Amsterdam History - How it started.

Amsterdam made a late start as a city.
Not surprising, what is now the centre of Holland was an almost uninhabited peat wilderness. Only about a thousand years ago people started to come down from the higher grounds to the east and west, to drain and develop these muddy watery plains for agriculture. And by doing this they created new problems, but that's another story. See page sinking land.
So, about a 1000 years ago Amsterdam was just a nameless fishers hamlet on the banks of the river Amstel. It was not even Holland territory, as the bishop of Utrecht ruled here. But the count of Holland was slowly but steadily pushing east for more land. Actually, Holland and Utrecht waged more than 300 years of war for the ownership of the lands around the rivers Amstel and Vecht. These rivers bordering and flowing through my favourite region for bicycle day trips.
More on the struggle between Holland and Utrecht in river Vecht history (How the bishop butchered his goose with the golden eggs).
It's only after a dam was built in the river Amstel in the 13th Century, and the "people living around the dam" were granted special toll rights by the count of Holland, that the place was first named and mentioned in a document. "Aemstelredamme".
Now, that's a bit hard to pronounce, even for Dutch people, so in time it became "Amsterdam".

The little town looked perfectly Medieval, but there was also something special about it. Because almost from the very beginning the citizens decided for themselves on strategy and policy, and that was unusual in those days. There was no king here, or nearby count with a castle, or bishop (like in much more important Utrecht). And as the best way to survive in these water infested lands proved to be trade and business, they sailed out and laid the foundations of what a few hundred years later was to become a financial centre and economic world power.

There's almost nothing left of that Medieval Amsterdam. It was a wooden town, and a couple of giant fires brought massive destruction.
One of the few surviving buildings is the Old Church, now in the middle of the Red Light District. See special pages Old Church .

In the late Middle Ages the little town grew rapidly. A few population statistics : in 1300 AD - 1.000 people ; 1400 AD - 3.000 ; 1500 AD - 12.000 ; 1600 AD - 60.000.
By the end of the 16th century Amsterdam was by far the most important among the Dutch towns, and ready to play a major role in Holland's Golden Age.

With a history walk of a couple of hours in Amsterdam you can discover this fascinating city and it's history in depth.
Private and tailor-made tours for indiviuals, families or small groups (8 max) are possible in various Dutch towns, or in the countryside. See this overview of walks and bicycle day trips.

More pictures of Amsterdam on page Amsterdam Photo.
For a collection of links on Amsterdam, see the links-section on page Amsterdam.

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