The initial design for the city's fourth expansion (Dutch: Vierde uitleg) by Daniël Stalpaert. Plantage is located on the left.
The area came within Amsterdam city limits after the completion of the fourth large urban expansion of 1663. Due to an economic crisis caused by the Rampjaar events, the city government could not find enough buyers for the land. Construction in the area, which was then called Plantagie or Plantaadje, stagnated as a result. Instead, pleasure gardens and orchards were built where Amsterdam's citizens could go and relax in green surroundings.
The plots of land in the neighbourhood were leased by the city for a period of 20 years (with the possibility of a 10-year extension). This was because the city council intended to sell the parcels later on; permanent buildings were therefore not allowed. Temporary buildings were tolerated. In 1682, Hortus Botanicus, one of the oldest botanical gardens in the world, opened its doors across from the Wertheimpark, currently the only public park in the Centrum district of Amsterdam.
Artis zoo
Artis zoo
The royal zoological society Natura Artis Magistra opened the Artis zoo in 1838, making it the oldest zoo in the Netherlands. Of the three main canals of the Grachtengordel, the Prinsengracht initially extended across the Plantage Muidergracht through Plantage towards Entrepotdok. Before it was filled in in 1866, this section of the canal ran through the centre of Artis, dividing it in two. The three ponds within the zoo complex are still reminders of this former part of the canal.
After 1860, the area became more urbanised and as such, Plantage was the only residential area within the Singelgracht that had large numbers of 19th century buildings. Today, Plantage still has a much greener and more spacious character compared to other neighbourhoods of the old 17th century city limits within the Singelgracht.
Theatres
Hollandsche Schouwburg
In the 19th century, Plantage was an amusement district with entertainment venues and theatres. From 1880 to 1935, on the site of the current Plantage Westermanplantsoen, stood the circular Panoramagebouw (Panorama Building). From 1879, summer theatre Frascati stood at the site of the current Studio Desmet (formerly Rika Hoppertheater and Filmtheater Desmet). Between 1892 and 1911, the Wertheimpark was the location of the Parktheater. In the Plancius building (1876) on Plantage Kerklaan, Oefening Baart Kunst practised their performing arts. Artis Schouwburg, later called Hollandsche Schouwburg, famously premiered many plays by Herman Heijermans.
It was this building that, on 18 July 1942, became a deportation centre from which arrested Jews were deported to extermination camps during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands; students of the nearby University of Amsterdam evacuated Jewish babies to the countryside under the direction of Johan van Hulst. After the war it became a memorial to the Jewish victims. Hollandsche Schouwburg is currently managed by the Jewish Historical Museum.
Street names
Hotel Rembrandt on the Plantage Middenlaan
Plantage's main road is called Plantage Middenlaan. Most other street names in the neighbourhood also start with the name Plantage: Plantage Parklaan, Plantage Kerklaan, Plantage Doklaan, Plantage Badlaan, Plantage Lepellaan, Plantage Muidergracht, Plantage Westermanlaan (formerly Plantage Prinsenlaan) and Plantagekade. The street formerly known as Plantage Franselaan is now called Henri Polaklaan, after Henri Polak, a trade unionist and politician.
Listed buildings and architecture
The Wertheimpark, with the Auschwitz Memorial.
The whitewashed townhouses by G.W. Breuker, on Henri Polaklaan, Plantage Middenlaan, and Plantage Parklaan (1865).
Hortus Botanicus (1682).
Hollandsche Schouwburg (1893).
The Groote Museum (Great Museum), with the King's Hall and Tiger Hall, at Artis zoo, Plantage Middenlaan 41a-43, by J. van Maurik (ca. 1855).
The Library Building at Artis, by G.B. Salm (1868).
Huize Welgelegen, a staff residence building at Artis (18th century).
Huize Weltevreden (18th century).
The Artis Aquarium Building, Plantage Middenlaan 53, by A. Salm and G.B. Salm (1882).
The St. Jacob retirement home, Plantage Middenlaan 52, (1861).
The Muiderpoort city gate (1770).
Huis met de Vazen (house with the vases) on the corner of Plantage Middenlaan and Plantage Lepellaan (1874).
Modern developments:
The Moederhuis (Mother House) by Aldo van Eyck, Plantage Middenlaan 33-35 (1978).
The new developments of the St. Jacob's retirement home.
Museums
The Gebouw Plancius houses the Verzetsmuseum (Resistance Museum).
The Plantage neighbourhood includes museums such as:
Until 1910, the Ethnographic Museum was located in the Volharding building on the Artis complex. Until 2010 the building housed an exhibition space of the Zoological Museum Amsterdam at the aquarium building, along with a geological museum until 2011. In 2011 and 2012 the Amsterdam Tattoo Museum was also located in the Plantage area.
Studios
The former cinema Desmet, at Plantage Middenlaan 4, is now host to Desmet Studio, where TV and radio programmes are created and transmitted.
In addition to Artis Zoo's main entrance, Studio Plantage, a TV studio, is also located in the building at Plantage Kerklaan 36.
