The Jewish Cultural Quarter (Joods Cultureel Kwartier JCK) in Amsterdam comprises 4 historic buildings in the city’s Jewish area.
The 4 buildings are located close to each other within 1 square kilometre and offer the opportunity to learn about Jewish culture, traditions and history. The 4 venues are:
- Jewish Museum
- Portuguese Synagogue
- National Holocaust Museum
- Hollandsche Schouwburg
Book your Jewish Cultural Quarter Amsterdam duo tickets here
Jewish Museum in Amsterdam
The Jewish Museum (Joods Museum) is a museum focussed on Jewish religion and rituals, culture and history – particularly with respect to the Netherlands and Amsterdam where Jews began to settle from the year 1600.
It occupies 4 historic Ashkenazi synagogues near Waterlooplein within the old Jewish quarter of east Amsterdam. On site there is a Jewish Museum Junior aimed at children aged 6-12.
Jewish Museum, Nieuwe Amstelstraat 1, 1011 PL Amsterdam
Portuguese Synagogue
The Portuguese Synagogue is a magnificent 17th century building across the road from the Jewish Museum. At the time it was the biggest synagogue in the world. It remains a functioning Synagogue (Snoga) and is also used as an occasional venue for candlelight concerts.
Its highlights include the wooden holy ark (hechal) in which the Torah scrolls are housed, some magnificent chandeliers and the treasure chambers.
Duo tickets allow access to both the Jewish Museum and Portuguese Synagogue.
Portuguese Synagogue, Mr. Visserplein 3, 1011 RD Amsterdam
National Holocaust Museum
The Dutch National Holocaust Museum in Amsterdam opened in 2024. It tells the story of the persecution, deportation and murder of Jews in the Netherlands during the Holocaust (Shoah) in World War Two.
The museum is located in the Jewish disitrict on the Plantage Middenlaan street in the Hervormde Kweekschool, a reformed former teacher training school.
Separate tickets are required for the Holocaust Museum unless you opt for the combi-ticket which is valid at all JCK locations.
National Holocaust Museum, Plantage Middenlaan 27, 1018 DB Amsterdam
Hollandsche Schouwburg
The Hollandsche Schouwburg is an old theatre in Amsterdam’s Plantage district which is now the Dutch National Holocaust Memorial. It is opposite the National Holocaust Museum.
The theatre was used as a deportation centre for Jews during 1942-23 who were then taken to Dutch transit camps in Vught or Westerbork and then onwards to Germany.
You can watch a short film on the building’s history in the entrance hall. Visitors can go outside to the rear memorial area with obelisk and garden.
It is part of the JCK umbrella but can be visited without a ticket.
Hollandsche Schouwburg, Plantage Middenlaan 24, 1018 DE Amsterdam
Other Jewish Interest In Amsterdam
Anne Frank House
The Anne Frank House is one of Amsterdam’s principal museums. It is located on the Prinsengracht canal in the centre of Amsterdam.
It contains the secret annex where the young girl Anne Frank and seven others hid from Amsterdam’s German occupation during WW2. It was here that she wrote her world-famous diary giving a unique and touching perspective of wartime Amsterdam through the eyes of a teenage girl.
Anne Frank died of typhus at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in March 1945.
A visit to the Anne Frank House is undertaken by audio tour which provides historical and chronological context as one moves through the rooms and annex.
Book an Anne Frank walking tour including House entry here which gives the widest possible range of future ticket dates. Otherwise standard tickets are only available 6 weeks in advance on the Anne Frank website and sell out quickly.
Anne Frank House, Westermarkt 20, 1016 DK Amsterdam
Verzetsmuseum
The Verzets Resistance Museum (Verzetsmuseum) is one of Amsterdam’s most intriguing museums chronicling the Dutch resistance movement during the entirety of World War II.
It is located in the historic Plancius building (built in 1876) opposite Artis Zoo, in the old Jewish quarter of the city. It gives a fascinating insight into the history of the Netherlands in the 1940s via the permanent exhibition The Netherlands in World War II.
Book Verzets Resistance Museum tickets here
Verzetsmuseum, Plantage Kerklaan 61, 1018 CX Amsterdam
National Holocaust Memorial of Names
The National Holocaust Memorial of Names (Nationaal Holocaust Namenmonument) is a monument which pays tribute to 102,000 Dutch victims of the Holocaust.
Unveiled in 2021, it is a series of brick walls and stainless steel panels placed at different angles which from above forms Hebrew letters meaning “in remembrance of”. Each brick carries the name and age of a victim. The location is at Weesperstraat, near the Hoftuin garden by the rear of the Hermitage Museum
Auschwitz Monument in Wertheim Park
Wertheim Park in the Jewish Plantage district of the city features a small, understated monument to the victims of Auschwitz created by the Dutch artist Jan Wolkers (1925-2007).
The installation consists of 6 broken glass mirrors on top of ashes from Auschwitz and a glass plaque inscribed Nooit Meer Auschwitz (Never Again). Every last Sunday in January a silent procession takes place to mark the liberation of the camp.
Originally published 15 Apr 2024.
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