While walking through Amsterdam you will be looking up quite a lot to admire the lovely gables. Halfway up the gables you will see many a plaque with a name, a funny saying or an illustration. These illustrations usually refer to the name, the trade or the origins of the original occupants. They date from an era in which most streets did not have a name, houses had no numbers and families did not have a surname. In addition, very few people could read in those days. The illustrations on the plaques made it easy to find someone's house: "I live in the Crowned Rabbit".
OPEN-AIR MUSEUMS
Some 650 historical plaques have been preserved in Amsterdam. Most of these are still in their original spots. However, some buildings were pulled down or restored. To preserve the plaques of these buildings, 'open-air plaque museums' were erected throughout the city. These 'museums' consist of walls into which a large number of plaques have been bricked.
VARIOUS LOCATIONS
You can see plaques at Sint Luciënsteeg. Next to one of the entrances to the Amsterdam Historical Museum no fewer than 47 plaques have been bricked into one wall. The Begijnhof almshouses complex also has a wall featuring plaques, all with a biblical theme. If you visit the Begijnhof, do note the plaques of the houses with the numbers 11, 19, 23 and 24. On Oudezijds Voorburgwal plaques have been bricked into a wall near Oudezijds Kolk/Zeedijk. Various facades around Oudezijds Kolk and Zeedijk have nice plaques. |
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