Visiting the Anne Frank House
12/13/2006 at 1:15 PM
Tags: Amsterdam Field Trip, Jaunted Field Trips, Museums, History (all tags)
At behest and via the courtesy of the Netherlands Board of Tourism, Jaunted went to Amsterdam to check out what is happneing in AMS right now. Tough gig, we know. Remember, we do this all for you. Enjoy.
We have been traveling more since our trip to Amsterdam so it's been a bit hard to sit down and get our thoughts on the trip down on paper. But we promise to bring you the rest of the city scene for the rest of the week.
On our second day in Amsterdam we visited the Anne Frank House on Prinsengracht. The house is now a museum to the Secret Annex where Anne Frank and her family spent over two years hiding during the Holocaust. The original building, which was the Opekta warehouse, has been preserved while a building next door was bought, modernized and contains the museum's offices, cafe and a multimedia space.
As for touring the Secret Annex, it is an emotional experience and will have a different impact for everyone. For us, it was just amazing to see how much was preserved, not to mention how difficult it must have been for eight people to live in such small quarters for over two years.
More on the Anne Frank house after the jump.
Anne Frank's bedroom still contained bits and pieces of the pictures that she hung on her wall to liven the space up and of course, her diary was on display. There's much more to the Secret Annex of course, but we think its better to go into this not knowing exactly what you will see.
At the end of the tour, we were lucky enough to be shown the backyard of the old Opekta warehouse, although it was restricted by a wall. But we could see the chestnut tree which Anne often spent hours staring at from her room window. (In actuality, the tree is in the backyard of the house on Keizergracht 188 behind the museum.) Sadly, after much controversy, the tree will be brought down in January because it is "seriously diseased" by fungus and a tree-eating moth.
How to Get There:You can take tram 13 or 17 or bus 21, 170, 171 or 172 from Centraal Station. Get off at the 'Westermarkt' stop. Visit Trippist for more information on getting around the city.
Insider Tip: The Anne Frank house is on Prinsengracht, which is a canal. The streets in Amsterdam all end in Straat, while the canal-facing addresses end in gracht. Also, squares end in plein, like the Leisdenplein or end in markt like Westermarkt.
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