View source for History of Amsterdam

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{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2016}}

[[File:Gezicht op Amsterdam in vogelvlucht 1538 Cornelis Anthonisz.jpg|thumb|300px|Amsterdam drawn from the [[IJ (Amsterdam)|IJ]] in 1538, by [[Cornelis Anthonisz.|Cornelis Anthoniszoon]]. This is the oldest city map of Amsterdam. It shows the completed medieval city with defensive wall and gates.]]

'''[[Amsterdam]]''' has a long and eventful history. The origins of the city lie around 1000 CE,<ref name="200jaarouder"/><ref name="amsterdamsecanon1"/> when inhabitants settled at the mouth of the [[Amstel]] and began [[peatland]] [[Land reclamation|reclamation]].<ref name="200jaarouder"/> After the [[All Saints' Flood (1170)]], a dam was built in the [[Amstel]] to protect the lower lands from floods.<ref name="200jaarouder"/>

In 1275, Amsterdam was granted a toll privilege by Count [[Floris V]] which exempted it from a [[Toll bridge|bridge toll]].<ref name="toll1" /> This made Amsterdam popular for international traders to sell [[goods]] at lower prices.<ref name="toll1" /> During the Middle Ages, it developed into one of the largest trading cities in the world. The 17th century was a [[Dutch Golden Age|Golden Age]], Amsterdam was the most important trading hub in [[Europe]] and the leading [[financial centre|financial center]] of the [[western world]].<ref name="am17"/> Amsterdam is colloquially called the "[[Venice of the North]]" for its [[canals of Amsterdam|numerous canals]].<ref name="venice1">{{cite web |last=Ahmed |first=Shamim |date=10 July 2015 |title=Amsterdam {{•}} Venice of the North |url=https://m.theindependentbd.com//magazine/details/7145/Amsterdam-%E2%80%93-Venice-of-the-North |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220615062341/https://m.theindependentbd.com//magazine/details/7145/Amsterdam-%E2%80%93-Venice-of-the-North |archive-date=15 June 2022 |access-date=15 June 2022 |website=The Independent}}</ref> It is also ranked as a top [[Sin City (description)|sin city]] due to the adult entertainment.<ref name="askmen2"/><ref name="dutchreview"/> As the [[capital city]] of the [[Netherlands]], it is the largest with over 930,000 inhabitants in 2024.<ref name="bevolking2024" />

== Toponymy ==
The oldest document referring to the settlement of {{langx|nl|Amestelledamme|translit=|lit=[[dam]] in the [[Amstel]]}} comes from a document dated 27 October 1275 CE.<ref name="Amestelledamme1">{{cite book |last=Gouw |first=Jan Ter |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KMRkAAAAcAAJ&dq=Aemstelredam%2C+Aemstelredamme%2C+Amestelledamme%2C+Amstelredam%2C+Amstelredamme%2C+en+Amsteldam&pg=PA57 |title=Amstelodamiana, Eerste deel |date=1874 |page=57 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240908124232/https://books.google.com/books?id=KMRkAAAAcAAJ&dq=Aemstelredam%2C+Aemstelredamme%2C+Amestelledamme%2C+Amstelredam%2C+Amstelredamme%2C+en+Amsteldam&pg=PA57#v=onepage&q=Aemstelredam%2C%20Aemstelredamme%2C%20Amestelledamme%2C%20Amstelredam%2C%20Amstelredamme%2C%20en%20Amsteldam&f=false |archive-date=8 September 2024}}<!-- auto-translated from Dutch by Module:CS1 translator --></ref><ref name="geschiedenislokaal">{{Cite web |title=Bron Amestelledamme |url=https://geschiedenislokaalamsterdam.nl/bronnen/amestelledamme |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240419115025/https://geschiedenislokaalamsterdam.nl/bronnen/amestelledamme |archive-date=19 April 2024 |access-date=3 September 2024 |website=Geschiedenis Lokaal Amsterdam}}</ref> Inhabitants of the village were, by this document, exempted from paying a [[toll bridge|bridge toll]] in the [[County of Holland]] by Count [[Floris V, Count of Holland|Floris V]].<ref name="geertmak1">{{Cite book |last=Mak |first=Geert |title=Een kleine geschiedenis van Amsterdam |publisher=Atlas |year=1995 |isbn=9789046703878 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231112062453/https://www.deslegte.com/een-kleine-geschiedenis-van-amsterdam-382504/ |archive-date=12 November 2023 |url=https://www.deslegte.com/een-kleine-geschiedenis-van-amsterdam-382504/ |access-date=September 16, 2024}}</ref>

The old [[charter]]s that are preserved in the [[Oude Kerk, Amsterdam|IJzeren Kapel]] mention 18 different spellings of the name Amsterdam.<ref name="Amestelledamme1" /> In chronological order from 1275 till 1596: ''Amestelledamme'',<ref name="geschiedenislokaal" /> ''Aemstelredamme'', ''Amestelredamme'', ''Amstelredam'', ''Aemsterdam'' (1389), ''Aemstelredam'', ''Amstelredamme'', ''Aemsterdamme'', ''Amstredamme'', ''Amsterdam'' (1440), ''Ampsterdam'', ''Amstredam'', ''Amsterdamme'', ''Aemstredam'', ''Haemsterdam'', ''Amsterledam'', ''Ambsterdam'', ''Ambstelredam''.<ref name="Amestelledamme1" />

The [[Amstel]] river was also called ''Goudewater''.<ref name="Amestelledamme1" /> ''Goude'' means ''gouwe,'' ''<nowiki/>'t gouwewater'' is the river that flows through the ''gouw''.<ref name="Amestelledamme1" /> This water belonged to the [[Van Amstel family|Lord]] and later the [[Count of Holland|Count]]. The Count gave the water in perpetual leasehold to the city in 1389.<ref name="Amestelledamme1" /> The city donated in 1480 the ''visscherij'' (fishery) to the ''handen voetboogschutters'' (hands foot archers) whom returned it to the city in the middle of the 17th century.<ref name="Amestelledamme1" /> The name changed from Goudewater to Guldewater.<ref name="Amestelledamme1" /> The fishery in the [[Rokin]], the Binnen-Amstel and Buiten-Amstel till the veer ([[ferry]]) at Meerhuizen (now Meerhuizenplein) were leased under this name.<ref name="Amestelledamme1" />

==Prehistory==
Excavations between 2005 and 2012 found evidence that the origins of Amsterdam are much older than the 12th century. During the construction of the [[Amsterdam Metro|Metro]] [[Line 52 (Amsterdam Metro)|Line 52]] (aka Noord/Zuidlijn) archaeologists discovered many objects from the bottom of the [[Amstel]] river, where the [[Damrak]] and [[Rokin]] are now located.<ref name="steentijd1">{{Cite web |title=Amsterdam al in de steentijd bewoond |url=https://www.onsamsterdam.nl/nieuws/1241-breaking-news-amsterdam-al-in-steentijd-bewoond.html |date=6 January 2012 |author=Peter-Paul de Baar |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180926085853/https://www.onsamsterdam.nl/nieuws/1241-breaking-news-amsterdam-al-in-steentijd-bewoond.html |archive-date=2018-09-26 |url-status=dead |website=Ons Amsterdam}}</ref> Some 30 meters below street level, archeologists found pole-axes, a stone hammer, shards of [[Bell Beaker culture]] [[pottery]] under [[Rokin]] (2200–2000 BCE) and a granite grinding stone under [[Damrak]] (2700–2750 BCE).<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gawronski |first=J |date=2017 |title=Ontstaan uit een storm; De vroegste geschiedenis van Amsterdam archeologisch en landschappelijk belicht |trans-title=Born from a storm; The earliest history of Amsterdam from an archaeological and landscape perspective. |url=https://www.theobakker.net/pdf/TX_Gawronski2017JbAmstelodamum_10.pdf |journal=Jaarboek van het Genootschap Amstelodamum |language=Dutch |location=Amsterdam |publisher=University of Amsterdam |volume=109 |access-date=5 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240914204020/https://www.theobakker.net/pdf/TX_Gawronski2017JbAmstelodamum_10.pdf |archive-date=14 September 2024}}, pp. 69–71.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Below the Surface – Archeologische vondsten Noord/Zuidlijn Amsterdam |url=https://belowthesurface.amsterdam/en/vondsten |access-date=25 February 2021 |website=belowthesurface.amsterdam |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240915045817/https://belowthesurface.amsterdam/en/vondsten |archive-date=15 September 2024}}</ref> Many objects date from the [[Neolithic]] era (up to 4600 years ago), and the [[Netherlands in the Roman era|Roman era]] (circa 2000 years ago).<ref name="steentijd1" />

This means Amsterdam, or its predecessor, had human habitation since about 2600 BCE.<ref>{{Cite web |title='Amsterdam mogelijk 2000 jaar ouder dan gedacht' |author=Simone Lautenbach |url=http://www.parool.nl/parool/nl/4/AMSTERDAM/article/detail/3107442/2012/01/05/Amsterdam-mogelijk-2000-jaar-ouder-dan-gedacht.dhtml |website=Het Parool |date=5 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120111004829/http://www.parool.nl/parool/nl/4/AMSTERDAM/article/detail/3107442/2012/01/05/Amsterdam-mogelijk-2000-jaar-ouder-dan-gedacht.dhtml |archive-date=11 January 2012}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Ons Amsterdam, no 1, 2012. |url=http://www.onsamsterdam.nl/component/content/article/32-tijdschrift/tijdschrift-jaargang-2012/1237-nummer-1-januari-2012?showall=&start=5 |date=10 January 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160313104734/http://www.onsamsterdam.nl/component/content/article/32-tijdschrift/tijdschrift-jaargang-2012/1237-nummer-1-januari-2012?showall=&start=5 |archive-date=13 March 2016}}</ref> However, these settlements were probably semi-permanent or seasonal, because the [[Amstel]]'s [[river mouth]] and the [[Bank (geography)|banks]] were too wet for permanent habitation.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gawronski |first=J |date=2017 |title=Ontstaan uit een storm; De vroegste geschiedenis van Amsterdam archeologisch en landschappelijk belicht |trans-title=Born from a storm; The earliest history of Amsterdam from an archaeological and landscape perspective. |url=https://www.theobakker.net/pdf/TX_Gawronski2017JbAmstelodamum_10.pdf |journal=Jaarboek van het Genootschap Amstelodamum |language=Dutch |location=Amsterdam |publisher=University of Amsterdam |volume=109 |access-date=5 January 2021}}, pp. 62–63.</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kranendonk |first1=P. |last2=Kluiving |first2=S. J. |last3=Troelstra |first3=S. R. |date=December 2015 |title=Chrono- and archaeostratigraphy and development of the River Amstel: results of the North/South underground line excavations, Amsterdam, the Netherlands<!--sic--> |journal=Netherlands Journal of Geosciences |volume=94 |issue=4 |pages=333–352 |bibcode=2015NJGeo..94..333K |doi=10.1017/njg.2014.38 |issn=0016-7746 |s2cid=109933628 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

