The museums of Amsterdam

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Hello everyone,

They have museums here to fit every taste. From Rembrandt to some really weird stuff --remember the 2 billion a year from the sex trade?

I took a train to an open air museum in Enkuizen. They staffed the various cottages and businesses with people in period costumes. The major difference from other open air museums was that these people gave the impression of actually living there. Around 11 in the morning, they were cooking. In the early afternoon, I would walk into a kitchen with people eating their lunch. They have a beautiful location on water. One section was set up as a fishing village and explained all the work involved in preserving fish before refrigeration. Something I have noticed in museums in Holland are box beds. They were built in the parlour or dining room as rather deep cupboards. During the day, doors closed in the beds--not unlike a wall of closets. Even fairly wealthy people had box beds. It reminded me of modern murphy beds in dens or home offices.

At another museum I learned more about wooden shoes. They still use them in Holland--especially in their gardens where the earth is very soft. The haven't changed much since they first made them over 800 years ago. The most interesting pair on display were used during the Dutch Resistance. The bottoms were carved so that the heel was carved under the toe and the shape of the front was carved under the heel. Reason? So it would look like they were walking in the opposite direction to throw off trackers. Today shoes are carved on the same principle as key cutting. An existing shoe forms the pattern and the chunk of wood is made as a duplicate. As they told us, they last a long time, act as safety shoes, are waterproof and cheap.

Another interesting feature of Holland is "polter" land. In the late 1800's, a number of investors decided to increase the amount of farmland by building dams around entire lakes and draining them. Huge areas are now lower than the water surrounding them. These areas are huge. They hold villages and numerous farms. I couldn't see one side from the other. The on-going maintenance involves maintaining the dams or dykes and constantly pumping the water from the canals that run through the polter land.

Of all the museums, the Museum of Dutch Resistance had the most impact. Holland thought that they could stay out of WWII as they had in WWI. They were ill prepared to defend themselves from Hitler's forces in 1940. The Germans started out by enforcing German laws and gradually undermining Holland's civil servants. 30% of mayors resigned. The notion that the citizens stood back and allowed things to happen was not true. After the first "roundup" the city went on strike. 425 men were executed for their actions. During the course of the war 20,000 Dutch citizens were arrested for their work with the resistance. 2,000 were executed. Many more died in German camps. The museum concentrated on various forms of resistance. Some made radio receivers to get the outlawed "radio orange" broadcasts. Although the Germans had taken over the newspapers, 1300 different illegal newspapers were published during the course of the war.

The museum displayed the various tools used in creating forged documents--how Jewish names were anglicized and how the "J" (for Jood or Jew) were removed from papers. They discovered that the forgery wasn't much good if the papers didn't match the records in the registry office, so other resistance workers burned the registry offices. They weren't entirely righteous--people suspected of being traitors were summarily executed by the resistance. One of the final acts was a railway strike during the final months of the war. It was requested and financed by England. 30,000 railroad workers went into hiding and were financially supported by London.

I was impressed that they didn't just leave the museum as a history lesson from 60 years ago. This museum (as well as Anne Frank house) finished the tour with displays about human rights around the world today.

Bye for now,
Donna

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Photos

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A Dutch Museum has to have at least one windmill.

2
Mendng fishing nets at Open Air Museum depicting a fishing village.

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Period costumes at Open Air Museum near Amsterdam.

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Beautifully carved wooden shoes.

5
Dutch Resistance Museum. Baby carriage had false bottom to hide weapons.

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Dutch Resistance Museum. Specially made corset to hide ration coupons. Nobody would suspect a woman who appeared to be pregnant.

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And finally, Anne Frank House. Sometimes one person's reaction says it all.

Comments

[John H]

your pictures
another great photo and caption re: the Anne Frank House. Exceptional!

[Marg Hambly]

Amsterdam...
This looks and sounds like a beautiful spot. The wooden shoes depicted are gorgeous but I don't think I could dance much of a jig in them. Did you try any on to see just how comfortable they really are? These types of museums give you a real visual of what life was really like - still say I 'm glad to be living in this era. Take care... Marg