Amsterdam Noord Museum

Noord Museum BuildingAmsterdam North – the vast area beyond the Ij Lake, has very different atmosphere from the rest of the city. Until the beginning of the 20th C. only one row of historical houses stood there. Built at the dyke by their owners - sea captains, seamen, merchants and craftsmen, those were the houses of people working at Amsterdam harbor or at sea. When city expanded a century ago, the whole new areas of town were built beyond the Ij. A small museum, Amsterdam Noord Museum documents the history of the North Amsterdam area.

The socialist tradition

In the second half of the 19th C. Amsterdam grew fast and many people lived in the appalling housing conditions. The municipality tried to impose certain minimum standards of living conditions, but in reality it often happened that poor tenants from the disqualified houses had nowhere to go, and literally found themselves living on streets. An important businessman and socialist politician, till today revered by the Dutch - Floor Wibaut, decided to build a small village in North of Amsterdam for those in need of affordable housing. Built in 1918 the Vogelbuurt (The Birds) District offered minuscule lodgings, but in spite of that equipped with modern toilets and electricity. Because in these minute flats there was no place for a bath, a municipal bath house, equally small was built. Today, while it serves as a museum, only the markings on the former bath house floor, indicate the old places of showers reminding visitors of its past.

Noord Museum DisplayThe feel

While the photographic exhibit ‘People of the North’ is not worthy of a detour beyond the Ij lake, the Vogelbuurt area is an interesting spot to see for every enthusiast of architecture. Rows of lovely tiny houses and equally proportionate small building of the museum are a bigger attraction, than the photo exhibit itself.

Open

Friday – Sunday, from 11 A.M. to 5 P.M.

Admission

Adults: €4
Children up to 15, seniors 65+,Stadspas: €2

How to get there

walking: take a free ferry from the quay behind the Central Station going direction Ijplein, walk along Meeuwenlaan for about 20 minutes, after the roundabout continue on Meeuwenlaan for another 100 meters and take right before you reach the modern building of Bredero College; the museum will be on your left
By public transport:
from the Central Station - bus lines 32, 33;stop: 'Merelstraat', walk further for 5 minutes along Meeuwenlaan and take left direction Vogelbuurt; the museum will be at the corner of Zamenhofstraat and Lange Vogelstraat
By car:
from the Amsterdam ring A10 North take an exit S116, drive South direction to the city along the Nieuwe Leeuwarderweg, on the third big crossing do not enter the Ij tunnel but take left into the Johan van Hasseltweg, when you reach the roundabout take left into the Meeuwenlaan and take right across the sidewalk before you reach the modern ugly building of the Bredero College; the museum located in a historical bath house will be visible on your right.

AddressContacts

Amsterdam Noord Museum
Zamenhofstraat 28A
1022 AD   Amsterdam
The Netherlands

Email:
Homepage: www.museumamsterdamnoord.nl

Amsterdam Noord Museum on the map