Amsterdam

Amsterdam is the capital of the Netherlands, and was the wealthiest city in the world in the 17th century.

Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands was one of modern Europe's most successful monarchs. She led her country to prosperity and rallied its spirits during WWI and WWII.

The National Monument commemorating WWII

The Royal Palace of Amsterdam and New Church

The old stock exchange

Amsterdam is another "Venice of the North."

The Oude Church is next to the Red Light District and "coffeeshops" (the weed kind).

"The Senate and People of Amsterdam." The flag of Amsterdam has three Saint Andrew's Crosses.

Amsterdam has great food. And cheese plates with Gouda!

No visit to Amsterdam is complete without eating a stroopwafel.

The Bloemenmarkt sells flower bulbs of all sorts.

The Rasphuis was one of the first penitentiaries, built in 1589. Its goal was to rehabilitate people instead of just punish and imprison them. Its motto was "Wild beasts must be tamed."

The Rijksmuseum is one of the great museums of Europe.

A head of a deity from Java, made in the 15th century

Kimonos for all seasons

The Tree of Jesse. Jesse is apparently the progenitor of Christ, Salomon, and David, amongst others.

The museum had great collections of political cartoons from throughout Dutch history. This one, made during the 80 Years War, is titled "Stop rooting in my garden, Spanish swine!"

Mary Magdalene, from the 15th century

Medieval aquamanile

More treasures from the medieval era. Over our trips in the low countries, France, and west Germany, it became easy to spot beautiful Limoges enamel from the 12th through 14th centuries.

Nice sheep

One of Charles V's many cutlery sets

A medieval genealogy book

The only known portrait of a black man in European painting. He may have served Charles the V in his Brussels court.

The first known depiction of the Spanish conquering the Americas.

Rembrandt's The Nigh Watch was undergoing restoration

The Threatened Swan, an allegory for the De Witt brothers protecting the Netherlands during the Rampjaar, or Disaster Year, in 1672.

The Merry Drinker, painted by Judith Leyster, the most celebrated female Dutch artist from the 17th century.

What a nice couple.

Kenau Hasselaer, a widower famous for helping defend Haarlem during the 80 Years War.

In 1607, the Dutch ambushed the Spanish at Gibraltar and destroyed a large portion of their fleet, and blew up their flagship.

Two very different pups

When Charles V abdicated in Brussels, he split his empire into the Holy Roman Empire, and the Spain and the Netherlands, with their associated overseas territories.

The Dutch are a merry lot.

Mary Stuart, Princess of Orange, holding an orange

Mary Stuart married William II when she was nine and he was fourteen.

In 1664, the Dutch seized this fake Crown for the King of Ardra from the British.

In 1628 Dutch admiral Piet Heyn siezed the Spanish silver fleet crossing the Atlantic from the Americas.

Woolen caps worn by Dutch whalers on Svalbard, far away in the Arctic Ocean. Men were so bundled up with their faces covered they could only be recognized by their unique colored caps.

Some unique ways to hide your alcohol.

You have to finish your drink from the windmill cup before it stops spinning!

The Rijksmuseum is decorated with famous persons and events from Dutch history.

An old enormous dollhouse

The Rijksmuseum library

Hopefully the pedostache never comes back in style.

In 1667, during the Second Anglo-Dutch War, the Dutch sailed up the Thames and conducted the Raid on the Medway, where a large portion of the British fleet was anchored. It is considered the worst defeat on the British Navy in home waters. The Dutch even captured the British flagship, the Royal Charles, and kept its stern as a trophy.

The stadtholder was the steward of a province of the low countries. The stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, and Utrecht was often the de facto head of state of the Dutch Republic from the 16th to the 18th centuries, often a Prince of Orange-Nassau. The stadtholder was replaced by a king after the Napoleonic Wars.

Rare paintings of Ottomans made during the Dutch diplomatic mission of the 1700s.

Sultan Ahmed III receives the Dutch diplomatic delegation.

The Dutch had two major trade companies: The Dutch West India Company and Dutch East India Company. This is the Commander's baton of the Dutch Governor of the Gold Coast.

A cannon made in the 1700s owned by the King of Kandy in Sri Lanka. The Dutch seized it in 1765 when subduing the kingdom.

A 1700s nightlight from Canton. Good for children who are afraid of the dark, and scaring off rats.

Count Francesco Algarotti, a great Venetian of his day. Your court wasn't fashionable in the 1700s unless he was present.

The Dutch seized the Lombok Treasure from the eponymous island in Indonesia in 1894. Most of the loot was returned to Indonesia in 1977.

A Dutch opium sampler from Java. The state banned the private opium trade and established a monopoly over its manufacture and sale in the 19th century.

A spear rack of the Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies from 1834. The spears were presented as a sign of fealty to the Dutch government after the Java War.

A mother-of-pearl inlay lacquer panel depicting Dejima Island, the Dutch trading colony in Japan. Dejima, located next to Nagasaki, was the main point of cultural exchange between Japan and Europe between 1634 and 1854.

Cannons seized by the Dutch during the Java War, which took place between 1825 and 1830.

The Duke of Wellington receives the message that Prussian reinforcements are coming at Waterloo. The Duke of Wellington led the combined Anglo-Dutch force.

 

Dutch Republicans overthrew the Dutch Republic, which became increasingly autocratic under the stadtholder, during the French Revolution, and established the Batavian Republic. Later Napoleon dissolved this republic and established the Kingdom of Holland, with his brother Louis Bonaparte as king.

Louis fought for Dutch interests over Napoleon's interests, however, so after four years Napoleon forced him to abdicate and incorporated the Netherlands into France.