Walk on the steps of Anne Frank during a visit to Amsterdam

Through the visit of Anne Frank’s house and the anecdotes of his newspaper, discover what life was like in Amsterdam during the Second World War!

The city of Amsterdam is not simply known for its canals or coffee shops, it is also and above all a historically rich city. It is also an opportunity to discover one of the sections of our history by going on the steps of Anne Frank and his family. Visit Anne Frank’s house will allow you to discover what life was like in Amsterdam during this terrible time of the Second World War and to observe still visible traces of this international conflict that has destroyed so many families including the Franks. Indeed, the house of this family is the symbol of a whole generation, of a whole age.

Would you like to visit Amsterdam from another eye? Then read this article to discover the city on the steps of Anne Frank!

The story of Anne Frank’s family

It was in 1933 that the Frank family fled Germany and then moved to Amsterdam. Anne’s father, Otto, opened a shop of spices but the business will not last long: in fact, the Nazi invasion gradually overwhelmed Europe, and Holland is not free from this tidal wave. Anti-Jewish measures are taken every day, requiring the Frank family to live underground.

In 1942, the Frank family with the two daughters, Anne and Margot, together with another family, decided to hide in a house, precisely in a housed cache. It is thanks to the competition of two Otto Frank employees that the family will be able to survive and ensure its supply.

Officially, everything had been organized so that there was no trace of the Frank family in Amsterdam: in the eyes of the world (Nazi), the family disappeared from circulation. But in 1944, the Frank family was denounced to the Nazi police and then deported to the death camp Bergen-Belsen . Even today, despite various investigations, the identity of the delegate remains unknown.

In all this tragedy, a book survived: the newspaper held by young Anne Frank during this captive and secret period. He was published under the leadership of Otto Frank, his father – the only survivor of the family’s deportation – 1947, and was translated into more than 60 languages. The book describes with upheaval, sincerity and simplicity almost 25 months spent at eight in 120m2, in isolation, loneliness, silence and promiscuity with companions of misfortune, all hidden in a shelter whose only entrance was hidden by a library.

Visit Amsterdam on the steps of Anne Frank to better understand the Nazi occupation

The Rivierenbuurt district

It all starts on place Merwede where his childhood home is located at n°37. Although closed to the public, this is where Anne Frank lived from 1934 to 1942 and began writing her diary. On this square you can see a statue of the sculptor Jett Schepp erected in the memory of Anne Frank. She represents this 13-year-old girl who gave her a last look at her house, which she had to leave to flee the anti-Semitic measures.

Direction then the school Montessori , still in the Rivierenbuurt district, where Anne Frank was schooled in primary school. Unfortunately, she had to leave her to join the Jewish high school, as many of her comrades. If you are heading to the entrance of this school, you will be able to see an excerpt from his diary that is exposed to it.

The Jodenbuurt district

Visit Amsterdam on the steps of Anne Frank without passing through the Jodenbuurt district the old Jewish quarter? No way! To better understand this period relatted by Anne Frank in her Journal, let's start with Place Waterlooplein , which is a main square in the city of Amsterdam. You will discover the main monuments of the city that still bear the stigma of the world conflict: the Portuguese Synagogue of Amsterdam the Jewish Historical Museum (composed of four synagogues and 5 exhibition spaces), the Auschwitz Monument or the National Holocaust Museum.

This will start your discovery of the way of life of the inhabitants of Amsterdam and especially the Jews under the German Occupation. While some cohabited with the Nazi army, others tried to rebel and others were afraid of being denounced and deported as 100,000 other people in the Netherlands, like the Frank family.

Jordaan district

Direction on 263-267 Prinsengracht. Crossed by five channels listed in UNESCO’s World Heritage, it’s in the magnificent Jordaan district that you can find Anne Frank’s House, which she called it Annex , and the homonymous museum, which today host almost a million visitors not a year and that you must absolutely visit.

During your visit, the few personal objects, the growth curves of the children on the walls, as well as the removable library (which was the entrance of their hiding place), you will be thrilled to imagine how Anne Frank and her family lived during these two years. Finally, head to the church that Anne mentioned many times in her newspaper, the Westerkerk , located not far from there and visit there.

You can now visit Amsterdam in the footsteps of Anne Frank! Small advice if you need to visit Anne Frank House: buy your tickets online To be sure you can go home!