== Middle Ages ==

=== Settlement at the Amstel (1000-1250) ===
Amsterdam proper began when the first inhabitants settled at the mouth of the [[Amstel]] around 1000 CE.<ref name="200jaarouder"/><ref name="amsterdamsecanon1">{{Cite web |date=18 February 2022 |title=De Amsterdamse Canon - 700 jaar Amsterdamse geschiedenis in één box |url=https://www.lastdodo.nl/nl/items/9032395-de-amsterdamse-canon-volle-box |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240908121033/https://www.lastdodo.nl/nl/items/9032395-de-amsterdamse-canon-volle-box |archive-date=8 September 2024 |access-date=8 September 2024 |website=LastDodo |publisher=Art-S Home Entertainment |type=Documentary - DVD Box (5 DVDs)}}</ref> These were not day laborers who returned to their old area after work.<ref name="200jaarouder"/> According to historical geographer Chris de Bont, they probably moved into the [[peatland]] in search of a new existence and went to the mouth of the IJ because they had to fight for usable land in the coastal [[dune]]s and the [[Gooi]] area of [[Holland]].<ref name="200jaarouder"/> Parts of the rivers [[Amstel]] and [[Zaan]] were dug.<ref name="200jaarouder"/> Between 800 and 1000 CE the [[IJ (Amsterdam)|IJ]] was not a river, but a swampy peat mass.<ref name="200jaarouder">{{Cite web |date=22 October 2008 |title='Amsterdam 200 jaar ouder dan aangenomen' |url=http://www.nu.nl/news/1801750/80/rss/%27Amsterdam_200_jaar_ouder_dan_aangenomen%27.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081025045803/http://www.nu.nl/news/1801750/80/rss/'Amsterdam_200_jaar_ouder_dan_aangenomen'.html |archive-date=25 October 2008 |website=NU.nl |via=ANP - Algemeen Nederlands Persbureau}}</ref>

The marshy area called Amestelle, was gradually [[Land reclamation|reclaimed]]. Drainage ditches were dug on either side of various existing [[peat]] streams and a farming community of land reclaimers emerged. When the peat began to subside as a result of drainage, [[Levee|dikes]] had to be built to protect the now lower-lying land from the water.<ref name="200jaarouder"/> The construction of [[Levee|dikes]] along the Amstel was the final stage of peat extraction.<ref name="200jaarouder"/> The catastrophic [[All Saints' Flood (1170)]] overflowed large parts of Northern Netherlands. The Amestelle area gained an open connection to the sea, and a dam was built in the [[Amstel]] to protect the land from future floods.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Van Soest |first1=Arnoud |date=February 2018 |title=Amsterdam is in de storm geboren |url=https://onh.nl/verhaal/amsterdam-is-storm-geboren |access-date=5 January 2021 |website=ONH |language=nl}}</ref>

The people living along the banks of the Amstel built a bridge across the waterway near the [[IJ (Amsterdam)|IJ]], which was a large saltwater inlet connected to the [[Zuiderzee]]. Wooden locks under the bridge served as a [[dam]] protecting the village from floods by the rising IJ waters. The mouth of the river [[Amstel]] (present [[Damrak]]), formed a natural harbor, which became important for trading-exchange from the [[kogge]]ships into smaller ships that sailed the [[Goods|merchandise]] deeper into the hinterland.

The ecclesiastical jurisdiction of Amestelle was established around 1100. The [[List of bishops and archbishops of Utrecht|bishop of Utrecht]] needed an official to exercise jurisdiction on his behalf and to collect the obligatory levies in the new deanery. This task was outsourced to [[Van Amstel family|Wolfgerus van Amstel]] (1075–1131), who acted in 1105 as a ''[[Schout|scultetus]]'' ([[schout]]) of Amestelle (Amstelland). Wolfgerus was a servant of [[Burchard (bishop of Utrecht)]]. His son [[Van Amstel family|Egbert van Amstel]] (1105–1172) built a small castle or [[keep]] (fortified [[manor house]]) in [[Ouderkerk aan de Amstel]].

=== Struggle for power (1200-1318) ===
[[File:Plattegrond van Amsterdam met stadsgezicht (map with cityscape) 1300 Jan Luyken.jpg|thumb|Amsterdam in 1300. 17th century impression by [[Jan Luyken]]]]
[[File:Tolprivilege voor Amsterdam van Graaf Floris V 1275.jpg|thumb|left|The Gift Letter of 1275, Toll-privilege]]
The yearbooks of [[Egmond Abbey]] chronicle 1204, when an army band of [[Kennemerland|Kennemers]] arrived with a fleet to cross the dam of the Amstel.<ref name="legerbende">{{Cite web |last=Roos |first=Piet |date=11 March 2011 |title=Legerbende verwoest huis Van Aemstel |url=https://onh.nl/verhaal/legerbende-verwoest-huis-van-aemstel |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240903003559/https://onh.nl/verhaal/legerbende-verwoest-huis-van-aemstel |archive-date=3 September 2024 |access-date=3 September 2024 |website=ONH (Oneindig Noord-Holland)}}</ref> The fields were flooded with water.<ref name="legerbende" /> The Kennemers moved to Amstelland to pillage and destroy the pastures with fire.<ref name="legerbende" /> The fortified house of [[Gijsbrecht II van Amstel]] in [[Ouderkerk aan de Amstel]] was burned to the ground.<ref name="legerbende" /> The [[Van Amstel family]], ruled the area by name of the [[List of bishops and archbishops of Utrecht|Bishop of Utrecht]]. This event was later used by the Dutch poet [[Joost van den Vondel]] to write a historical play, the [[Gijsbrecht van Aemstel (play)|Gijsbrecht van Aemstel]]. A hundred years later (circa 1300), [[Jan I van Amstel]] (son of [[Gijsbrecht IV of Amstel]] and Johanna van der Lede),<ref name="heren">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JNTxbPYQsIoC |title=De heren van Amstel 1105-1378: Hun opkomst in het Nedersticht van Utrecht in de twaalfde en dertiende eeuw en hun vestiging in het hertogdom Brabant na 1296 |author=Th.A.A.M. van Amstel |publisher=Hilversum Veloren |date=1999 |isbn=90-6550-299-8}}</ref> was brought into the newly with [[Town privileges|city rights]] recognized Amsterdam and admitted as their lord and was somewhat restored as lord of Amstelle. He was also ruler of Amsterdam during the siege of Amsterdam that followed shortly thereafter. After about a year he had to flee again.<ref name="geertmak1" |page=19 /> Chroniclers thought that he had left for [[Prussia]] (modern-day Northern [[Poland]]). However, he actually left for the [[Duchy of Brabant]], where he already owned the lordships of [[Heeswijk]] and [[Dinther]] and the areas of [[Lopik]] and [[Schalkwijk, Utrecht|Schalkwijk]] in the [[Batavia (region)|Betuwe]].<ref name="heren" /> In November 1203, the [[Count of Holland]], [[Dirk VII, Count of Holland|Dirk VII]] died.<ref name="legerbende" /> [[William I, Count of Holland|William I]] became the Count of Holland and won the county after the [[Loon War]] (1203–1206) against [[Louis II, Count of Loon|Louis II]].<ref name="legerbende" />

An important year in the history of Amsterdam was 1275. While ''Aemstelland'' fell under the administrative jurisdiction of the [[Prince-Bishopric of Utrecht]], Count [[Floris V]] of the [[County of Holland]] -the hindland of Aemstelland, granted traders, sailors and fishermen exemption from tolls. This "Gift Letter" document, dated 27 October 1275, is the oldest recorded usage of the name "Amestelledamme" - Amsterdam.<ref name="onsam1">{{Cite web |website=Ons Amsterdam |date=27 October 2012 |title=Hoofdredacteur Ons Amsterdam onthulde jarig 'Amsterdams geboortedocument' |url=http://www.onsamsterdam.nl/nieuws/1831-hoofdredacteur-ons-amsterdam-onthulde-jarig-amsterdams-geboortedocument |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170707004337/https://www.onsamsterdam.nl/nieuws/1831-hoofdredacteur-ons-amsterdam-onthulde-jarig-amsterdams-geboortedocument |archive-date=7 July 2017}}</ref><ref name="geertmak1"/><ref name="language">{{cite book |last=Berns |first=Jan |author2=Daan, Jo |title=Hij zeit wat: de Amsterdamse volkstaal |year=1993 |location=[[The Hague]] |publisher=BZZTôH |page=91 |language=nl |isbn=978-90-6291-756-3}}</ref> This meant the inhabitants from the vicinity of ''Amestelledamme'' acquired a right to travel freely through the County of Holland without having to pay tolls at bridges, locks, and dams. This was the very start of the later richness of the young evolving city: by not having to pay tolls, traders could sell merchandise, shipped to Amestelledamme harbour from everywhere (Scandinavia, Denmark, Germany), at a more competitive price in Amsterdam and the hinterland.<ref name="toll1">[http://stadsarchief.amsterdam.nl/english/amsterdam_treasures/trade/toll_privilege/index.en.html The toll privilege at the Amsterdam City Archives] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160106010052/http://stadsarchief.amsterdam.nl/english/amsterdam_treasures/trade/toll_privilege/index.en.html |date=6 January 2016}}</ref> After the murder of Count Floris V in 1296, ''Amstelland'' again belonged to the ''Sticht''.  By 1327, the name had developed into ''Aemsterdam''.<ref name="language"/>

=== Late Middle Ages ===
Shortly after 1300, the first church was built which is now the [[Oude Kerk, Amsterdam|Oude Kerk]]. Early Amsterdam around 1300 consisted of six hamlets (buurtschap): west of the Amstel the Windmolenzijde near the Nieuwezijds Kolk, [[Kalverstraat]] and [[Dam Square|the Dam]] and Bindwijk near the [[Spui (Amsterdam)|Spui]], and east of the Amstel the Kerkzijde near the Oude Kerk, Gansoord near the Dam and Grimmenes near the [[Grimburgwal]] at the bend in the Amstel.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://dare.uva.nl/record/106138 |title=Hoofdstuk 1 Amsterdam van dorp tot stad, 1300-1390 |others=Chapter 1 in the thesis: Metamorfose van stad en devotie. Ontstaan en conjunctuur van kerkelijke, religieuze en charitatieve instellingen in Amsterdam in het licht van de stedelijke ontwikkeling, 1385–1435 |author=B.R. de Melker |date=17 October 2002 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240518082846/https://dare.uva.nl/search?arno.record.id=106138 |archive-date=18 May 2024}}</ref>

In 1306, Gwijde van Henegouwen, bishop of Utrecht, gave Amsterdam [[City rights in the Netherlands|city rights.]] After his death (1317), Count [[William I, Count of Hainaut|Willem III]] inherited the Aemstelland, whereby Amsterdam fell under the County of Holland.

