Gaby
“I am Amsterdam!” is the official motto of the Dutch capital, a bold claim about the city’s character. Known as the “Venice of the North,” Amsterdam is famous worldwide — even people who have never visited picture its colorful, gingerbread-like houses along the canals, the laid-back atmosphere of the Red Light District, and legalized cannabis. Instead of repeating what everyone already knows, let’s look at some lesser-known and intriguing facts about this remarkable city.
Moving Through the Window
All visitors to the city notice that Amsterdam’s houses are very narrow. That wasn’t just an aesthetic choice; it was about money. Most of these buildings were built in the 17th century when property taxes were based on a house’s width. As a result, residents bought narrow plots and built tall, slim homes.
The narrow doors and cramped staircases made it nearly impossible to move furniture inside. To solve the problem, builders put large windows and sturdy beams at the tops of houses. People use those beams to hoist furniture up with ropes and pull it through the windows into the rooms. Many tourists also notice the slight forward tilt of the buildings; many believe that tilt made hoisting furniture easier and that repeated hoisting contributed to the lean.
Amsterdam’s historic buildings have another unusual feature—they stand on wooden piles up to 20 meters long that keep the structures from sinking into the marshy ground. The Dutch government is now trying to replace some of those piles with concrete supports, but that work is expensive and difficult. On average, each house rests on about ten wooden piles; larger buildings like Central Station or the Royal Palace sit on many more. The Royal Palace, for example, is built on more than 10,000 piles.
On Bikes—Everyone!
Statistics show that for roughly 850,000 residents of Amsterdam there are about 847,000 bicycles. That means bikes are basically everywhere and nearly everyone has access to one. Cycling has become a way of life in Amsterdam, helped by an extensive network of bike lanes and routes.
Of course, other European cities have good cycling infrastructure, but Amsterdam even has a bicycle mayor. In 2016, the former marketing manager at Giant Bicycles, Anna Luten, took on that role. She works to make Amsterdam and other cities more welcoming to people instead of cars.
Dancing Outside the Law?
In addition to the bicycle mayor, Amsterdam also has a nightlife mayor whose job is to promote and help keep nightclubs, bars, and restaurants safe. That’s striking because as recently as the early 20th century, dancing was banned here. At the time, the law labeled dancing immoral and dangerous. The only officially accepted form of dance was ballet, and only nobles were allowed to attend performances. Ballerinas were often expected to entertain guests after the performance. The ban on dancing was lifted in 1924. Nearly a century later, Amsterdam is one of the freest cities in the world.
Did You Know…
- Amsterdam is crisscrossed by more than 165 canals that together run about 150 kilometers, with over 1,000 bridges spanning them.
- Amsterdam natives are among the tallest people on the planet, averaging about 1.8 meters in height.
- Schiphol, Amsterdam’s main airport, sits at a low point roughly three meters below sea level, so rising sea levels pose a long-term risk.
- Although Amsterdam is the capital of the Netherlands, many national government institutions, including the Supreme Court, are located in The Hague.
- The city is extremely multicultural, home to people from around 178 different cultures. More than 85% of residents speak more than one language, and many speak three.
- Amsterdam ranks among the safer major cities in the world. Given the size of its immigrant population and the legal sale of soft drugs like cannabis, some might expect higher crime; instead, Amsterdam scores well on infrastructure safety and personal security, with declining crime rates and relatively few traffic fatalities.
