Early history

In the 12th century, fishermen lived along the river Amstel, and they built a crossing at IJ. It was the beginning of Amsterdam’s history around the beginning of the 13th century. Early locks and dams were used to control the water level in the IJ so that the settlement could develop in water security.

The settlement grew rapidly, due to its favorable position on the trade routes between East and West of Northern Europe. The mouth of the Amstel River at present Damrak formed a natural harbor where merchant ships created and created an economic center.

 

Rapidly growing pains

Amsterdam was first mentioned as Aemstelredamme in a document from 27 October 1275. This gives Count Floris V of Holland tax exemption for traders, fishermen and sailors from Amsterdam, and could therefore move tax on the Dutch channels; they do not have to pay fees for eg locks and dams. It distanced the city from the other commercial towns in the area.

Amsterdam was politically under the founding of Utrecht, and from there Bishop Gwijde van Henegouwen granted the city commercial property rights in 1306, which further strengthened the city’s position in the Dutch area. In 1342 Count William IV granted Amsterdam more privileges so that the trade could continue to flourish.

 

Miracles and Hanseatic Cities

In Amsterdam in 1345, an event took place, officially designated as a miracle by the Roman Catholic Church. This led to a number of pilgrims in the city, which also brought trade and economy in this way; it came in the form of tourism of the time, which pilgrimage in its way constituted.

In the first half of the 1300s, trade with the Hanseatic cities along the southern Baltic coast was increasingly traded. It happened, among other things, with beer from Hamburg and also with cereals and timber. It was a trade that developed through the 1300s and 1400s. Over time, the Hanseatic League developed geographically outside the Baltic and Amsterdam joined in 1368. It created a merchant stand that also gained political power through an ever-increasing influence on the leading Catholic priests.

In the 14th century, Amsterdam was hit by major fires twice. It happened in 1421 and again in 1452. After the last of the fires, most of the city lay in ruins, and the emperor ordered Amsterdam to be rebuilt in stone houses instead of wood, which was the most common material before the fires.

 

Struggle for independence

As Amsterdam grew, political consciousness grew and it resulted in an increased national consciousness. In spite of this, the region and thus Amsterdam came under Spanish rule in 1519, and up through the 16th century opposition to the Spanish dominion increased over the area.

In 1543 Amsterdam, together with the rest of the Netherlands, entered into a political union for the unification of the Netherlands; though still under Spanish leadership. In the Union became the capital of Brussels.

In 1578 the Protestant Calvinists took over the city from Spanish King Felipe II, and the following year Holland became independent. The country consisted beyond Amsterdam of some provinces in the region. William of Orange, who is the ancestor of today’s Dutch royal family, became the leader of the country, leading the Dutch rebellion that led to the Four Years War that took place in 1568-1648.

The 16th century was a time after many religious wars in Europe, and the Netherlands declared religious freedom, which led to a large influx of wealthy traders. It created further growth in the trade that characterized the bustling city.

 

Golden Age of Amsterdam

In 1585, Antwerp, the dominant maritime and commercial city in the region, was conquered by the Spaniards. It restricted the city’s ability to develop maritime traffic, which was directed partly through Spain. The fall of Antwerp was a major contributor to the 16th century becoming Amsterdam’s heyday. Ships to the ever-growing empire in Africa, Brazil and Indonesia led to even more growth in trade and economy. The central canals were built in Amsterdam from 1609, and cultural life also developed. This was the time when, for example, Rembrandt painted.

The fishing was also good in Amsterdam because of its location in the North Sea, and the city was a transition absolutely leading maritime city in the area. In 1648, the year ended 80 years of strife, the result was complete Dutch independence from Spain and also the German-Roman Empire, which the Netherlands had undergone in personnel union with the Spanish Habsburgs.

In the 1660s, Amsterdam had 200,000 inhabitants and was the economic locomotive of the Dutch state. The governors invested significantly in channels such as infrastructure, hospitals, hostels and other things that took advantage of the population’s potential for increased development. There were good times in the city.

