Just West of Central Station Amsterdam lay three peaceful islands. These islands are connected to each other by little wooden bridges and surrounded by beautiful old buildings. They form a little world of their own were almost everybody has their own boat. This all has to do with the history of these interesting islands. The history begins in the early 17e century, when Amsterdam created these islands to build warehouses and shipping companies. A lot was owned by the West India Company, unlike the Eastern Islands of Amsterdam who were more focused on the trade from the Dutch East Indies. The warehouses on the Western Islands were used to store grains, tobacco, wine, salt, herring, anchovies, tar and other goods. As we continue the walk pay attention to the street names, they remind us of all these goods.

Western Islands

Cross the main street from the train station, turning right along the main street Prins Hendrikkade. Then go straight into a small street next to a large building, named Droogbak.

Navigational story for Western Islands

This incredible building is called Droogbak and was designed by Christiaan Meyjes senior. Nobody really knows what the origin of the name is. Some said it referred to a place of drying herring or painted sheets but others said it was a slipway for the maintenance of ships. It is quite a mystery! De Droogbak was built in 1884 as a giant, prestigious administration office from the headquarters of the Holland Iron Railway company. It is an impressive building, can you see how many windows there are? A lot of people must have worked here! As you can see it’s a square building, the designer wanted to make an good impression! The building has three floors and a roofed courtyard. If you look up to the roof line you will see neck gables and on the north side you will find a weather vane. In the 70s the building was almost threatened with demolition! On this spot right here they wanted to build a four-lane highway. Luckily, the municipality decided abandon the plans for this. In 1999 - 2000 the building was renovated to a modern office building, that cost 25 million gulden! What an amount! The whole building became spotless and everything got a new coat of paint. The square in front of the building refurnished by the municipality, with a fountain, new street furniture and street lights. In 2001 the Droogbak was declared a National Monument. Now let’s continue our walk to the next point.

Droogbak

Go straight into Haarlemmer Houttuinen. Walk down this street till you see the water. 

Navigational story for Droogbak

Turn right at the water, passing under a road and the railway. 

Then cross the bridge on your left. You will arrive at Westerdock.

The Westerdok is former dockland area. The Westerdok was for years used as a railway emplacement as it was connected with the Central Railway Station. On just four hectare the island grew more than 150 wild plant species! This had everything to do with the transporting goods from the West-Indies. No continent lacked: artichoke, common ragweed, broom, sorghum, and victory herb! Just imagine all these plants growing here! Now there are still some reminders left! To pay respect to its historic function the streets are all named after famous ships that transported goods from the West-Indies. Some even brought slaves from Africa to America! Can you imagine! On both sides there is water: to the right you have a fantastic view on the IJ-water, on the left there still is a small harbour with houseboats and yachts. The newly constructed buildings served a variety of functions: dwellings, offices, art studios, a small hotel, public spaces and recreational facilities, like a Coffee Company. Now enjoy the view ass you walking along the dock.

Westerdok docklands

Continuing, we leave Westerdock, meeting the IJ-water to our right.

Navigational story for Westerdok docklands

If you are already feeling thirsty, step into the Westerdok Café, which has been serving beer since 1899. The cafe is attached to a large brewer and can therefore serve 10 different beers from the tap, as well as over 70 special bottled beers. When you are ready, you can cross the zebra crossing twice. Then walk to the right. When you see the Grain Silo, stop there.

Navigation story 

This very remarkable and long building is a former grain silo. It’s not only the first building but also the second building. It’s that large! The official name of this building is ‘Korthals Alters’ after a councilor and director from the company Explotation grainsilo’s and warehouses. He pleaded for the construction of the silo to make sure that the grain supply of Amsterdam was safe in case the city became invested by enemies. So he gave the architect in 1896 the command to build the silo. The silo, with a length of 105 meter, could store an amount of 17 million kilo of grain! Using conveyor belts the grain was transferred to barges or rail cars. In the 19e century the pneumatic grain elevators were invented. These massive machines suck the grain up, which made it for grain ships the unloading process even faster. When it was discovered that the stone silo was too small, they decided to construct another building, and that is this one, the adjacent concrete silo. In 1989 the Silo buildings were squatted. Its new inhabitants used and sold the large amount of metals and materials and used the reclaimed spaces as a venue of art-installations and performances, living spaces and, of course, parties. After that the building is officially declared a National monument.

Grain Silo

Turn back again. Then cross the street and go onto Barentszplein. 

Navigational story for Grain Silo

Turn left. Walk straight ahead and cross the bridge. You will now enter Realen Island. Don’t forget to enjoy the view across towards the new buildings.

Let us go back in time. To 1617, to be exact. Around this time, the island started to sell cheap land to herring fishers from outside the city. One of those herring fishers was the Reael family. Just on this corner of Zandhoek, they started to build a warehouse. If you look at those warehouses, you can see that they are very tall and narrow. This is not without reason. In the 17th century, people had to pay taxes based on the width of the façade! The family placed a golden Reael gable stone with an image of Emperor Karel V on their warehouse. I am sure you can find it! It made such an impression that the family decided to take their name from this coin, and so became known as the Reael family. Behind those warehouses there also gardens. The Reael family had good taste. Whenever they had some time off, they spent it in their lovely summerhouse, relaxing and drinking tea. Around 1800, this building turned into a popular inn called “the Golden Reael.” The products arrived by ship directly from the Zuiderzee, a inner sea. It made a big impression on the whole neighbourhood. Houses appeared, a tar company, a peat market and a sand storage, that was used to aggravate the ships, raise the streets and neighbourhood of the city centre. This was necessary because of the danger of flooding. The floor of the main storey lies about seven to nine steps above street level! Many of these steps disappeared in the 19th century when the entrances were moved to the basement, were they stored the goods. Enjoy your walk along the warehouses, as you walk to the next point.