[[File:Amsterdam-Begijnhof-Houtenhuys.jpg|thumb|left|upright|''Het Houten Huys'', [[Begijnhof, Amsterdam|Begijnhof]] - a rare wooden house from before the fire of 1452]]
In 1323, Willem III established a toll on the trade of [[beer]] from [[Hamburg]]. The main economic sectors at that time were brewing beer and fishing. The customs law for Hamburg beer granted in 1323 made a significant contribution to this.<ref name="Merian">Merian: ''Amsterdam.'' Hoffmann & Campe, ISBN 3-455-27807-8</ref> The contacts laid through the beer trade formed the basis for subsequent trade with cities of the [[Hanseatic league]] in the [[Baltic Sea]], from where during the 14th and 15th centuries the Amsterdammers increasingly acquired grain and timber. In 1342, Count [[William IV of Holland|Willem IV]] awarded the city "Groot Privilege", which greatly strengthened the position of the city. During the 15th century, Amsterdam became the granary of the northern low countries and the most important trading city in Holland.

According to legend, on 12 March 1345, the [[miracle of Amsterdam]] occurred and Amsterdam became an important pilgrimage town. The town grew considerably thanks to the pilgrims. A Roman Catholic procession ([[Stille Omgang]]) occurs every year to celebrate the miracle.

Two great fires swept through the city in 1421 and 1452. After the second, when three quarters of the city were destroyed, Emperor Charles decreed that new houses were to be built from stone. Few wooden buildings remain from this period, a notable example being the ''Het Houten Huys'' ("The Wooden House") at the [[Begijnhof, Amsterdam|Begijnhof]].

==Religious strife and revolt==
[[File:De Groote Kaart van Amsterdam in 1544 (The Big Map of Amsterdam in 1544) by Cornelis Anthonisz.jpg|thumb|Amsterdam circa 1544, before the semi-circular ring of canals was added.]]
In the 16th century, Amsterdam was part of the [[Seventeen Provinces]] of the [[Habsburg Netherlands|Netherlands]]. It comprised approximately the [[Benelux]] countries. Since 1555, King [[Philip II of Spain]] was the Lord of the Seventeen Provinces.

In the first half of the 16th century, with the appearance of [[Protestant Reform]], an important Mennonite (usually called [[Anabaptist]]) community formed in Amsterdam. Religious tension grew throughout the Empire until in 1534 [[Münster rebellion|the anabaptists of Munster rebelled]] and emperor [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V]] decreed a persecution of all members of this church. In two years, the authorities of Amsterdam executed 71 Mennonites and exiled many others. Executions would continue more sporadically until the 1550s.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Geraerts |first1=Jaap |title=The prosecution of Anabaptists in Holland, 1530-1566 |date=6 July 2010 |publisher=Utrecht University |url=https://dspace.library.uu.nl/bitstream/handle/1874/179587/The%20prosecution%20of%20Anabaptists%20in%20Holland%2C%201530-1566.pdf?sequence=1|access-date=26 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200710125209/https://dspace.library.uu.nl/bitstream/handle/1874/179587/The%20prosecution%20of%20Anabaptists%20in%20Holland%2C%201530-1566.pdf?sequence=1 |archive-date=10 July 2020}}</ref>

The second half of the 16th century brought [[Dutch Revolt|a rebellion of the Low Countries]] against the sovereign, the Hapsburg king [[Philip II of Spain]]. From 1566, the uprising was mainly caused by the lack of political power for the local nobility and by the religious conflict between Protestants and Catholics, the latter supported by The Crown. The Catholic king insisted on the relentless persecution of heretics, on the other hand, he sought to expand his powers at the expense of the urban [[bourgeoisie]]. Amsterdam began the war on The Crown's side. In 1572, almost all Dutch cities sided with the insurgents led by [[William I of Orange]] - only Amsterdam remained loyal to the Spanish king. This had catastrophic consequences: the Dutch rebels now blocked the port of Amsterdam, so that the city quickly became impoverished. In 1578, after six years, Amsterdam finally switched sides to the insurgents with a bloodless revolution called the Alteratie and gave its support to [[William I of Orange|William I]].<ref name="cdriessen">{{Cite book |author=Christoph Driessen |title=Kleine Geschichte Amsterdams |date=2010 |publisher=Regensburg 2010 |pages=29, 66–67, 70, 79, 90, 103–105, 106, 111 |isbn=978-3791722726}}</ref> The rebellion led to the [[Eighty Years' War]] and eventually Dutch independence.

Amsterdam was then a Protestant city. The Catholics had no fear of persecution, but were no longer allowed to celebrate the mass in public. One of the results of the uprising was that Amsterdam enjoyed a certain degree of religious tolerance. Officially, only Calvinist worship was permitted, but in practice Catholic "[[clandestine church]]es" at private homes were tacitly tolerated, as were Lutheran and Mennonite ones. In the city, a large Roman Catholic minority remained, but the majority of the people belonged to the Calvinist Reformed Church and other Protestant denominations. However, the holding of any public office was restricted to members of the official Reformed Church.

[[File:Berckheyde, Gerrit - Dam square Amsterdam - Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister (Dresden).jpg|thumb|right|[[Dam Square]] in the late 17th century: painting by [[Gerrit Adriaenszoon Berckheyde]] (Gemäldegalerie, Dresden)]]
During these years religious wars raged throughout Europe and many people fled to the Dutch Republic and Amsterdam, where they sought refuge. Wealthy Jews from Spain and Portugal, Protestants from [[Antwerp]] and the [[Huguenots]] from France sought safety in Amsterdam.

==The Golden Age (1585–1672)==
{{Main|Dutch Golden Age}}
[[File:Map of Amsterdam - Amstelodami Celeberrimi Hollandiae Emporii Delineatio Nova (J.Blaeu, 1649).jpg|thumb|Amsterdam in 1649 with the first canal ring section]]
[[File:Amsterdam1662.jpg|thumb|Amsterdam around 1662. The ring of canals is complete]]
[[File:Amsterdam vanaf het IJ Panorama 1699 Frederik de Wit.jpg|thumb|View of Amsterdam from the IJ, 1699]]
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{{more citations needed|section|date=October 2016}}
The 17th century was Amsterdam's [[Dutch Golden Age|Golden Age]]. Ships from the city sailed to North America, Indonesia, Brazil, and Africa and formed the basis of a worldwide trading network. Amsterdam's merchants financed expeditions to the four corners of the world and they acquired the overseas possessions which formed the seeds of the later [[Dutch colonial empire|Dutch colonies]]. The most influential of these merchant groups was the [[Dutch East India Company]], founded 1602, which became the first multi-national corporation to issue stocks to finance its business.  By allowing for sailors to invest in the cargo that they transported, it created an incentive for individual laborers to be vested in the goods they carried and tightened their allegiances to corporate outcomes, whereas before sailors were a migratory agents.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wezel |first1=Filippo |title=Agents with Principles: The Control of Labor in the Dutch East India Company, 1700 to 1796 |journal=American Sociological Review |date=2017 |volume=82 |issue=5 |pages=1009–1036 |doi=10.1177/0003122417718165 |s2cid=157574815 |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0003122417718165 |access-date=18 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230221233139/https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0003122417718165 |archive-date=21 February 2023}}</ref> [[Rembrandt]] painted in this century, and the city expanded greatly around its canals during this time. Amsterdam was the most important hub for the transshipment of goods in Europe and the leading [[financial centre]] of the [[western world]].<ref name="am17">[http://www.uncp.edu/home/rwb/Amsterdam_l.html Amsterdam in the 17th century] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090826132532/http://www.uncp.edu/home/rwb/Amsterdam_l.html|date=26 August 2009}}, The University of [[North Carolina]] at Pembroke</ref> In 1611, the [[Amsterdam stock exchange]] was founded.<ref name="Merian" /> It is considered the oldest "modern" securities market in the world.<ref name="Braudel">{{Cite book |last=Braudel |first=Fernand |title=Civilization and capitalism 15th–18th century: The wheels of commerce |date=1983 |publisher=Harper & Row |isbn=978-0060150914 |location=New York}}</ref> From 1613, Amsterdam expanded around the [[Canals of Amsterdam|Canals]] and the [[Port of Amsterdam|port]] became the largest port in the world. The city had trade relations with 625 foreign ports. At that time, Amsterdam was the third largest city in Europe and the financial center of the world (including with the [[Bank of Amsterdam]] and the family's private bank Deutz of Deutz van Assendelft). The [[Tulip mania]] from 1630 to 1637 was the first large speculative bubble, a house in Amsterdam was sold for only three [[Tulip|tulip bulbs]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://jpmarat.de/deutsch/tulpen.html |title=Die Tulpenspekulation |date=12 June 2001 |website=Unsere Geschichte Der Kampf für eine bessere Welt |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220705180855/http://jpmarat.de/deutsch/tulpen.html |archive-date=5 July 2022}}</ref>

===Government by regents===
[[Image:Descendants of Knight Andries Boelens (1455-1519).jpg|thumb|Overview of the personal family relationships of the Amsterdam [[oligarchy]] between the [[Regenten|regent]]-dynasties [[Boelens Loen]], [[De Graeff]], [[Bicker family|Bicker (van Swieten)]], [[Witsen family|Witsen]] and [[Johan de Witt]] in the [[Dutch Golden Age]]]]

By the mid-1660s Amsterdam had reached the optimum population (about 200,000) for the level of trade, commerce and agriculture then available to support it. The city contributed the largest quota in taxes to the States of Holland which in turn contributed over half the quota to the States General. Amsterdam was also one of the most reliable in settling tax demands and therefore was able to use the threat to withhold such payments to good effect.

