example. Can you see the beams that are located at the top of the warehouses’ gables? The merchants used them to hoist their wares up to the upper storage areas. You can also recognise warehouses by their large doors, although nowadays, many of the doors have been replaced by windows. A good merchant learns to optimise every part of his business. You may have noticed that many of the warehouses and other canal houses lean out over the street. Why do you think they lean over like that? Do the quiz to find out more.

Warehouses

A good merchant always knows where the action is. You have now entered one of Amsterdam’s busiest streets, the Leidsestraat. The most famous shopping street in Amsterdam, however, is the PC Hooft Street. Can you find Pieter C Hooft on the corner of this street? If you can, what are the two initials on the shield held by the lion below him?

Merchant challenge

You are now at the Leidseplein. This is where one of the city gates was located. This gate once marked the beginning of the road to Leiden. When people entered the city here, they found themselves at the edge of the canal ring and the rest of Amsterdam. Even here, there was plenty of hustle and bustle, with travellers, street vendors and market traders coming to the city from all over the country. As you can see, Leidseplein is still a very lively place. Today, it is the heart of entertainment on Amsterdam’s canal ring. Many cafés, shops, restaurants and theatres are located around the square, such as the New De La Mar Theatre, the pop venues Paradiso and Melkweg and the city theatre, the redbrick building on the opposite side of the square. But even though the purpose of the square has changed over time, there is still a street where we can find shops from bygone eras and we are going there now..

Leidseplein

If you want to experience days gone by and see what you could buy in the golden ages and beyond, then this is a place where you can do some serious shopping. This is Spiegelgracht, one of the side streets in the canal ring and the heart of Amsterdam’s art and antiques scene. Dozens of antique shops and galleries can be found in these streets. The antique dealers sell all kinds of curiosities, ranging from historic tiles of Delft Blue to nineteenth-century writing desks. If you like antiques, this is the place for you! Spiegelstraat would never have become a centre of art and antiques if the Rijksmuseum had not been close at hand, because in the early years, the museum bought many objects for its collection from the shops on this street - earthenware, furniture, jewellery, glass and textiles - and it is no coincidence that the majority of the antique dealers in this district are specialised in these items. But not everyone was wealthy; where did the servants go?

Spiegelstraat and Spiegelgracht

Luxury and status were important for the merchants who lived along the canals of Amsterdam and their houses were expected to reflect their importance by their grand exteriors. A whole army of servants was needed to run a household in a canal house, but these cooks, cleaners and nursemaids were not allowed to use the front door; their entrances were the back doors in the alleys between the canals, like those in the Kerkstraat, where you are now. In contrast to the front of the houses, it was a filthy mess in these streets, with goods being delivered and dispatched, horse manure littering the streets and rubbish strewn about, waiting to be collected. It must have been very smelly! –although the same could be said of the front of the house, since the canals were used as open sewers in those days; this was the case, even in the richest part of old Amsterdam, where we are going next…

The other Side of Wealth

The part of Herengracht you are now on is the most expensive area on the canals and most of the beautiful houses were built here. In fact, the wealth of this part of town gives it its name: ‘Gouden Bocht’ or ‘Golden Bend’. Take a good look at the houses along this part of the canal: these are the typically large canal houses where the richest Amsterdam merchants once lived. In Amsterdam’s prime, these buildings all had the same characteristics and luxurious interiors. The photographs show how the wealthy residents furnished their canal houses: marble columns, silk curtains and paintings by Dutch masters hanging on the wall. Nowadays, the merchant houses on the Golden Bend often provide office accommodation for businesses such as law firms, banks and stock exchange dealers. The Mayor of Amsterdam lives here too, at number 502, on this side of the canal. But Amsterdam also has hidden gems, like the one on our next stop.

The golden bend

Amsterdam’s inner city was built with many inner gardens, but often their locations were hidden between the endless rows of canal houses. So behind all the finest houses they built parks, gardens and secret, lush green courtyards. This way they could enjoy the peace of the garden as if it were the countryside and still be near the comfort of their homes. You are now in the best-known courtyard of Amsterdam: the ‘Begijnhof’, named after the Beguines, the nuns who lived here for centuries. This courtyard also contains one of the few remaining wooden houses in Amsterdam, although, in the Middle Ages, nearly all the houses in the city were built of wood. Over the years, the other wooden houses have either been burned down or replaced, since living in a wooden house was always risky. Most households cooked their daily meals over an open fire inside the house, so it is not very surprising that many large fires broke out in the city during that time. Consequently, around the year 1450, the city administrators prohibited the building of houses with wooden side walls; later, wooden façades were prohibited too. Maybe you have noticed something else about the ‘Begijnhof’, besides the wooden house? Perhaps you have seen that the courtyard is slightly lower than the area that surrounds it? Why do you suppose it is lower? Do the quiz and earn your next title.

Begijnhof

Does this street strike you as being much wider than the other streets? This is because this Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal was once a canal. Until 1884, water flowed down the middle of the street and ships, not trams, would pass by (the picture shows the street as it was in bygone days). The people of Amsterdam had good reason to build their city along the waterways: the canals of yesteryear were the motorways of today. Merchants transported their goods by ship and people preferred to travel long distances by boat, which was much more comfortable than a bumpy coach ride, or taking a horse and carriage along bad roads. Nonetheless, as the years went by, transport by road increased—at the expense of many of the waterways, even in Amsterdam. Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal was not the only canal in the city to be filled in; unfortunately, about seventy canals in Amsterdam have had to make way for cars, bikes, trams and buses. 

The canal that once was

We are back to where we started: Dam Square. The traders and merchants were important in Amsterdam, but one family had more status than them: the royal family. The royal family opens doors worldwide for trade and commerce that would otherwise remain shut. Dam Square is the place where all the national celebrations, such as royal marriages and special occasions, are held. In 2013, the enthronement of King Willem-Alexander took place here on Dam Square, making him King of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. He then delivered his speech to the people on this square from the balcony of the palace. Afterwards, in the Nieuwe Kerk, he was formally instated as king. It was one enormous, day-long party for everyone in the country and especially here on Dam Square. If you would like to see images of that day, you can watch the video. The Palace, like the canal houses, is supported by large wooden poles. How many wooden poles do you think were needed to support it? Answer the last question of this tour and crown yourself as a member of the royalty of Amsterdam trading. There you have it: the story of Amsterdam, the Venice of the north, from where people have set sail to the far ends of the earth to create a golden age for the traders and merchants of Amsterdam. You are now part of its history, so spread the word, live long and prosper.

The Royal Palace on Dam Square

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Please listen to the audio instructions before you start! Welcome to the izi.TRAVEL Merchants of the Canals challenge. Beautiful canal houses, world famous museums and bustling market squares. The canal district of Amsterdam has it all. This tour will take you along all these historic architectural highlights. We will pass along the most beautiful places in and around the Amsterdam canals, where we will learn about the history of Amsterdam and the impact that Dutch trade has had on Amsterdam and even the world. You will learn a thing or two about trading and quests will reveal hidden locations. Complete all the challenges so you become part of the history of trade and possibilities and earn the title of Amsterdam trade royalty. Please proceed to the starting point of the chosen audio tour or follow the instructions on how to get there. If you hear this sound (ping sound) you are near an information point in your audio tour and the audio will soon commence. If you have chosen an interactive tour, the challenges and questions may unlock hidden content. We hope you have a great experience.

Amsterdam

Merchants of the Canals, a historic challenge

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