Realen Island and warehouses

Don’t cross the bridge here, instead turn right onto Realengracht. Feel the quiet charm of this area and its long history in the small details that remind us of the busy place it used to be: salt-making, kipper smoking and the flour industry. At the end, cross the amazing narrow Dutch hanging bridge.

Navigational story for Realen Island and warehouses

Now, turn right and left. On your left, you will the typical storage houses, with their characteristic shutters.

Navigation story

Welcome to Prinsen Island. This royal island is named after Prince William of Orange. Look at those huge storage houses! There must have been a lot of valuable goods stored there! After the Second World War barely people lived on the island, it was an island full of warehouses for storage of valuable goods. There were 900 warehouses in Amsterdam, almost 100 were on Prinsen-Island! These warehouses were used to storage wood and tar. Ass you can see the warehouses are pretty high. So you wonder, how do you get all that heavy wood and tar all the way up to the attic? Well they used a hoist installation or special beam to hoist all those valuable goods up. You can actually still see it. Look all the way up and you can see a white beam. Long after the second world war the island was rediscovered by artists. Since then the island is changed in an attractive living- and working area. Look how fancy these storage houses are with its characteristic red shutters? The storage houses are now divided in luxury apartments. Still a lot of people with an artistic background are living in the storage houses; like actors, musicians, cabinetmakers and painters. For example Willem Nijholt a dutch singer and actor and Auke Hettema a sculptor. Nevertheless a lot of the atmosphere of the past is still present. Take a nice look to the different kind of storage houses as we walk to the next point.

Prinsen Island and storage houses

Turn right to cross another hanging bridge: the ‘Three herring bridge' Drieharingbrug.

Navigational story for Prince Island and storage houses

Turn left along the water. Continue straight on to go under the road and railway again, and cross the main street to reach the Haarlemmer square.

Long time ago in the 17e century, the city council decided that a stopping place had to come here for carriages. The square became crammed in as many as thirty years. Meanwhile, Amsterdam became one of the largest commercial and industrial areas of Europe! Because the city became larger every time, it was important that the ramparts, that protected us from attackers and intruders, were moved. In 1613 the city walls were moved up to a kilometre to the west! And then came the Haarlemmer Gate, designed by the famous architect Hendrick de Keyser. At the gate was an area completely equipped for trade and transport. With the advent of the Haarlemmer barge canal that connected Amsterdam and Haarlem, the square became very busy. Every year almost 150,000 people travelled between the two cities. The most important conveyance was then of course the horse and carriage. Many travelers who came from Haarlem had a long journey ahead. Here they could repair their carriages and find a new saddle. But they also came here to relax, so they put their horse, carriage and cart in the stable and went to the pub for a nice big can of beer. In the 1930s, many things changed around the Haarlemmer Suare. The gate was demolished and replaced by a new gate. And even got a new name; Willems square, after King Willem II. Even though the gate had a new name they still called it Haarlemmergate! Around the 19e century there was an important event. On the route of the Haarlemmer barge canal between Amsterdam and Haarlem, came the first instance of the Dutch Railway! Now the Haarlemmer Square is still a bit of a carriage square, but it has been modernized.

Haarlemmer Square

Now turn left into Haarlemmerdijk, then take the first street to the right to Binnen Dommersstraat. 

Navigational story for Haarlemmersquare

The Brewery Canal is one of the most famous canals of Amsterdam. If you like beer than this is the right spot for you. In the 16e and 17e century there were a lot of beer breweries. Because the city became popular for trading goods, warehouses were built here. Take a look at the warehouses number 188-196. You can recognize them by their red shutters. Every warehouse has its own name. King David, David, the Green Falcon, the Gray Falcon and the Apple. Can you see those beautiful shutters? The function of these were to regulate the light properly. Some stored spices could only be preserved in a particular climate. Also the shutters can be easily opened, what made bringing in goods so much easier. Now take a look at warehouse number 174A. You maybe recognize something. If you look at the façade you see the coat of arms of Amsterdam with the three Andreas crosses. This triple warehouse had some adventure. In 1894 there was a hugh fire here. They had to extinguish the fire with more than twenty hoses. Luckily not the whole building burnt down, but they had to reduce one floor. All these warehouses are now converted into apartments. And there are not cheap! A lot of famous Dutch people bought an apartment here.

Brewery Canal

Navigational story for Brewerycanal

Cross the Eenhoornsluis on your right and keep on walking to your final point: Haarlemmer straat.

You now walk into Haarlemmer street. It’s a very busy shopping street! It was named in 2012 as one of the nicest streets in Holland! Take a good look around. We are now at the end of this tour. Follow this street and then turn left to end the tour. This tour was brought to you by whatsupwithamsterdam. A website filled with the best places to go out, to go shopping and to learn about the hidden treasures of Amsterdam. Thank you very much for listening and enjoy your stay.

Closing

Welcome to Amsterdam and welcome to this tour about the Western Islands. These islands are an historical and monumental area were you cross white wooden bridges and pass typical narrow houses. But first let&rsquo;s start with some interesting architectural buildings. Starting with the Westerdock, a completely reconstructed dockland area where you find the latest in architectural fashion, and then on the west the remarkable &lsquo;Silodam&rsquo;, an old industrial complex, transformed into apartment buildings. The islands Realen, Prince and Bickers and much more! The tour starts at Central station. Let&rsquo;s walk and don&rsquo;t forget to enjoy the view over the water!

Amsterdam

Western Islands of Amsterdam

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