[[File:The Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal with the Flower Market, Amsterdam by Gerrit Berckheyde 1686.jpg|thumb|[[Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal]] canal, c. 1686]]
Amsterdam was governed by a body of [[Regenten]] (regents), a large, but closed, oligarchy with control over all aspects of the city's life, and a dominant voice in the foreign affairs of Holland. Only men with sufficient wealth and a long enough residence within the city could join the ruling class. The first step for an ambitious and wealthy merchant family was to arrange a marriage with a long-established regent family. In the 1670s, one such union, that of the Trip family (the Amsterdam branch of the Swedish arms makers) with the son of Burgomaster Valckenier, extended the influence and patronage available to the latter and strengthened his dominance of the council. The oligarchy in Amsterdam thus gained strength from its breadth and openness. In the smaller towns, family interest could unite members on policy decisions but contraction through intermarriage could lead to the degeneration of the quality of the members. In Amsterdam, the network was so large that members of the same family could be related to opposing factions and pursue widely separated interests.  The young men who had risen to positions of authority in the 1670s and 1680s consolidated their hold on office well into the 1690s and even the new century.<ref>{{Cite web |author=Elizabeth Edwards |title=Amsterdam and William III |website=History Today |date=December 1993 |volume=43, Issue 12 in [[EBSCO]] |url=https://www.historytoday.com/archive/amsterdam-and-william-iii |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231003033736/https://www.historytoday.com/archive/amsterdam-and-william-iii |archive-date=3 October 2023}}</ref>

Significant Amsterdam [[Regenten|regent]]-[[Patrician (post-Roman Europe)|patrician]] dynasties of the Golden Century included the [[Boelens Loen]], [[De Graeff]], [[Bicker family|Bicker]], Pauw and Hooft. At the height of the [[Dutch Golden Age|Golden Age]], the First governorless period from 1650 to [[Rampjaar]] in 1672, political power within Holland was mainly two state-minded: republican, and families. In Amsterdam this was with the brothers [[Cornelis de Graeff|Cornelis]] and [[Andries de Graeff]].<ref name="leben"/> In [[The Hague]], it was with the brothers [[Johan de Witt|Johan]] and [[Cornelis de Witt]], the leader of the state-minded (republican) faction of Holland, which was reinforced by their close cooperation and mutual kinship.<ref name="leben">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qxI4DAAAQBAJ&q=Cornelis+de+Graeff+Michiel+de+ruyter |title=Die vielen Leben des Jan Six: Geschichte einer Amsterdamer Dynastie |author=Geert Mak |date=17 October 2016 |publisher=Siedler Verlag, 2016 |isbn=978-3641199791}}</ref>

Amsterdam's regents provided good services to residents. They spent heavily on the water-ways and other essential infrastructure, as well as municipal almshouses for the elderly, hospitals and churches.  The regents favoring of private investment also helped to raise standards of living, as construction of commercially viable and advanced windmills brought more efficient factories for refining goods and irrigation pumps to the region, allowing for one of the earliest industrial driven economies.<ref>{{cite web |last1=De Decker |first1=Kris |title=Wind powered factories: history (and future) of industrial windmills |url=http://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2009/10/history-of-industrial-windmills.html |website=Low-Tech Magazine |date=8 October 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230128134713/http://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2009/10/history-of-industrial-windmills.html |archive-date=28 Jan 2023}}</ref>

[[File:Johannes Lingelbach 001.jpg|thumb|Amsterdam's Dam Square, 17th century]]
Amsterdam's wealth was generated by its commerce, which was in turn sustained by the judicious encouragement of entrepreneurs whatever their origin.  This arrangement was supported by low interest-rates to private businesses, whereas communities governed by monarchies at the time sought to siphon profits.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Lock |first1=John |title=Some Considerations of the Consequences of the Lowering of Interest and the Raising the Value of Money |url=http://la.utexas.edu/users/hcleaver/368/368LockeSomeConsiderationsAlltable.pdf |publisher=utexas |access-date=14 October 2018 |archive-url=https://la.utexas.edu/users/hcleaver/368/368LockeSomeConsiderationsAlltable.pdf |archive-date=1 August 2024}}</ref> This open-door policy has been interpreted as proof of a tolerant ruling class. But toleration was practiced for the convenience of the city. Therefore, the wealthy Sephardic Jews from Portugal were welcomed and accorded all privileges except those of citizenship, but the poor Ashkenazi Jews from Eastern Europe were far more carefully vetted and those who became dependent on the city were encouraged to move on. Similarly, provision for the housing of Huguenot immigrants was made in 1681 when [[Louis XIV]]'s religious policy was beginning to drive these Protestants out of France; no encouragement was given to the dispossessed Dutch from the countryside or other towns of Holland. The regents encouraged immigrants to build churches and provided sites or buildings for churches and temples for all but the most radical sects and the native Catholics by the 1670s (although even the Catholics could practice quietly in a chapel within the Begijnhof).

===Immigration===
Until 1584, [[Antwerp]] was the largest [[Habsburg Netherlands|Dutch]] city and the cultural, economic, and financial centre of the [[Seventeen Provinces]] and of [[Northwestern Europe]]. However, the [[Fall of Antwerp]] in 1585 offered Amsterdam unprecedented opportunities since Amsterdam took over that position. There was a large influx of Antwerp merchants who chose to live in Amsterdam; the blockade of the [[Scheldt]] by the [[Geuzen]] caused Antwerp's influence to decline even further. The extent of which the migration of Antwerp (and other Southern Dutch) merchants contributed to the rise of Amsterdam remains a disputed matter. Some believe that their role was not decisive.<ref>{{Cite book |author=Oscar Gelderblom |date=2000 |title=Zuid-Nederlandse kooplieden en de opkomst van de Amsterdamse stapelmarkt (1578-1630) |publisher=Uitgeverij Verloren |isbn=90-6550-620-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=neIWrD1zn_sC}}</ref> Others argue that this migration movement brought the necessary expertise (particularly in financial markets and insurance) and international trade contacts that would give Amsterdam its prosperity.<ref>{{Cite book |author=Jonathan I. Israel |title=Dutch Primacy in World Trade, 1585-1740 |publisher=Clarendon Press |url=https://global.oup.com/academic/product/dutch-primacy-in-world-trade-1585-1740-9780198211396 |date=26 July 1990 |isbn=9780198211396}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |author=Cle Lesger |title=Handel in Amsterdam ten tijde van de Opstand kooplieden, commerciele expansie en verandering in de ruimtelijke economie van de Nederlanden ca. 1550-ca. 1630 |publisher=Uitgeverij Verloren (Hilversum) |url=https://verloren.nl/Webshop/Detail/catid/22892/eid/28640/handel-in-amsterdam-ten-tijde-van-de-opstand |date=2001 |isbn=9065506861 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240226163256/https://verloren.nl/Webshop/Detail/catid/22892/eid/28640/handel-in-amsterdam-ten-tijde-van-de-opstand |archive-date=26 February 2024}}</ref>

[[File:Hof_van_de_E-_Heer_de_Pinto_(Huis_De_Pinto)_by_Romeyn_de_Hooghe,_Afb_010094004270.jpg|thumb|DePinto House owned by the prosperous De Pinto merchant family of [[History of the Jews in the Netherlands|Portuguese Jewish origin]]. Amsterdam did not have restricted residential quarters, so immigrants could live anywhere. Engraving by [[Romeyn de Hooghe]] c. 1695]]
During the 17th and 18th century, Amsterdam was a city where immigrants formed the majority. According to calculations by Erika Kuijpers, almost a third of the population were immigrants in the first half of the 17th century.<ref>{{Cite book |date=2005 |author=Erika Kuijpers |title=Migrantenstad: Immigratie en sociale verhoudingen in 17e-eeuws Amsterdam |url=https://verloren.nl/Webshop/Detail/catid/23112/eid/31174/migrantenstad |publisher=Uitgeverij Verloren |isbn=9789065508522}}</ref> Most immigrants were [[Germans]] who were usually [[Lutheran]] Protestant. Smaller groups were French [[Huguenots#Netherlands|Huguenots]], and Ashkenazi/Sephardic Jews.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}}

The integration of immigrants was smooth. It was not hard to find work as a craftsman, but craftsmen were forced to join guilds, to serve in the city patrol and to cooperate in the local district to compete with other districts. These were powerful institutions that resulted in quick integration, especially since all these institutions were mainly filled with immigrants or children of immigrants. The city council of Amsterdam consisted of people with all kinds of backgrounds: Dutch, German, Flemish, French, Scottish.{{citation needed|date=September 2018}}  Immigration completely changed Amsterdam's social fabric: a city of artisans and small merchants, without too stark differences between rich and poor, became a metropolis with internationally oriented trade princes and a large [[proletariat]].<ref name="cdriessen" />

Due to freedom of religion in the Netherlands, Amsterdam became a haven for the persecuted. In 1675 the [[Portuguese Synagogue (Amsterdam)|Portuguese Synagogue]], the largest in the world at the time, opened there. The [[Yiddish]] language of Eastern European Jews, had a major impact on the Amsterdam dialect of Dutch.<ref name="cdriessen" />

The [[Armenians]] are another notable group who migrated to Amsterdam from the 16th to the 19th century.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}} The Armenians had a trading network that stretched from the far east (Manila, India, Nepal, Iran) to Europe and, most notably, Amsterdam.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}} The Armenians mainly traded Iranian [[silk]], which they had a monopoly over.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}} Iranian silk was very popular in Amsterdam; hence, it made the Armenian community very wealthy, and the Armenians flourished in Amsterdam.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}} Amsterdam was known for religious and ethnic tolerance, where they welcomed people from all over the world. Hence, it made Amsterdam a hotspot for Armenians.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Armenian trade networks |website=EGO (European History Online) |date=12 March 2019 |author=Tamara Ganjalyan |url=http://ieg-ego.eu/en/threads/european-networks/economic-networks/tamara-ganjalyan-armenian-trade-networks |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240527233733/https://ieg-ego.eu/en/threads/european-networks/economic-networks/tamara-ganjalyan-armenian-trade-networks |archive-date=27 May 2024}}</ref> Although Armenian traces in the Netherlands go back to the 4th century, Armenian merchants started appearing on mass in the 12th century, and the highest numbers were in the 17th century.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}} The Armenian traders imported and exported almost everything, selling spices, gold, pearls, diamonds, and silk to the Dutch and buying yellow amber from them, which they sold in Smyrna.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}} Due to religious and ethnic tolerance, the Armenians built their own churches, cultural centers, schools, universities, and printing presses in Amsterdam and the rest of the Netherlands.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}} These churches and cultural centers exist to this day.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}} In response to Dutch generosity, the Armenians integrated into their society very smoothly, and they became part of its society.<ref>{{Cite web |title=A Rich History of Armenians in The Low Countries |website=PeopleOfAr |url=https://www.peopleofar.com/2016/02/18/a-rich-history-of-armenians-in-the-low-countries/ |date=18 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240526000038/https://www.peopleofar.com/2016/02/18/a-rich-history-of-armenians-in-the-low-countries/ |archive-date=26 May 2024}}</ref> A Dutch writer said in the magazine [[De Groene Amsterdammer|De Amsterdammer]] (14 August 1887): "The story of the Armenian community is a golden page in the history of the city of Amsterdam."{{citation needed|date=September 2024}}

