Anne Frank House

Anne Frank House

One of the three most popular museums in Amsterdam and well known throughout the world: Anne Frank House. The actual house and hiding place where Anne Frank lived during the Second World War is still intact and became a museum for visitors. It is located at the Prinsengracht (canal belt). The Anne Franks House is a dedication to Anne Frank, her family and four other people who were hiding from the Nazis in rooms in the secret annex (Dutch: ‘Achterhuis’). The Anne Frank House exhibits the times and life of Anne Frank, but also established an exhibition area to highlight all forms of persecution and discrimination.

In 1947 the book ‘het Achterhuis’ was published in Dutch, thanks to Anne Frank’s father, Otto Frank. Shortly after, people got curious and wanted to see the secret rooms. Saved from demolition at that time, the Anne Frank House opened its doors to the public in 1960.  Many people read Anne’s diary and were deeply moved. As a result, the diary is translated in many languages and became famous all around the world.

Anne Frank 1929 – 1945

Anne Frank was born in Germany, second daughter of Edith and Otto Frank. After Hitler became leader of the German government, the Jewish Frank family decided to move to Amsterdam. Here they were able to start a new business. May 1940, the Netherlands surrendered after the German invasion. Since the occupation and life changing conditions for Jewish people, the family decided to settle in the back of Otto’s enterprise. The secret annex is blocked by a movable bookcase. The hiding place in the secret annex was shared with four other Jews. It was really hard to live in such a small place with 8 people. Anne used her diary to write down all her frustrations and therefore tried to take her mind off the tensed situation. At that time, she wanted her diary to get published and started to rewrite it. Unfortunately somebody betrayed the hiders and Anne never got the chance to finish her ‘new’ diary. She and all the others got arrested and deported to Auschwitz. After the war, Otto Frank seemed to be the only survivor. Miep and Bep (two secretaries of father Frank) saved Anne’s diary and gave it back to Otto Frank. The rest is history. Since that time, even movies and theatre plays about the life of Anne Frank are produced.

You can visit the actual place where Anne Frank was hiding during the Second World War. All her diaries and manuscript papers are on display in the museum. The Anne Frank House became an important center for other activities as well. Through the years, it started to offer lectures and conferences as well as exhibitions and other means. Anne Franks House became a place where you can also learn more about the war in Vietnam and apartheid in South Africa. Because of the growing numbers of museum visitors the museum got renovated several times. From that time onwards, visitors needed to pay a small fee to get in (with great regret and resistance of Otto Frank). Furthermore, the museum has a café (only for museum guests), a bookshop and there are many education products. You can even sign up for a family program and visit the house by yourself. And ofcourse, the Anne Frank house (museum) has an online shop.

 Prinsengracht 267
 0031 20 5567100
Canal Belt
 Tramline 13, 14, 17 (stop: Westermarkt)
 Admission tickets & discounts:
www.annefrank.org
Adults EUR 10,50 – Children 0-9 EUR0,50 Children 10-17 EUR 5.50 (Prices incl EUR 0.50 administration fee)
Walking Tour Tickets

Map & Directions Anne Frank Huis