Visiting Anne Frank House in Amsterdam
Written by Amanda Kendle
Heather’s recent post mentioning the Anne Frank Museum in Berlin reminded me of what’s probably the most interesting museum I’ve ever visited: the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam.
This collection of exhibits is actually located in the very place where Anne Frank and her family hid, although the museum has spilled into the next door building now. It’s exceptionally well curated with a mix of media and the advantage of an inherently interesting subject – an innocent girl who loved writing in her diary but got caught up in the anti-semitism of World War II and tragically ended up dying in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp shortly before the war ended.
You can see video of Anne’s father, the lists of “Jew transports” showing her family members after their hiding place was discovered and they were sent to concentration camps, photographs and most amazing to me, you can actually see Anne’s diary. I was moved to tears several times during my visit to the Anne Frank House.
I’ve heard that there are sometimes long queues for entry to this (understandably popular) museum. When I went, I arrived quite late in the day in summer, when the museum is open until 10.00pm, and I didn’t have to wait long, so that might be a good strategy. Anne Frank House opens every day at 9am, and the closing time depends on the month; check exact opening hours here. The cost is €8.50 for adults, which will seem very reasonable once you’ve seen what a great place it is.
Image – Nallstar via CC
[...] fact that this can be a great time to do your sightseeing, especially in summer. In Amsterdam, the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam opens until 10.00pm every day in July and August, for example, and I arrived around [...]
We travelled there with our three daughters. We found all informations on amsterdam.info. Amsterdam it is a very beautiful town and the museums are great. But with the exchange rate as it is, we found it very expensive. Some museums were closed for refurbishment, but the views of the canals and hi-lights such as the Anne Frank House and the Artis Zoo (an old-fashioned place with a great array of animals kept in somewhat cramped conditions) are very memorable. The food is awful unless you want to spend a great deal of money and there is a cynical attitude to tourists that is very out of date (e.g. tapas marinaded pork was one slice of fried bacon on 1/2 a bread roll). We stayed in the serviceable but expensive Singel Hotel which was okay but its close proximity to a red light area made going out with the children awkward and there really was nothing charming or liberated about hurrying past the ladies in the windows. The same is true of the legal dope selling ‘coffee houses’. The whole bicycle thing is interesting. It is almost, but not quite, the eco-city of the future. Some cyclists are quite anarchic and we spent a fair bit of time dodging pavement mounted bad-tempered riders. Overall verdict was we were glad we’d been but wouldn’t go again as it feels over priced, out of date and sleazy – not the cutting edge hip family friendly town it’s sold as.