===Plague===
However, the city's trading status meant it suffered from an outbreak of [[bubonic plague]] from 1663 to 1666, supposed to have come from [[Algiers]] to Amsterdam.  (The plague also broke out in the trading center of [[Great Plague of London|London]] in June 1665.)  Though it had little initial effect, the impact grew in autumn 1663 and in 1664. The wife and youngest daughter of well known collector of paintings [[Jan J. Hinlopen]], as well as Rembrandt's partner [[Hendrickje Stoffels]], fell victim to it that autumn.  According to [[Samuel Pepys]], for a few weeks at the end of 1663, ships from Hamburg and Amsterdam were quarantined for thirty days. In 1664, 24,148 people were buried in Amsterdam. More than 10% of the population died in this period - everybody that came into contact with the plague was at risk. At the time people assumed the plague was caused by the digging of new canals.<ref>{{Cite book |title=De gave Gods: De pest in Holland vanaf de late middeleeuwen |publisher=Octavo |author1=Leo Noordegraaf |author2=Gerrit Valk |year=1988 |page=230 |language=Dutch |isbn=9789070805142 |url=https://www.deslegte.com/de-gave-gods-de-pest-in-holland-vanaf-de-late-middeleeuwen-148916/}}</ref>

Surprisingly, tobacco smoke was regarded as an effective prophylactic against the plague.<ref>{{Cite book |author=[[Simon Schama]] |date=1987 |title=[[The Embarrassment of Riches: An Interpretation of Dutch Culture in the Golden Age]] |page=197 |publisher=Knopf |isbn=0-394-51075-5}}</ref>  With the prospect of the plague, as well as war with England looming, the English ambassador commented in May 1664: "there are dead this last week to the number 338 at Amsterdam and if the plague thus increases within, and a warre with His Majestie without, there will be little need of that vast new towne which they are making there".<ref>{{Cite book |chapter=Lister, Life and Administration, iii |pages=319, 625 |author=[[Jonathan Israel]] |year=1995 |title=The Dutch Republic, Its Rise, Greatness, and Fall 1477-1806 |isbn=978-0198207344 |publisher=Clarendon Press, Oxford}}</ref> Rich people left the cities to avoid the disease, but in the worst week of the pandemic of 1664, in Amsterdam there were 1,041 burials compared with 7,000 in the late summer of 1665 in London, a city twice its size.<ref>{{Cite book |author=Tobias van Domselaer |year=1665 |title=Beschrijving van Amsterdam |page=442 |location=archived at Gemeentearchief Amsterdam: 21 A 3; ZKW 4 A 20}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |author=[[Simon Schama]] |date=1987 |title=[[The Embarrassment of Riches: An Interpretation of Dutch Culture in the Golden Age]] |page=643 |publisher=Knopf |isbn=0-394-51075-5}}</ref> The mayors warned the population that eating salad, spinach or prunes could be unhealthy.  The [[vroedschap]] shut the [[Schouwburg of Van Campen|theatre]], allowing performances to resume only in 1666,<ref>{{Cite book |chapter=Lister, Life and Administration, iii |page=693 |author=[[Jonathan Israel]] |year=1995 |title=The Dutch Republic, Its Rise, Greatness, and Fall 1477-1806 |isbn=978-0198207344 |publisher=Clarendon Press, Oxford}}</ref> though Jan J. Hinlopen's own death in 1666 is ascribed to the plague.  Sailors on ships out to sea were relatively safe.

==Decline and modernization==
[[File:Amsterdam1770.jpg|thumb|Amsterdam and surroundings around 1770. The expansion came to a standstill]]
[[File:XII Republique Batave carte (Bataafse Republiek) 1804 Malte-Brun.jpg|thumb|The [[Batavian Republic]] and the Department of the Amstel, 1799-1802]]The 18th and early 19th centuries saw a decline in Amsterdam's prosperity and the [[Dutch Republic]]. The main reasons were increased competition from England, France, Prussia and Russia. The [[Franco-Dutch War]] and the [[Anglo-Dutch Wars]], in particular the [[Fourth Anglo-Dutch War]] (1780–1784) had a devastating effect.<ref name="cdriessen" />

In 1795, the Netherlands was conquered by France. During the occupation and the [[Batavian Revolution in Amsterdam|upheaval]] the old [[Republic of the Seven United Netherlands]] was transformed into a modern unitary state, the [[Batavian Republic]] (1795–1806). This was a satellite state of [[First French Empire|Napoleonic France]]. Subsequently, was the transition to the [[Kingdom of Holland]] in 1806. Emperor [[Napoleon]] installed his brother [[Louis Bonaparte]] as the King of Holland (1806–1810). The Batavian Republic was divided into 8 departments named after rivers.<ref name="departement"/> From 1799 to 1802, Amsterdam was the capital of the Department of the Amstel.<ref name="departement">{{cite web |url=https://resources.huygens.knaw.nl/bataafsfransetijd/Inleiding/Grondgebied_indeling |title=Grondgebied: indeling |website=Huygens Instituut |date=June 4, 2020 |archive-date=July 1, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220701165151/https://resources.huygens.knaw.nl/bataafsfransetijd/Inleiding/Grondgebied_indeling}}</ref> The Netherlands was annexed by the [[First French Empire]] in 1810.<ref name="emperordam">{{Cite web |date=23 June 2021 |title=An Emperor on Dam Square |url=https://www.paleisamsterdam.nl/en/discover-palace/emperor-dam-square/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210623144652/https://www.paleisamsterdam.nl/en/discover-palace/emperor-dam-square/ |archive-date=23 June 2021 |access-date=3 September 2024 |website=Paleis Amsterdam}}</ref> The incorporation act called the ''Decree of Rambouillet'' (8/9 July 1810) kept the structure of the [[Kingdom of Holland]] largely intact.<ref name="napoleonic" /> In 1810, Amsterdam was officially declared the third imperial capital in the [[First French Empire]], after [[Paris]] and [[Rome]].<ref>Bulletin des lois, 4e serie XIII (Paris 1811) 331; Archives nationales, F17, 1098, pièce 133</ref><ref name="napoleonic">{{Cite book |last=van der Burg |first=Martijn |url=https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/id/e5d375f7-6943-4cda-a6f1-6874b8fe7b2e/9783030666583.pdf |title=Napoleonic Governance in the Netherlands and Northwest Germany, War, Culture and Society, 1750–1850 |date=2021 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=978-3-030-66658-3 |pages=55 |access-date=3 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240628031948/https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/id/e5d375f7-6943-4cda-a6f1-6874b8fe7b2e/9783030666583.pdf |archive-date=28 June 2024}}</ref> The [[Royal Palace of Amsterdam]] became an imperial palace.<ref name="emperordam" /> [[Napoleon]] and his wife [[Marie Louise]] spent 1 night in the palace.<ref name="emperordam" />

During the [[Napoleonic Wars]], Amsterdam's fortunes reached their lowest point. The [[Continental System]] was an economic blockade which led to their severe impoverishment. In the course of [[German campaign of 1813|Wars of Liberation]] the French troops left Amsterdam in mid-November 1813. On the 16th November, the citizens of Amsterdam successfully rose against the remaining French and drove out the occupiers.<ref name="cdriessen"/>

Circumstances slowly began to improve with the establishment of the [[United Kingdom of the Netherlands]] which unified the low countries (1815–1830). Amsterdam was the [[Capital of the Netherlands|capital]] and the largest city, but [[The Hague]] and [[Brussels]] were the government centers.<ref name="Merian" /> In Amsterdam, new developments started by people like [[Samuel Sarphati]] who found their inspiration in Paris.

In the second half of the 19th century, Amsterdam gradually changed to an [[Industrial Revolution|industrial city]]. Important new economic sectors were the diamond industry, shipbuilding, clothing and engine factories and later car and aircraft production.<ref name="cdriessen"/>

In 1863 there was sufficient support and parliament approval for the [[North Sea Canal]].<ref name="noordzeekanaal1"/> The purpose was to improve access to bigger seafaring [[steamship]]s and for the competitive position of Amsterdam.<ref name="noordzeekanaal1"/> The land-reclamation and excavation work was privately funded.<ref name="noordzeekanaal1">{{Cite web |title=Noordzeekanaal |date=23 April 2019 |website=Gemeente Amsterdam Stadsarchief |url=https://www.amsterdam.nl/stadsarchief/stukken/verkeer/noordzeekanaal/ |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240831002114/https://www.amsterdam.nl/stadsarchief/stukken/verkeer/noordzeekanaal/ |archive-date=31 Aug 2024}}</ref> This canal connects Amsterdam via [[IJmuiden]] to the [[North Sea]]. Both projects dramatically improved the communication with the rest of Europe and the world. They gave the economy a big boost.

[[File:Amsterdam - Dam 1900.jpg|left|thumb|[[Dam Square]], Amsterdam as it appeared c. 1890–1900 with the "Naatje of the Dam" statue.]]
The industrial revolution led to a huge influx of worker migrants from the Dutch countryside into the city of Amsterdam. This occurred during the rise of socialism in Amsterdam. The Dutch authorities tried to destroy socialism by treating socialists with violence. During the 1880s and 1890s, fights between the police and the socialists occurred on a weekly basis. A notorious event was the [[Palingoproer]] (eel riots) in 1886, when 26 demonstrators were killed by the army after the police were unable to control a riotous crowd of men watching an outlawed game of eel-pulling. Another was the Orange riots of 1887, which included the destruction of a socialist pub by orangists and the arrest of the defending socialists, while the organists were not punished at all. The most popular socialist leaders of the 1890s were those who had been in jail most of the time. One socialist was so angry with the police, that he tried to kill the chief superintendent of the police. He shot a hole in the hat of the superintendent and was sentenced to many years in jail after being beaten up by policemen. After his release, he was welcomed as a hero during a parade with a laurel wreath on his head, while people were crying in the crowded streets filled with workers from Amsterdam.

The end of the 19th century is sometimes called Amsterdam's second Golden Age. New museums, the [[Amsterdam Centraal station|Centraal Station]] (1889), and the [[Concertgebouw, Amsterdam|Concertgebouw]] (1886) were built. The [[Stelling van Amsterdam]] were constructed to defend the city. This is a unique ring of 45 [[forts]] with [[dam]]s, [[Levee|dikes]], [[Lock (water navigation)|locks]], [[pumping station]]s, [[Artillery battery|batteries]] and [[casemate]]s.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Stelling van Amsterdam |website=Staatsbosbeheer |url=https://www.staatsbosbeheer.nl/wat-we-doen/monumenten/forten-en-linies/stelling-van-amsterdam |access-date=3 September 2024 |language=nl |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240903062441/https://www.staatsbosbeheer.nl/wat-we-doen/monumenten/forten-en-linies/stelling-van-amsterdam |archive-date=3 September 2024}}</ref> Land could be inundated to defend the city against an attack. Amsterdam's population grew significantly during this period.

