‘The museum in the old Waag building that opened this week is, more than the Stedelijk Museum, more than any other museum in our city, the Museum of Amsterdam. And we would be surprised if it did not become so in the estimation of the general Amsterdam public’, according to the Algemeen Dagblad of November 6, 1926. On November 2, 1926, the Amsterdam Historical Museum opened in the Waag building. In the museum there was a small permanent display with objects from the historical collection. The museum remained on the Nieuwmarkt until 1970 and opened in 1975 in the Burgerweeshuis.
Historical Museum in the Waag building on the Nieuwmarkt, November 1926
A separate museum for the city’s historical collection
Even before the First World War, CW Baard, director of the Stedelijk Museum, advocated a separate museum for the city’s historical collection. It wasn’t until 1925, the year of the major exhibition on the history of Amsterdam, that it came about. In that year, the ladies MC and C. van Eeghen made 20,000 guilders available for a historical museum. With this they fulfilled the wish of their deceased brother Jan Herman. With this money, the Waag building could be refurbished and furnished and on November 2, 1926, the Historical Museum was opened by mayor Willem de Vlugt
‘A great variety of objects’
In the museum there was a small permanent display with objects from the historical collection. For example, the David and Goliath sculpture group from the Old Maze on the Prinsengracht stood in the lower room. The statues were flanked by four weather vanes from the Admiralty Building and the old Waag on Dam Square. In addition, coats of arms of the Aalmoezeniersweeshuis and regent pieces of the Surgeons Guild, the guild that had been in the Waag building the longest, hung in the room. On the first floor, a room was furnished with cityscapes and medals. In another room there was an exhibition of drawings with views of the Waag.
The comment in the Algemeen Handelsblad was clear: ‘there is a great variety of objects that recall Amsterdam’s history. And that’s part of the appeal of the collection. There is no system in the setup, and that also gives it a certain charm. Each object in itself has a right to be here. There isn’t too much, but everything is there for a reason.’
Open every day
The museum was open every day. On weekdays people paid a dime, but on weekends it was free. In the first two months after the opening, the museum attracted almost 15,000 visitors, including various groups from education. The following year there were around 16,000 visitors, but after that the number of visitors declined and fluctuated between 6,000 and 10,000 until 1940.
Move to the Burgerweeshuis
It soon became apparent that the Waaggebouw was not the ideal location for a historical museum: it was too small and the climate was bad. When it turned out that the Burgerweeshuis was going to leave the building complex on Kalverstraat, the plan was quickly conceived to move the historical museum here. It would take another war and many years after that before Queen Juliana could open the new Amsterdam Historical Museum in the Burgerweeshuis on October 27, 1975.
2022
In March of this year, the museum also vacated this building. After more than 45 years of use as a city museum, an adjustment is necessary. The renovation of the museum is aimed at optimizing the building for museum use. Read about the New Amsterdam Museum here.