Amsterdam History

Amsterdam, a city of old crooked houses, cobbled streets and tree lined canals has a rich and vibrant history.

Originally founded as fishing village in the late 12th century, Amsterdam was built on an area of lakes, swamps and peat. Its name is derived from the building of a dam on the Amstel river, giving rise to the name of Amstelredam, and more recently, Amsterdam.

History would prove kind to Amsterdam when, in 1301, Amsterdam gained city rights, and later in the century established trade links with the southern European cities of the Hanseatic League.

The 16th century saw the Netherlands exercising its rights to freedom and religion and declaring a war of independence against Spain and its then leader, Philip II, resulting in the Eighty Years war from 1568 to 1648. Jews from Spain and Portugal then settled in Amsterdam, as well as merchants from Spanish controlled Antwerp and Huguenots from France.

The 17th century saw Amsterdam's Golden Age - Amsterdam benefitting from the extension of the empire of the Netherlands to Indonesia, Brazil and Africa. The horseshoe shaped layout of canals in Amsterdam were built during this period and Amsterdam established a banking industry.

The 18th and 19th centuries saw a slowdown in the expansion of Amsterdam, as a result of war with England and France, the later occupying the city in the early 1800s. By the time the French departed in 1814, Amsterdam had lost its status as the richest city in Europe to London. However, the late 19th century saw the Industrial Revolution and what is sometimes referred to as Amsterdam's Second Golden Age - during this period the Amsterdam-Rhine canal was created, connecting the city to the Rhine and the North Sea. Railways were built and steel production increased.

World War I saw Amsterdam largely unaffected but during World War II, over 100,000 of Amsterdam's Jewish population were deported before the city was liberated in May 1945.

As we move through history to the 1980s, during the coronation of the new queen, Queen Beatrix, protesters rioted and clashed with police outside the coronation, in protest against polices of the government.