==20th century==
During [[World War I]], the Netherlands remained neutral, but Amsterdam suffered the effects of the war when food became scarce.  When working-class women started to plunder a ship with army supplies, the military was brought in. Workers joined their wives in the plundering and the soldiers opened fire on them.  Six people were killed and almost 100 were wounded.

===Expansion===
[[File:Kaart van Vergroote Amsterdam (Map of Enlarged Amsterdam) 1921.jpg|thumb|Map of the Enlarged Amsterdam in 1921. Yellow is the territory of Amsterdam before the annexations. All other colored areas are the incorporated municipalities in 1921]]
During the interwar period, Amsterdam continued to expand with rapid economic and population growth.<ref name="annex1921"/> There was a lack of space for companies and shipyards.<ref name="annex1921"/> The city required additional surrounding lands and near the riverbanks of the [[IJ (Amsterdam)|IJ]].<ref name="annex1921"/> In 1920, between [[Christmas]] and [[New Year's Eve]], the [[Senate (Netherlands)|Senate]] (Eerste Kamer) passed the Amsterdam Expansion Act.<ref name="annex1921"/> On January 1, 1921, the city became 4x larger from {{convert|4,630|ha|acre|abbr=off|adj=on}} to {{convert|17,455|ha|acre|abbr=off|adj=on}} with 36,000 additional inhabitants and a strip of the [[Zuiderzee]].<ref name="annex1921"/> The municipalities [[Buiksloot]], [[Nieuwendam]], [[Ransdorp]], [[Watergraafsmeer]] and [[Sloten, Amsterdam|Sloten]] were fully annexed.<ref name="annex1921">{{Cite web |title=Annexaties 1921. Landhonger. 28 december 1920: Amsterdam wordt vier keer zo groot |date=1 December 2020 |website=Ons Amsterdam |url=https://onsamsterdam.nl/artikelen/annexaties-1921-landhonger-28-december-1920-amsterdam-wordt-vier-keer-zo-groot |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240814101625/https://onsamsterdam.nl/artikelen/annexaties-1921-landhonger-28-december-1920-amsterdam-wordt-vier-keer-zo-groot |archive-date=14 August 2024}}</ref>

The [[1928 Summer Olympics]] were hosted in Amsterdam.<ref name="feitjes">{{Cite web |last=Fijlstra |first=Rudmer |date=2 January 2022 |title=Toen in Amsterdam: 10 x feitjes van vroeger die je nog niet kende |url=https://indebuurt.nl/amsterdam/toen-in/toen-in-amsterdam-10-x-feitjes-van-vroeger-die-je-nog-niet-kende~177921/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240915201832/https://indebuurt.nl/amsterdam/toen-in/toen-in-amsterdam-10-x-feitjes-van-vroeger-die-je-nog-niet-kende~177921/#selection-1233.6-1694.0 |archive-date=15 September 2024 |access-date=15 September 2024 |website=indebuur Amsterdam}}</ref> The [[Olympic Stadium (Amsterdam)|Olympic Stadium]] was built and used as the main sporting venue from 28 July to 12 August 1928.<ref name="feitjes" />

In 1932, the [[Afsluitdijk]] was completed which separated the [[Zuiderzee]] from the [[North Sea]]. The Zuiderzee behind the [[Levee|dike]] became a new lake called the [[IJsselmeer]]. For the first time in its history, Amsterdam had no open communication with the sea. However, the [[North Sea Canal]] connects the [[Port of Amsterdam]] with the [[North Sea]].<ref name="noordzeekanaal1"/> The [[Amsterdam–Rhine Canal|Amsterdam-Rijn kanaal]] was dug and completed in 1952 to give Amsterdam a direct connection to the [[Rhine]].

===World War II===
[[File:Anne_Frank_M01.JPG|thumb|right|Statue of Anne Frank]]

During World War II, the Nazis invaded the Netherlands and occupied Amsterdam until their defeat in 1945. The [[February strike]] in 1941 was a unique mass protest against the persecution of Jews in Amsterdam which was unprecedented in occupied Europe.<ref name="cdriessen" />

Many Amsterdam Jews were hiding which saved their lives. Others collaborated with the German occupiers. The local police lead by chief Sybren Tulp were particularly guilty.<ref>{{Cite book |author=A.J.J. Meershoek |title=Dienaren van het gezag. De Amsterdamse politie tijdens de bezetting |year=1999 |publisher=Uitgeverij Van Gennep |isbn=90-5515-223-4 |url=https://dare.uva.nl/search?metis.record.id=143931 |location=University of Amsterdam |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240916200816/https://dare.uva.nl/search?metis.record.id=143931 |archive-date=16 September 2024}}</ref> Jews in the Netherlands never lived in an enclosed ghetto, but there was an informal Jewish Quarter. During the Nazi occupation, Jews were forced from their homes elsewhere and required to live in the Jewish Quarter. From there, more than 100,000 [[Dutch Jews]] were deported, including German-Jewish refugees [[Anne Frank]] and her sister [[Margot Frank]], who were hidden away from the Jewish Quarter. Three-quarters of the Netherlands Jewish population perished in the [[The Holocaust|Holocaust]], the highest percentage in Western Europe under Nazi occupation. Before the war, Amsterdam was the world's center for the diamond trade which was mostly in the hands of Jewish businessmen and craftsmen. The diamond trade essentially disappeared. In the postwar period, few Jews returned to Amsterdam. The Jewish Quarter's building were largely derelict and vacant. During the [[Dutch famine of 1944–1945|Hunger Winter]] of 1944, it is estimated that 20,000 people died in Amsterdam and in the other cities not yet liberated in the west of the Netherlands as a result of the exhaustion.<ref name="cdriessen" /> The Nazis cut off food supplies and other necessities, the buildings were stripped of wood and furniture for fuel. The remnants were left to rot. Now the area is characterized by the absence of buildings erected before 1980, when the area was rebuilt. The [[Stopera]] complex, with the opera and city hall, were built in the 1980s in the area of the old Jewish Quarter.<ref>{{Cite book |author=Ian Buruma |title=Spinoza: Freedom's Messiah (Jewish Lives) |publisher=New Haven: Yale University Press |year=2024 |pages=21–23 |isbn=978-0300248920 }}</ref> The three [[Allied bombings of Amsterdam-Noord|allied bombings]] of the [[Fokker|Fokker plants]] caused more than 200 civilian deaths in [[Amsterdam-Noord]].<ref>{{Cite web |website=Anne Frank House |url=https://www.annefrank.org/de/timeline/159/bombardierungen-der-alliierten-auf-amsterdam/ |title=Bombardierungen der Alliierten auf Amsterdam |access-date=16 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231114185626/https://www.annefrank.org/de/timeline/159/bombardierungen-der-alliierten-auf-amsterdam/ |archive-date=14 November 2023}}</ref>

===Post War===
{{More citations needed|date=September 2024}}
During the 1970s, the number of foreign immigrants, primarily from [[Morocco]], [[Suriname]], [[Turkey]] and the [[Netherlands Antilles]] grew strongly. This increase led to an exodus of people to the 'growth cities' of [[Purmerend]], [[Almere]] and other cities near Amsterdam.  However, neighbourhoods like the Pijp and the Jordaan, which had previously been working class, became sought out places of residence for the newly wealthy [[yuppie]]s and students. The poor neighborhoods became more prosperous thanks to the economic trend towards a [[service economy]] instead of an [[Industrial organization|industrial economy]].

In 1992, an [[El Al]] cargo plane crashed in the [[Bijlmermeer]] in [[Amsterdam Zuidoost]]. This disaster, called the ''[[Bijlmerramp]]'', caused the death of at least 43 people.{{citation needed|date=March 2024}}

At the beginning of the millennium, social problems such as safety, ethnic discrimination, and segregation between religious and social groups began to develop. 45% of the population of Amsterdam had non-Dutch parents. Amsterdam is characterized by its (perceived) social tolerance and diversity. The social tolerance was endangered by the murder of Dutch film-maker [[Theo van Gogh (film director)|Theo van Gogh]] on 2 November 2004 by a [[Mohamed Bouyeri]], an [[Islamic fundamentalism|Islamic fundamentalist]]. The [[mayor of Amsterdam]], [[Job Cohen]], and his [[Wethouder|alderman]] for integration [[Ahmed Aboutaleb]] formulated a policy of "keeping things together" which involves social dialogue, tolerance and harsh measures against those who break the law.

==== Social struggles ====
[[File:Overzicht op Museumplein met spandoek The Dutch disease is better for peace o, Bestanddeelnr 253-8627.jpg|thumb|Protest in Amsterdam against the deployment of [[Pershing II]] missiles in Europe, 1981]]
The cultural revolution of the 1960s and 1970s made Amsterdam the ''magisch centrum'' (magical center) of Europe. The use of soft drugs was tolerated and this policy made the city a popular destination for [[hippie generation|hippies]]. The period 1966–1986, however, was described by [[Geert Mak]] as the "twenty years' urban war" (''twintigjarige stadsoorlog''): an extended period of social struggle between the city's radical youth and its government. The war started with the appearance of the local [[Anarchism|anarchist]] movement, [[Provo (movement)|Provo]], so called because it liked to provoke authorities and [[Bourgeoisie|bourgeois]] society with (non-violent) ''happenings'' and [[Dada]]-inspired [[Surreal humour|absurdism]]. The Amsterdam police struck back at Provo with force; Mak explains the extreme police violence by reference to events in the direct aftermath of World War II, when the [[Dutch resistance|resistance]] proved unable to replace the Nazi-friendly head of police with their own candidate, thus leaving police power in [[Authoritarianism|authoritarian]] hands.<ref name="geertmak1" />

After the disbanding of Provo, new movements arose, including the [[Green politics|green]] [[Kabouters]] and the [[squatting|squatters']] movement. The latter raised the question of "who owns the city" and took [[direct action]] to show their stance on this issue, opposing [[Speculation|speculators]]' claims to land in the face of housing deficits. Tensions escalated to the point where the [[Royal Netherlands Army|army]] was called in to clear streets of barricades and in 1980, street fights took place in the center between police and large numbers of squatters and their sympathizers, at the very moment that [[Queen Beatrix]]'s coronation was taking place inside the [[New Church (Amsterdam)|New Church]] on Dam square - see [[Amsterdam coronation riots]] for more. The loss of public sympathy stemming from this event eventually led to the downfall of the squatter movement, and by the mid-1980s it was effectively marginalized.<ref name="geertmak1" />

== 21st century ==
Amsterdam is the constitutional [[capital of the Netherlands]]. [[The Hague]] is the political center with the [[Cabinet of the Netherlands|Dutch government]], the [[States General of the Netherlands|parliament]], the [[Supreme Court of the Netherlands|supreme court]], the [[Council of State (Netherlands)|Council of State]], the [[Noordeinde Palace|work palace]] of the [[Monarchy of the Netherlands|monarch]], and [[List of diplomatic missions in the Netherlands|embassies]].