Throughout the 1600s and into the 1700s, there were a large number of immigrants in Amsterdam’s commercial life, and this was especially true of Germans, who made a clear mark on trade and other parts of city life.

 

Difficult times in the 18th century

In the 18th and 19th centuries, the importance of Amsterdam and the Netherlands gradually decreased. This was due to increasing pressure from and struggles against not least France and England, each of which became stronger and attracted more by the prolific trade in colonies and trading houses around the world, which Amsterdam had previously lobbied for.

The dominance of the seas was abruptly stopped when French troops under Napoleon occupied the country in 1795. Napoleon’s brother became emperor of the new republic. Amsterdam was blocked from the sea by the English, who quickly assumed the role of the Dutch, which was actually played in Amsterdam in 1814, when the French had to withdraw from the city and the country.

After the Napoleonic wars, a united Dutch state was newly created, but as early as 1831 Belgium declared itself independent and on that occasion Holland became the country we know today.

 

Industries and a new boom

The 19th century was not least a time of industrial and cultural development. The Amsterdam-Rijn Kanaal and Noordzee Kanaal were built to connect Amsterdam to both the North Sea and the important transport route that the Rhine formed. This created a new commercial boom for the city.

Industrialization also brought a wave of migrants from the country to the city, and Amsterdam’s population grew and changed. Socialism emerged, and not the 1880s became a decade of struggles between authorities and protesters that demanded changing conditions.

In addition to fighting in the streets, there was also a significant cultural boost in the late 1800s. Large museum buildings with the Rijksmuseum at the forefront were completed, and logistically, the Central Station was constructed as a major new asset for the city’s transport.

Another major facility of the time was Stelling van Amsterdam, which was built as a defense ring around the city between 1880 and 1920. The position formed a ring of 42 forts and a large lowland that could easily be flooded in the event of war.

 

20th Century World Wars

During World War I, Holland was neutral, but the country still felt the war’s rage in the form of food shortages. World War II was different, but the time between the wars also affected the city. Here the dam Afsluitdijk was established, and it became the end of the wetland Zuider Zees connection with the North Sea. As a result, Amsterdam no longer had direct access to the sea.

A big event also brought Amsterdam on the world map for a time. The city had hosted the Olympic Games in both 1920 and 1924, and the third time was the stroke of luck, keeping the games in the Dutch capital in 1928. The games became the first in modern times when the Olympic fire was lit, and it was here, Johnny Weissmuller won two gold medals in swimming.

During World War II, the Netherlands was invaded by German troops on May 10, 1940, despite the country’s neutrality. On May 14, Rotterdam was bombed and the following day the Dutch forces surrendered. More than 100,000 Jews were deported during the war, and virtually the entire Jewish community disappeared in Amsterdam and in other cities.

 

Post-war era and today

After the end of World War II, development occurred primarily elsewhere in the country than in Amsterdam. This was not least the case with the continued construction of the Port of Rotterdam and the resulting transport and logistics business in what became Europe’s largest port.

Economically, Amsterdam instead became the hub of Holland’s cultural development, and here the economy grew more in the service industry than in the traditional industry. It provided a new wealth to the otherwise economically disadvantaged city.

Culturally, the 1960s and 1970s were characterized by new trends. Some anarchism and the city became known for its relaxed approach to drugs and for the city’s Red Light District, which continues to attract tourists.

The end of the 20th century was also a time of immigration from both former and continuing Dutch territories around the world and from other countries outside Europe. It has brought social and cultural tensions in Amsterdam, which at the same time established new museums, institutions and other things for the benefit of both locals and visitors.

In 1977 the city’s metro opened, and since then the infrastructure has been further expanded. One of the latest major projects is the expansion with a line connecting Amsterdam to the developed suburbs north of IJ.

The cultural and transport investments have meant that Amsterdam is today a city with many traditions and buildings, while also having a modern and thriving urban life.