The story of Anne Frank and her diary is famous all over the world. The experiences she shares in her diary are very poignant and can be seen and felt in the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam. By now, the estimated sales of this diary are over 35 million, and annually around 1.2 million people from all over the world come to visit the Anne Frank house.
The Anne Frank House, the house where Anne Frank and her family hid from the Nazis, is now the second of the most widely visited sites in Amsterdam according to TripAdvisor.
Tell me more about Anne Frank
Anne Frank was a young German Jewish girl who fled to Amsterdam with her parents and her sister Margot. This happened because Hitler was in power in Germany. And as we all knew he was not fond of the jews and that's why the family of Anne Frank had to run from their home in Germany.
In 1942 received Anne a diary as a birthday present. In it, she wrote letters to her imaginary friend Kitty. The first weeks after her birthday, she went to the Jewish Lyceum in Amsterdam, but soon she had to go into hiding together with her family. They went into hiding in the secret annex of the office building of her father, Otto Frank. They were closed off from the outside world by a bookcase.
Work in the office continued, as usual, so the people in hiding had to be very quiet during the day. On August 4, 1944, the Germans raided the building. The Secret Annex was sadly discovered and all residents were arrested. They were taken to Auschwitz via Westerbork and Anne and Margot were taken to Bergen-Belsen. Two months before the liberation of that camp, they both died of typhus. Only Otto Frank survived the concentration camps.
It's one of the saddest stories in human history and you can truly feel those vibes in this uniquely constructed museum in the heart of Amsterdam (in the Jordaan).
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Tell me more about the Anne Frank House Museum
The museum consists of different parts. The first part is a museum and informative. The visitors are informed about the whole history of the Frank family. The information contained in the diary is displayed, so if you have read the diary it will look familiar to you. Also, there are several documentaries and books with more unknown information about the Frank family.
After the informative section, the tour moves into the house. The house was the business space of Anne's father, Otto Frank. He had two companies, called Opekta and Pectacon. As mentioned above, the business continued while the Frank family hid in the attic. This makes the building look like a real company, of course, because it was! There is nothing to indicate that people are hiding in the attic. Much has remained intact in the office, thus it is easy to imagine how it must have been. After the office, you arrive at the infamous bookcase in the hall.
Through the bookcase, you enter the Annex. Anne Frank, Margot, her sister, Otto and Edith, her parents, spent two and a half years in hiding in the Annex. The Attic is sort of a small apartment. There are a small kitchen, living room and bedrooms. In the Attic, too many details have been preserved or reproduced in detail of how they lived. The girls' rooms with posters, books, and the desk. A small bathroom with towels, brush, and toothpaste, and so on. It's all as if they still live there.
The Frank family
In addition to the Frank family, consisting of four people, another family, Hermann, and Auguste van Pels, and their son Peter, lived there. And on top of that another adult, Franz Pfeffer. Thus eight people lived hidden in a small attic above an office … It's an unimaginable sight to behold that people had to live like this!
Because of all the details in the office and attic that have been preserved, you are very close to the horror that these families and therefore a lot of people have experienced.
It is an unforgettable and emotional experience to visit the Anne Frank House! A truly must-see when visiting Amsterdam!
Practical information
Anne Frank House
Westermarkt 20
1016 DK Amsterdam
Getting there: Take tram line 13 or 17 and get off at Westermarkt. Alternatively, from Amsterdam Central Station it is a 20-minute walk.
By the way, if you want to know where to stay in Amsterdam, check out our recommendations for great hotels, hostels, and Airbnb rentals.
Opening hours:
The Anne Frank House is open every day, except for Yom Kippur.
From April till September every day from 09.00 am till 07.00 pm
From Oktober till March on weekdays from noon till 07.00 pm and on the weekends from 09.00 am till 07.00 pm
Tickets:
The Anne Frank House can only be visited with a ticket bought online for a specific time slot.
Adults € 12.50*
Aged 10-17 € 6.50*
Aged 0-9 € 1.00*
* including a € 1.00 booking fee.
Also, check out:
>> Top 7 best hostels in Amsterdam
>> Top 7 best hotels in Amsterdam
>> Top 7 best Airbnb rentals in Amsterdam
>> Top 7 best luxury hotels in Amsterdam
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