=== Tourism and metro ===
Amsterdam has many [[List of tourist attractions in Amsterdam|tourist attractions]]. In the early 21st century, [[Amsterdam-Centrum]] attracted large numbers of tourists with campaigns such as [[I Amsterdam]]. Between 2012 and 2015, 3000 hotel rooms were built while [[Airbnb]] added 11.000 accommodations. The annual number of visitors rose from 10 million to 17 million. Real estate prices surged which made the city center unaffordable for most inhabitants, while local shops were replaced by tourist-oriented ones.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.groene.nl/artikel/amsterdam-als-koelkastmagneetje |title=Amsterdam als koelkastmagneetje |newspaper=[[De Groene Amsterdammer]] |date=27 July 2016 |author=Floor Milikowski |trans-title=Amsterdam as a fridge magnet |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240228144840/https://www.groene.nl/artikel/amsterdam-als-koelkastmagneetje |archive-date=28 February 2024}}</ref> These developments evoke comparisons with [[Venice (Italy)|Venice]] which is overwhelmed by [[overtourism]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.parool.nl/parool/nl/30/ECONOMIE/article/detail/4233984/2016/01/28/Winkelomzet-in-Amsterdamse-binnenstad-explodeerde-in-2015.dhtml |title=Winkelomzet in Amsterdamse binnenstad explodeerde in 2015 |date=28 January 2016 |work=Het Parool|access-date=22 June 2016|url-status=unfit|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160203133439/http://www.parool.nl/parool/nl/30/ECONOMIE/article/detail/4233984/2016/01/28/Winkelomzet-in-Amsterdamse-binnenstad-explodeerde-in-2015.dhtml|archive-date=3 February 2016}}</ref>

Construction of [[Amsterdam Metro|metro]] [[Line 52 (Amsterdam Metro)|Line 52]] (aka North/Southline) connecting [[Amsterdam-Noord]] to [[Amsterdam-Centrum|Centrum]] started in 2003. This project is controversial since the costs exceeded the budget threefold by 2008.<ref>{{cite news|title=Geschiedenis van een debacle |date=17 April 2008 |website=Het Parool |url=https://www.parool.nl/nieuws/geschiedenis-van-een-debacle~bb14f315/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126115855/https://www.parool.nl/nieuws/geschiedenis-van-een-debacle~bb14f315/ |archive-date=26 January 2021}}</ref> There were concerns of damaging buildings in Centrum, and construction halted and restarted multiple times.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://static.nos.nl/nosjournaal/artikelen/2009/8/19/190809_noordzuid_adam.html |title=Werk aan Amsterdamse Noord/Zuidlijn hervat |date=19 August 2009 |website=NOS |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303223146/http://static.nos.nl/nosjournaal/artikelen/2009/8/19/190809_noordzuid_adam.html |archive-date=3 March 2016}}</ref> The opening ceremony with the mayor, [[Femke Halsema]], occurred on 21 July 2018.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-07-21 |title=Noord/Zuidlijn geopend: 'Er is veel gevraagd van Amsterdammers' |url=https://nos.nl/artikel/2242534-noord-zuidlijn-geopend-er-is-veel-gevraagd-van-amsterdammers |access-date=2023-01-02 |website=nos.nl |language=nl |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240603234746/https://nos.nl/artikel/2242534-noord-zuidlijn-geopend-er-is-veel-gevraagd-van-amsterdammers |archive-date=3 June 2024}}</ref>

=== Urban renewal ===
Since 2014, focus has been given to [[urban renewal]]. In particular areas directly bordering Centrum such as [[Frederik Hendrikbuurt]]. This urban renewal and expansion of the traditional city center is part of the Structural Vision Amsterdam 2040 initiative.<ref>{{cite web |language=nl |url=https://www.amsterdam.nl/publish/pages/285098/plan_openbare_ruimte_versie_4.pdf |title=Plan Openbare Ruimte Frederik Hendrikbuurt |access-date=26 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200518202935/https://www.amsterdam.nl/publish/pages/285098/plan_openbare_ruimte_versie_4.pdf |archive-date=18 May 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |language=nl |url=https://www.amsterdam.nl/wonen-leefomgeving/structuurvisie/structural-vision-am/ |title=Structural Vision Amsterdam 2040 |access-date=26 September 2016}}</ref> Several neighborhoods are being built to reduce the [[Housing crisis|housing shortage]]. Former [[port]] areas are redeveloped to residential such as the [[Houthaven]], [[Overhoeks]] (former [[Shell plc|Shell]] area) and [[NDSM]] (former shipyard). [[Artificial island]]s were built such as [[Zeeburgereiland]] (Sluisbuurt), and [[IJburg]] (Haveneiland, Centrumeiland, Strandeiland, [[Rieteilanden]], Buiteneiland).

The population rose to 931,298 in January 2024.<ref name="bevolking2024">{{cite web |title=Bevolkingsontwikkeling; regio per maand - 2024 |url=https://opendata.cbs.nl/#/CBS/nl/dataset/37230ned/table |access-date=11 September 2024 |website=Central Bureau of Statistics |quote=Filter region Regio's > Gemeenten per Provincie > Amsterdam}}</ref>

By the end of 2024, the municipality of Amsterdam has a debt of €6.9 billion. This will increase due to investments in the city to €8.9 billion by 2028.<ref name="begroting2025"/> The net debt ratio of the standard debt (excluding leasehold) will increase from 54% in 2023 to 82% in 2028.<ref name="begroting2025">{{Cite web |date=19 September 2024 |title=Begroting 2025: blijven investeren in een sociale, schone en verbonden stad |url=https://www.amsterdam.nl/nieuws/nieuwsoverzicht/begroting-2025/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20241013105825/https://www.amsterdam.nl/nieuws/nieuwsoverzicht/begroting-2025/ |archive-date=13 October 2024 |access-date=13 October 2024 |website=Gemeente Amsterdam}}</ref>

==Culture ==
[[File:Wapen van Amsterdam.svg|thumb|right|[[Coat of arms of Amsterdam]]. The three crosses are thought to suggest the three plagues which have affected the city: flood, fire, and pestilence.]]
{{More citations needed|date=September 2024}}

In the 15th and 16th century, cultural life in Amsterdam consisted mainly of festivals. During the later part of the 16th century, Amsterdams Rederijkerskamer ([[Chamber of Rhetoric]]) organized contests between different Chambers in the reading of poetry and drama. In 1638, Amsterdam got its first theatre. [[Ballet]] performances were given in this theatre as early as 1642. In the 18th century, French theater became popular. Opera could be seen in Amsterdam from 1677, first only [[Italian culture|Italian]] and French operas, but in the 18th century German operas. In the 19th century, popular culture was centered on the [[Nes (North Holland)|Nes]] area in Amsterdam (mainly [[vaudeville]] and music hall). The [[metronome]], one of the most important advances in [[European classical music]], was invented here in 1812 by [[Dietrich Nikolaus Winkel]]. At the end of this century, the [[Rijksmuseum]] and [[Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam]] were built. In 1888, the [[Concertgebouworkest]] was established. With the 20th century came cinema, radio, and television. Though the studios are in [[Hilversum]] and [[Aalsmeer]], Amsterdam's influence on programming is very strong. After World War II, popular culture became the dominant cultural phenomenon in Amsterdam. The first official [[same-sex marriage]] in the world was held in Amsterdam.<ref name="feitjes" />

Amsterdam is ranked as a leading [[Sin City (description)|sin city]] due to the widely available [[adult entertainment]] such as legalized [[Prostitution in the Netherlands|prostitution]], [[brothel]]s, [[strip club]]s, [[sex shop]]s, [[sex show]]s, and [[Cannabis consumption|cannabin consumption]] at [[Coffeeshop (Netherlands)|coffeeshops]].<ref name="askmen2">{{cite web |last1=Voyer |first1=Marc |title=Top 10: Sin Cities |url=https://uk.askmen.com/top_10/travel/top-10-sin-cities.html |access-date=19 December 2017 |website=[[Ask Men]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230111090315/https://uk.askmen.com/top_10/travel/top-10-sin-cities.html |archive-date=11 January 2023}}</ref><ref name="dutchreview">{{cite web |last1=Hull |first1=Kenneth |title=Sin City Wars: Amsterdam versus Las Vegas |url=https://dutchreview.com/featured/sin-city-wars-amsterdam-versus-las-vegas/ |date=9 March 2018 |access-date=13 October 2024 |website=DutchReview |archive-url=https://archive.today/20241013122953/https://dutchreview.com/featured/sin-city-wars-amsterdam-versus-las-vegas/ |archive-date=13 October 2024}}</ref> [[De Wallen]] is a famous [[red-light district]] around the [[Oudezijds Achterburgwal]] in [[Amsterdam-Centrum]].

[[List of films set in Amsterdam|Amsterdam is a popular setting]] for [[Cinema of the Netherlands|Dutch]] and foreign films.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Brenner |first=Elysia |date=7 July 2016 |title=We Ranked Every English-Language Movie Made in Amsterdam |url=https://www.thrillist.com/entertainment/amsterdam/popular-movies-made-in-amsterdam |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230607021140/https://www.thrillist.com/entertainment/amsterdam/popular-movies-made-in-amsterdam |archive-date=7 June 2023 |access-date=5 August 2024 |website=Thrillist}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Coggins |first=Tom |date=30 April 2019 |title=The Best Movies About Amsterdam |url=https://theculturetrip.com/europe/the-netherlands/articles/the-best-films-featuring-amsterdam |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240805141912/https://theculturetrip.com/europe/the-netherlands/articles/the-best-films-featuring-amsterdam |archive-date=5 August 2024 |access-date=5 August 2024 |website=The Culture Trip}}</ref>

In March 2024, King [[Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands|Willem-Alexander]] held a speech at the opening of the [[Dutch National Holocaust Museum]]. The ceremony was controversial due to the attendance of the [[President of Israel]], [[Isaac Herzog]]. The thousand or so protesters targeted Herzog's presence, rather than the opening of the museum. Police kept the protesters at a hearable distance from the ceremony.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/10/amsterdam-holocaust-museum-an-overdue-reckoning-with-history |website=The Guardian |title='You cannot look away': Amsterdam Holocaust museum opens amid protests |author=Senay Boztas |date=10 March 2024 |access-date= 10 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240825142610/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/10/amsterdam-holocaust-museum-an-overdue-reckoning-with-history |archive-date=25 August 2024}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Israel's president Isaac Herzog faces Gaza protest at Dutch Holocaust museum |website=BBC News |date=10 March 2024 |author=Rachel Russell |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-68528241 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240828072512/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-68528241 |archive-date=28 August 2024}}</ref>

== Geographic history ==
[[File:1850 Topografische kaarten van Amsterdam en omgeving.jpg|thumb|300px|Amsterdam and surroundings in 1850. The city was still within the ramparts along the [[Singelgracht (Amsterdam)|Singelgracht]]. The large bodies of water, the [[Haarlemmermeer]] and the [[IJ (Amsterdam)|IJ]], were not drained yet. A large part of the rural green area has since been built on.]]

