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The 1675 Map 2

The map has a legend and a scale
; I transcribed the legend in a menu and looked up the coordinates of the items, so you can zoom in quickly to the places you want to see, e.g. the Oude Kerk", "Old Church" in the center of today's red quarter
. Pictures can be put in a separate window, ito be compared with the map, for example the "Waag" building (weighhouse)
, originally a gate in the medieval town wall, or the Town Hall, nowadays Royal Palace
(the picture was taken on Sunday morning, quarter to nine, so there are slightly less people than usual). This Town Hall was built only a few years before this map was made, amongst others by the same Daniel Stalpaert who made this map. It has remained virtually unchanged since then, as can be seen from an engraving from 1675
. It was turned into a royal palace by Louis Napoleon, who was king of Holland for a few years at the beginning of the nineteenth century.
Another location that has not changed much is the Westerkerk ("Western Church"). The first picture
is taken from behind the church, at the other side of the Keizersgracht (the middle one of the three canals)
. The second one is from the other side, from the Jordaan, in the still existing Bloemstraat leading to the church tower, a typical Amsterdam backstreet
. Note the impossible amount of detail of the church on the original black and white map
: the original is 2*3 cm.
The third photo is not far from there, at the same side of the Prinsengracht as the church
. Where you see people waiting, is the entrance of the Anne Frank House (the house with the stairs; they were hidden at the upper floors while at the ground level business went on as usual). She mentions the bells of the Westertoren a few times in her diary. When zooming in to the block you can see how detailed the map is
. Of course these are not the same houses as you see today. However, the structure of the block (narrow houses around an inner courtyard) is the same, and probably their boundaries too. You can also see the small buildings in the inner courtyard
. In Dutch these are called "Achterhuis", "Back House". Anne called her diary that way because it has overtones of "hiding place"
.