For tourists, Amsterdam is a global village laced with shimmering canals and gabled mansions – legacies of the city’s 17th-century Golden Age. For weekend warriors, it’s a haven for prostitution and cannabis. For culture vultures, it’s where Rembrandt, Vermeer, Van Gogh and other Dutch masters painted haunting portraits and scenes. For historians, it’s the site of Nazi horrors, evidenced in landmarks like the Anne Frank House, Jewish Historical Museum, Dutch Holocaust Names Memorial and National Holocaust Museum.  

However the Dutch capital is perceived by visitors and historians, the city’s colorful past is most deeply embedded in its unique geography, the enduring battle against unruly seawater, and the democratic philosophy that struggle has fostered. To save themselves from the ever-present threat of a watery deluge, the Dutch reclaimed land with dykes and windmills in an ongoing effort that set the foundation for communal ethics that have survived to this day.

While evidence unearthed during construction of the North-South metro line suggests human habitation in the area now known as Amsterdam as early as the Neolithic era (around 2600 BC), the city’s origins began in earnest at the tail end of the 12th century, when fishermen living along the banks of the Amstel River built a bridge across a waterway near the IJ, which was then a large saltwater inlet. Wooden locks under the bridge served as a dam that kept unpredictable waters from flooding the small settlement. 

While protecting the tiny fishing village from the forces of nature, the defense mechanism also facilitated trade. Set in a natural harbor at the mouth of the Amstel, it created a space for large ships to safely transfer their cargo into smaller vessels for further transport into the countryside. Centuries later, it was filled in to become the Damrak, the bustling avenue leading from Amsterdam Central Station to Dam Square. The National Monument now marks the spot where the medieval dam was built.

Catalyst for a Power Struggle 

The oldest reference to the settlement of Aemstelredamme is in a “gift letter” issued by Floris V, Count of Holland. 

The toll exemption exacerbated a long-standing power struggle between the Bishop of Utrecht, rightful owner of the lands around the Amstel, and the lords of Amstel, who ruled them on his behalf. But Floris sided with the bishop. To extinguish the lords’ threats to create an independent Amstel-land, he amplified the benefits of remaining on the side of mighty Holland with an exemption from levies on the water. 

The strategy worked. The Amstel lords grudgingly accepted the Count of Holland as their feudal master. But in 1296, they kidnapped and murdered Floris, leaving the Bishop of Utrecht to duly rule the province of Holland.

A Global Powerhouse

Around the turn of the 14th century (the exact date can’t be determined), the Bishop of Utrecht granted a city charter to the village that had become known as Amsterdam. Over the next two centuries, that village developed into the world’s leading hub for finance, trade and art. Thanks largely to its strategic position on the North Sea, bisected by the Amstel and a stone’s throw from the mighty Rhine, the soggy patch on the European continent was punching far above its geographic weight by the 16th century, when it was still a collection of provinces ruled by Spain.

The Dutch revolt against Spain that instigated the War of Independence in the late 16th century resulted in a self-governing Dutch Republic 80 years later. How that republic became one of the world’s leading economic powers – where the Amsterdam Stock Exchange, the world’s first “modern” securities market stock exchange, was founded in 1602 – is called “the Dutch Miracle” by historian K. W. Swart.

The dark underbelly of the Dutch renaissance – involvement in slavery and colonialism in North and South America, Southern Africa and Asia – has been widely denounced by historians, institutions like the Amsterdam Museum, and the Dutch Royal Family. Historian Susan Buck Morss criticizes Schama for his “selective national history” of the Dutch Republic “that omits much or all of the colonizing story.” In 2023, King Willem-Alexander formally apologised for his country’s role in the slave trade, calling the practice “a horror.”

The Cradle of Liberalism

In the heady days of the Dutch Enlightenment, Amsterdam became not only wealthy, but also the font of liberalism, an evolution Russell Shorto describes in Amsterdam: A History of the World’s Most Liberal City. In a city synonymous with freedom of thought and religion, where “craziness is a value” according to one former mayor, science and the humanities flourished. Infamous for its tolerance and permissiveness, this bastion of progressive thought also has harbored its share of radical dissidents.

The Golden Age ended abruptly in 1672 thanks to simultaneous attacks by the French and the English. When Napoleon installed his brother Louis as King of Holland in 1806, the Netherlands became a puppet kingdom of France until it regained independence in 1813. Economic recovery and the 19th-century Industrial Revolution ushered in a second Golden Age, during which new working-class neighborhoods and suburbs emerged.

While the Dutch seat of government is now in the Hague, Amsterdam remains the cultural capital of the Netherlands, as well as one of Europe’s top financial centers. Still affectionately called Mokum by its residents, the little fishing village on the Amstel has evolved into an alpha world city – a hub that serves as a primary node in the global economic network. 

Celebrating 750 Years

In the grand scheme of things, the Dutch capital is no senior citizen. Compared to weathered cities like Jericho on Palestine’s West Bank, where Jesus fasted after being baptized by John the Baptist, it’s a mere toddler. Indeed, long before Christianity’s savior walked the earth, ancient cities in Egypt, China, Greece and Italy were bustling centers of culture and commerce.

While Amsterdam may not rank among the world’s oldest cities, its tumultuous past, current charisma and promising future leave plenty to celebrate. Residents will commemorate the past seven and a half centuries in grand style with Amsterdam 750, a year-long party with locally-based Heineken as primary sponsor. 

Although the actual birthday marking 750 years is not until October 27, 2025, some 200 anniversary musicals, exhibitions, sports events, story and photography projects, and kids’ activities have already joined the celebration. On June 21, 2025 – the longest day of the jubilee year – 15km of the A10 ring road will be closed to cars for a blow-out celebration punctuated with music, sport, theater and dance. 

Community Engagement 

Beyond creating buzz for anniversary programs and planning a wild street party, Amsterdam 750 organizers have created a collective future vision for the city by asking residents to contemplate the city of tomorrow. Responses will contribute to the shape of the future capital while uncovering new stories and digging up old memories. 

“Amsterdam 750 is more than just a party,” said Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema. “I see beauty and hope in the way all these different associations, foundations, companies, neighborhoods and individual Amsterdammers are coming together to contribute to the anniversary year, to celebrate together what unites us: love for our wonderful city.”

In January 2025, Identity Games launched a new edition of Monopoly Amsterdam recognizing the 750th anniversary.

This story was originally published in DUTCH the magazine, September/October 2024.