Amsterdam is famous for its many [[Canals of Amsterdam|canals]] in the [[Amsterdam-Centrum|city center]] and other [[Boroughs of Amsterdam|boroughs]].<ref name="polders">{{Cite web |date=21 March 2024 |title=Zonder polders geen Amsterdam |url=https://www.amsterdam.nl/nieuws/achtergrond/polders-amsterdam/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240915195319/https://www.amsterdam.nl/nieuws/achtergrond/polders-amsterdam/ |archive-date=15 September 2024 |access-date=15 September 2024 |website=Gemeente Amsterdam}}</ref> In 2022, the city had 165 canals with a combined length of {{convert|75|km|mi|abbr=on}}.<ref name="feitjes" /><ref name="canals1">{{Cite web |date=9 February 2023 |title=Canals Amsterdam |url=https://canals-amsterdam.com/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240530180643/https://canals-amsterdam.com/ |archive-date=30 May 2024 |access-date=16 September 2024 |website=Canals Amsterdam}}</ref> There are more canals than [[Venice]] and [[Paris]].<ref name="feitjes" /> The canals divide the city into small islands that are connected by over 1200 bridges.<ref name="canals1" /> The Torensluis built in 1648 is the oldest bridge that has been preserved in its original state.<ref name="canals1" /> It took 400 years to build the [[Grachtengordel]].<ref name="canals1" /> It is a [[World Heritage Site|UNESCO World Heritage Site]] for its unique urban development, water management and innovative engineering.<ref name="canals1" /><ref name="venice1" /> It is the so-called [[Venice of the North]].<ref name="venice1" /> The city has a close connection with water via the [[Amstel]] river, the [[IJ (Amsterdam)|IJ]] waterfront, the [[North Sea Canal]] and the [[IJmeer]]. The [[polder]]s are essential for the city's existence.<ref name="polders" />

The terrain around Amsterdam was historically [[swamp]]y wilderness full of low and watery land.<ref name="polders" /> These soft banks of [[peat]] were drained by the early settlers by digging ditches and removing material.<ref name="canals1" /> The inhabitants devised a system of [[Levee|dikes]], [[canal]]s and locks to drain the pieces of land to create [[polder]]s.<ref name="polders" /><ref name="canals1" /> The [[Land reclamation|reclaimed land]] shaped Amsterdam into the city we know today.<ref name="polders" /> The construction of the polders around Amsterdam was a huge undertaking that required technical ingenuity and perseverance.<ref name="polders" /> The [[List of windmills in the Netherlands|windmills]] pumped water out of the polders to enable agriculture and later urban development.<ref name="polders" />

By the 17th century, much land had already been reclaimed in and around Amsterdam.<ref name="polders" /> However, a few big lakes remained: the [[Haarlemmermeer]], [[Bijlmermeer]], [[Watergraafsmeer|Diemermeer]] and the smaller Houtrak, Ookmeer, [[Slotermeer|Slootermeer]], and the swampy Zieke Water'''.'''<ref name="polders" /> The Diemermeer was drained in 1629.<ref name="agv1">{{Cite web |date=1 September 2024 |title=1626: Bijlmermeer droog |url=https://www.agv.nl/recreatie/watererfgoed/kanalen/weespertrekvaart/1626-bijlmermeer-droog/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240922014211/https://www.agv.nl/recreatie/watererfgoed/kanalen/weespertrekvaart/1626-bijlmermeer-droog/ |archive-date=22 September 2024 |access-date=22 September 2024 |website=Waterschap Amstel Gooi en Vecht}}</ref> It's now the neighborhood [[Watergraafsmeer]].<ref name="agv1" /> The Bijlmermeer was drained in 1626.<ref name="agv1" /> The Slootermeer was drained in 1644. The Zieke Water was an inlet of the IJ which was enclosed by a quay in 1700. The Haarlemmermeer was drained by [[steam mill]]s from 1848 till 1 July 1852. The Houtrak polder was drained in 1873. The Ookmeer was drained by a polder [[windmill]] in 1874.

The construction of the [[North Sea Canal]] made the [[IJ (Amsterdam)|IJ]] much thinner.<ref name="polders" /> In [[Amsterdam-Noord]], below the former polder village [[Buiksloot]] were watery [[inlet]]s of the [[IJ (Amsterdam)|IJ]].<ref name="polders" /> Buiksloot was mostly destroyed after a dramatic [[Levee breach|dike breach]] in 1514.<ref name="polders" /> Thereafter, the IJ inlets were reclaimed as Nieuwendammerham and Buiksloterham.<ref name="polders" /> The village [[Nieuwendam]] was built more inland on a new dike.<ref name="polders" />

The polders form the urban landscape and life of the city.<ref name="polders" /> They were essential for the [[Expansion of Amsterdam since the 19th century|city's expansion]] with new neighborhoods and [[urban green space]]s.<ref name="polders" />

The ground beneath the city is very soft so most buildings have [[deep foundation]]s with long poles that reach the solid layer of sand.<ref name="foundation">{{Cite web |date=15 September 2024 |title=Foundation subsidence (sinking) and wooden pilings |url=https://www.amsterdam.nl/en/housing/foundation-subside/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240915215651/https://www.amsterdam.nl/en/housing/foundation-subside/ |archive-date=15 September 2024 |access-date=15 September 2024 |website=City of Amsterdam}}</ref><ref name="feitjes" /> Buildings before 1925 are usually built on wooden poles with a stone foundation.<ref name="foundation" /> The wooden poles deteriorate and require maintenance.<ref name="foundation" /> Modern buildings have improved foundation codes with concrete poles.<ref name="foundation" /> [[Amsterdam Centraal station|Centraal Station]] was built on 8,687 poles in 1889.<ref name="feitjes" /> In 2022, the whole city had an estimated 11 million poles.<ref name="feitjes" />

== History of the municipality ==
For several centuries the [[Government of Amsterdam|municipality of Amsterdam]] consisted of [[Amsterdam-Centrum|the center]] and the immediate surroundings. When the city grew fast it required additional land to accommodate companies, shipyards and new neighborhoods.<ref name="annex1921"/> Several neighbouring municipalities were annexed: 
* [[Sloten (North Holland)|Sloten]] (covering the villages of Sloten, Sloterdijk, and Osdorp, in the west), annexed in 1921<ref name="annex1921"/>
* [[Buiksloot]], annexed in 1921, now part of [[Amsterdam-Noord]]<ref name="annex1921"/>
* [[Nieuwendam]] (covering Nieuwendam and Zunderdorp), annexed in 1921, now part of Amsterdam-Noord<ref name="annex1921"/>
* [[Ransdorp]] (covering Ransdorp, Schellingwoude, Durgerdam, and Holysloot), annexed in 1921, now part of Amsterdam-Noord<ref name="annex1921"/>
* [[Watergraafsmeer]], annexed in 1921<ref name="annex1921"/>
* a part of [[Nieuweramstel]] (covering the village of Buitenveldert)
* a part of [[Weesperkarspel]] (covering the Bijlmermeer and the village of Driemond), annexed in 1966, now [[Amsterdam-Zuidoost]]
* [[Weesp]], annexed as an urban area (stadsgebied) in 2022, bordering Amsterdam-Zuidoost.<ref name="weespermop">{{cite web |date=March 24, 2022 |title=Weesp is nu een stukje Amsterdam, maar 'Ik blijf een Weespermop' |url=https://nos.nl/artikel/2422461-weesp-is-nu-een-stukje-amsterdam-maar-ik-blijf-een-weespermop |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230323134845/https://nos.nl/artikel/2422461-weesp-is-nu-een-stukje-amsterdam-maar-ik-blijf-een-weespermop |archive-date=March 23, 2023 |website=NOS Nieuws}}</ref>

In 1995, the national government proposed the creation of a 'city province', consisting of Amsterdam and neighbouring towns.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}} This proposal was rejected by the people in a [[referendum]].{{citation needed|date=September 2024}} The opposition was not so much against creating a city province as it was against splitting the city into parts.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}} The opponents feared this would destroy the city's cohesion.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}} After the referendum, the city province proposal was shelved.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}} Nevertheless, since 1995, city parts have gradually become more autonomous, and neighbouring towns have been drawn politically and economically into the city.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}}

==See also==
* [[Boroughs of Amsterdam]]
* [[Canals of Amsterdam]]
* [[History of the Jews in Amsterdam]]
* [[History of the Netherlands]]
* [[List of museums in Amsterdam]]
* [[Timeline of Amsterdam]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
{{main|Bibliography of Amsterdam}}
*Cotterell, Geoffrey. ''Amsterdam: The Life of a City'' (1972)
*de Waard, M., ed. ''Imagining Global Amsterdam: History, Culture, and Geography in a World City''. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press 2013.{{ISBN|9789089643674}}
*Feddes, Fred. ''A Millennium of Amsterdam: Spatial History of a Marvelous City''. Bussum: Thoth 2012. {{ISBN|978-9068685954}}
*Israel, Jonathan I. ''The Dutch Republic, Its Rise, Greatness, and Fall 1477-1806'' (1995) [https://www.amazon.com/Dutch-Republic-Greatness-1477-1806-History/dp/0198207344/  excerpt and text search]
* Jonker, Joost. ''Merchants, Bankers, Middlemen: The Amsterdam Money Market during the First Half of the Nineteenth Century''. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press 1996 {{ISBN|9789057420016}} 
* Lindemann, Mary. ''The Merchant Republics: Amsterdam, Antwerp, and Hamburg, 1648-1790'' (Cambridge University Press, 2014) 356 pp. 
* Regin, Derek. ''Traders, artists, burghers: A cultural history of Amsterdam in the 17th century'' (1976)
* Roekholt, Richter. ''A short history of Amsterdam'' (2004)
* [[Schama, Simon]]. ''[[The Embarrassment of Riches: An Interpretation of Dutch Culture in the Golden Age]]'' (1997)
*[[Russell Shorto|Shorto, Russell]]. ''Amsterdam: A History of the World's Most Liberal City''. New York: Vintage Books 2014. {{ISBN|9780307743756}}

==External links==
*[https://www.amsterdam.nl/stadsarchief/ Website of the Amsterdam City Archives]
*[http://www.amsterdam.info/basics/history/ Amsterdam info]
*[http://www.belowthesurface.amsterdam Amsterdam Below the Surface], interactive website about archeological findings (2018)

{{Amsterdam}}

[[Category:History of Amsterdam| ]]