Amsterdam is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands with a population of 872,680 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban area and 2,480,394 in the metropolitan area. Found within the province of North Holland, Amsterdam is colloquially referred to as the "Venice of the North", due to the large number of canals which form a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Natura Artis Magistra, commonly known just as Artis, is a zoo in the centre of Amsterdam. It is the oldest zoo in the Netherlands and one of the oldest zoos of mainland Europe. In addition to the zoo, Artis also contains an aquarium, a planetarium, an arboretum, and a fairly large art and sculpture collection. A part of the art collection is on display in the Aquarium building of the zoo. Artis contains 27 historically significant (listed) buildings, bridges, and ponds most of which are still used as animal enclosures, making it a unique place of 19th-century cultural heritage.
The Jordaan is a neighbourhood of the city of Amsterdam, Netherlands. It is part of the borough of Amsterdam-Centrum. The area is bordered by the Singelgracht canal and the neighbourhood of Frederik Hendrikbuurt to the west; the Prinsengracht to the east; the Brouwersgracht to the north and the Leidsegracht to the south. The former canal Rozengracht is the main traffic artery through the neighbourhood.
The Grachtengordel is a neighborhood in Amsterdam, Netherlands located in the Centrum district. The seventeenth-century canals of Amsterdam, located in the center of Amsterdam, were added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in August 2010. The Amsterdam Canal District consists of the area around the city's four main canals: the Singel, the Herengracht, the Keizersgracht, and the Prinsengracht. From the Brouwersgracht, the canals are generally parallel with one another, leading gradually southeast into the Amstel river.
Schinkelbuurt is a little neighborhood of Amsterdam, Netherlands. It is located directly south of Amsterdam's city centre and it is part of the borough Amsterdam-Zuid, in the part of the city known as the Old South.
Johan Willem van Hulst was a Dutch school director, university professor, author, politician and chess player. In 1943, with the help of the Dutch resistance and students of the nearby University of Amsterdam, he was instrumental in saving over 600 Jewish children from the nursery of the Hollandsche Schouwburg who were destined for deportation to Nazi concentration camps. For his humanitarian actions he received the Yad Vashem distinction Righteous Among the Nations from the State of Israel in 1973.
The Kadijken, also known as Kadijkseiland or Kadijkenbuurt, is a neighbourhood to the north of Artis zoo in the centre of Amsterdam. The name "Kadijken" is the plural form of Kadijk and refers to the two main streets that traverse the neighbourhood, Hoogte Kadijk and Laagte Kadijk.
Ethnographic Museum Artis was an ethnographic museum in Amsterdam, Netherlands. It was situated at the Artis zoo.
Hollandsche Schouwburg is a museum in Amsterdam in the Netherlands.
Artis Bibliotheek is a nineteenth-century library located at Plantage Middenlaan 45 in Amsterdam. Since 2005, the Artis Bibliotheek has been part of the Special Collections at the University of Amsterdam.
Lijnbaansgracht is a partly filled-in canal in Amsterdam which bends beyond the boundary of the center, Amsterdam-Centrum. The canal runs parallel to the Singelgracht, between the Brouwersgracht and the Reguliersgracht.
The 1943 bombing of the Amsterdam civil registry office was an attempt by members of the Dutch resistance to destroy the Amsterdam civil registry (bevolkingsregister), in order to prevent the Nazis from identifying Jews and others marked for persecution, arrest or forced labour. The March 1943 assault was only partially successful, and led to the execution of 12 participants. Nevertheless, the action likely saved many Jews from arrest and deportation to the extermination camps.
The Nieuwe Herengracht is a canal in Centrum district of Amsterdam. The canal is an extension of the Herengracht that runs between the Amstel and the Scharrebiersluis (lock) leading to the Schippersgracht from the Entrepotdok. It is in the Plantage neighborhood in the eastern part of the Grachtengordel.
The Nieuwe Keizersgracht is a canal in Amsterdam, part of the eastern Grachtengordel.
The Nieuwe Prinsengracht is a canal in the Plantage neighborhood of Amsterdam, an extension of the Prinsengracht in the eastern Grachtengordel.
The Entrepotdok, formerly Nieuwe Rapenburgergracht, is a canal in Amsterdam, and a street and row of former warehouses with the same name along the northeast side of the canal. They were constructed between 1708 and 1829, used for storage, squatted in the 1990s and are now converted into apartments. Entrepotdok is the largest inhabited warehouse complex in Amsterdam. The canal runs between the Kadijksplein and Sarphatistraat, and is parallel to Hoogte Kadijk, Laagte Kadijk, Plantage Doklaan and Natura Artis Magistra zoo.
The Plantage Muidergracht is a canal and street in the Plantage neighborhood of Amsterdam. On and along the Plantage Muidergracht, near Roeterseiland, are some of the buildings of the University of Amsterdam, originally built for courses or subfaculties of physics, chemistry, biology, environmental science and mathematics, but now used by other faculties.
Betty Goudsmit-Oudkerk was a Dutch resistance member.
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