The Historich Museum

Yesterday we visited the Amsterdam Historich Museum. We learned about the history of Amsterdam from the 1400's through the present. The word "Netherland" means a low-lying land. The Netherlands is called this because most of it is below sea level. In the 1600s Amsterdam became a wealthy seaport town. The inhabitants wanted to expand the town but this was not possible because most of the land was boggy water-filled wasteland. So they began digging canals and channeling the water into these deep recesses. This cleared the land of water and made it possible to plant crops and build houses. They created a planned city with rings of canals around a center. They built large dams and dikes to hold the sea water back.

The top picture shows Justice in front of a model replica of the Queen's Palace. The palace is the official home to Queen Beatrice, although she usually resides in her home in Den Haag. The palace is quite beautiful from the outside and we hope to tour it while we are here. However, I have heard that it is undergoing renovations and might not be open to the public.

The second picture is of Justice standing in front of a cannon that the Civic Guards used to protect the city.

The third picture is of Journey in front of a map of Amsterdam. The map shows the size and population of the city beginning in the 1400s. It then goes forward in time showing the addition of "reclaimed land" and the great increases in population.

The last two pictures show Journey and Jagger in a replica of a 1940s coffee shop. Jagger loved this exhibit and wants to go back to the museum!