Amsterdam: decorative buildings

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The decorative buildings of Amsterdam could be a huge list, but don’t worry – this is quite a short post with just a few of the things that caught my eye during our May visit.

The yellow building above is the Dutch Resistance Museum (Verzetsmuseum). We didn’t actually visit it this time – we’d been there in November, but late in the day when it was hard to get a good photograph, so I wanted a better picture of it in the sun. It dates from 1876 and served for several decades as a Jewish cultural centre and synagogue before refurbishment as the museum in 1999.

Café Hans en Grietje, above, is, perhaps, our favourite bar, and the magnificent red door is part of the Waag, the old weigh station, which is now also a café bar.

Speaking of magnificent doors, the building below appealed because of the two green doors at different levels on the turret. Then I noticed the other details such as the cat climbing the wall.

As on our previous visit, it certainly pays to keep your eyes upwards to spot such quirks. Here are a few more of my favourites.

So there you are – short and sweet! This is one of four thematic posts about our latest visit to Amsterdam. The others are about the canals, the parks and gardens and the museums.

Netherlands

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  1. Pingback: Amsterdam: museums – The Glasgow Gallivanter

  4. Ahhh, it’s been too long … my brother lived in Amsterdam in the 90s, and we had so much fun visiting. I love the look of the old buildings lining (and reflected in) the canals.

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  5. Pingback: Amsterdam: parks and gardens – The Glasgow Gallivanter
  6. Pingback: Amsterdam: the canals – The Glasgow Gallivanter

  10. A nice mix. It always pays to look up in any city as outstanding period details are often missed, even on the top of high buildings where few would ever see them clearly except through a telescope or modern zoom camera.

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  11. I love that you have focused on the details Anabel. So often as visitors we get engrossed in the “big stuff”and miss these wonderful small elements that can speak so much more about the character of a place.

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  12. My son and daughter-in-law are going to Germany next month, and will end their trip with a visit to Amsterdam. I’ve recommended they check out your blog for ideas on what to see and visit!

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  13. Hi Anabel – aren’t they all delightful … and the sculptures on the buildings … the clambering cat and others … the doors – why two green ones – presumably to different parts of the building … love them – cheers Hilary

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  24. I love these pictures! I find doors and motifs on buildings so interesting and wonder why they were placed there. Some are obvious like the downspout so nicely decorated but the little cat?? That cat is just amusing. I love the art nouveau tile designs which are artistic pieces just perfect for a picture. Some, I know, are to inform the public what the building is for but others must be just for decoration like the Rabbit or the Turk. Great post! Oh did you figure out why there is that second door which is slighter higher than the street?

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  26. I wonder how many people miss such wonderfully quirky features by not looking up? The two green doors are intriguing, I wonder if the building is apartments and the lower door is for the ground floor one? Or maybe separate offices? There’s so much to like in this post, maybe you should do another one sometime as I’d love to see more 🙂

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  28. So many interesting things you saw by looking up. I wonder what the inside looked like behind those 2 green doors at different levels. Very strange configuration

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