Anne Frank Huis (House of Anne Frank)

Anne Franks House is located in the central part of Amsterdam. The reason people go there is not the house which is pretty ordinary. It is the famous diary the little girl Annelies Marie Frank wrote during the Second World War in which she wrote about the experience of a young Jewish girl in the occupied country of the Netherlands. And she described how her family lived in hiding in Amsterdam for more than two years in the house which is today know as Anne Franks House.

Anne Frank did not survive the war she died in Bergen-Belsen concentration camp just a month before the liberation of the camp. But her father Otto Frank survived Auschwitz and was after the war given the notebooks in which Anne had written her diary. He got the book published and later the house turned into a museum.

The book later affected a lot of people with the account from a child about how the war was for the Jews in Europe. And no other child has ever written a book which had so much influence on the way people in the world looked at historic events.

Nelson Mandela said about the book: "some of us read Anne Frank's Diary on Robben Island and derived much encouragement from it."

If you come to see the house with furniture as it used to be when Anne lived in the house you will be disappointed. Because Otto made sure the house would not be refurnished. Hence the house is almost empty - and the main part of the exhibition is quotes on the walls from the diary, some pictures of Anne her family and from the time of the war. The most touching part of the exhibition are probably the videos where different people tell about the life of Anne, and what happen during the war.

In genereal the house is more a place to go for reflection about what man can do to man. Than to actually see where Anne Frank lived.

The house it self is small and you will risk waiting in line for a long time. But apparently you can get internet tickets and get on the fast track to get in. Another good time to visit is during lunch. Because the crowd seem to die down just a little bit between 12 and 1.

The house where Anne Frank hid from the Nazis and wrote her famous diary is a museum in the middle of Amsterdam. The museum tells the history of the eight people who hid there and the people who helped them. Here you will find original objects from their life in hiding, along with Anne’s original handwritten diary. There are no tour guides available, and it will most likely take you an hour to make your way through the house. It is a busy attraction, which makes it hard to visualize the atmosphere it must have had during the time- the quiet and the stillness. However, the mood is sombre, as the people visiting are respectful of their environment. I imagine that if you were there at a quiet time, it would be an eerie place. It’s an extremely moving place to visit, one that should not be missed when visiting Amsterdam.

I had heard such incredible things about people who had visited the Anne Frank Huis. I was ready to be moved to tears by what I saw, but that never materialized. Maybe I expected too much.

The entire complex has been converted to a museum. Throughout the museum there are passages painted onto walls of things she had written in her diary, and various other things that had been saved from her stay in the Secret Annexe. I had just read the diary leading up to my trip and it was still fresh on my mind, so it was able to really put an image with the words that were written.

I guess my biggest complaint is that other museums and locations that are related to the Holocaust tend to be more shocking and focus much more on the atrocities committed by the Nazis.

The Anne Frank Huis focused on Anne and her diary. The Secret Annexe was actually a lot bigger than I had thought it would be. A complaint I had about the diary itself is that for some reason I never could feel what it was like to live each day the way they had to, to be in essence a prisoner. The tour of the Secret Annexe didn't really bring that to life, either.

In summary, A very interesting and historical museum with everything kept pretty much as it was inside the building during their stay. But, it just didn't touch me the way I'd hoped.

A great lesson in the realities of hate and the wonderful tolerance that the Dutch mindset has. Where many in the world hated the Jews, historically, the Dutch were much easier on them.

This is where they fled to after the Spanish inquisition/persecution of 1492.

Having read the diary and her story since I was young boy, I felt a bit of connection. It was a weird feeling to be in the very house. Though, it was not exactly what I expected. It was a museum, but perhaps too much of a museum. I wish they would have left some things alone to provide a less commercialised feel. Although, in the end when the walk through was over, I was overwhelmed with great sadness even though I had known the story for so long, it was the simple fact of being there that made it worthwhile. It has a special place in history. I'm glad I got to walk through the house.

If you know the Anne Frank story, this walk through will do you good in replaying the story in your head while being there. It's not like reading the book in your house. Her story unfolds before you as you walk through, giving a deeper meaning and connection!

Anne Frank was the daughter of a German, Jewish family who lived during the war. She and her family went into hiding and during that time they stayed at the Achterhuis. This is where Anne Frank wrote her famous diary about her life wich is now being read everywhere in the world.
Anne Frank's family was betrayed, taken away by the Germans and deported first to Westerbork and later to Auschwitz-Birkenau. Anne Frank dies in Bergen-Belsen, just a few weeks before the liberation. Anne Frank's father Otto Frank is the only one from the family who survives. He made sure the diary written by his daughter Anne Frank became published.

At the house of Anne Frank you can learn more about her life and see where Anne and her family stayed when they were in hiding. You must visit this place just to honour the memory of Anne Frank and all the victims from this war.

The entrance fee is 7,50 in euro's
children from 10 to 17 pay 3,50
and younger children don;t have to pay an entrance fee.

Everybody who visits Holland MUST see the Anne Frank House.
A placec you will never forget and makes you realise how lucky we are !

I visited the Anne Frank House in February 2001, and because we went around 0930 we didn't have to queue to get in.

Almost everyone knows the story of Anne Frank, how she kept a diary throughout World War 2, how her family had to go into hiding in an Annexe behind a building owned by her father's (Otto Frank) company, how they shared the space with another family and a single man. Work continued as usual in the front of the building, while 8 people lived in silence during the day behind a door concealed by a bookcase. People also know that on the 4th August 1944 the Gestapo stormed into the annexe, arrested the eight people living there and two of their helpers after a tip off. The Franks, the Van Pels (Hermann and Auguste and their son Peter) and Fritz Pfeffer were all taken to Westerbrook Concentration Camp and then onto Auschwitz-Birkenau. Anne and her sister Margot were eventually taken to Bergen-Belsen, leaving their mother behind at Auschwitz...she died 3 months later. Anne and Margot Frank both died from Typhus a short time before the camp was liberated by the British. Otto Frank was the only one of the eight to survive...he was freed from Auschwitz.

The house and annexe are now museums, as they have been since 1960. At first it was left as it was, without furniture, but when visitors said it felt very spacious, Otto Frank furnished it as best he could as it was during the war. But when I visited the furniture was away again...but you could see the pictures of movie stars pasted to the wall by Anne. There are exhibit cases with items kept safe under glass. I think it would be better furnished so you could really see how they would all had to have lived.

There is also an interactive exhibition called Free2Choose, which looks at defending fundamental human rights which may clash with safeguarding the democratic rule of law. If I remember, it looks at things like racism, homophobia, xenophobia, etc.

There is also teh obligatory gift shop, where you can buy copies of Anne's diary, books about Anne's life, the house, what they went through and about Anti-Semitism. There's also postcards, CDs, DVDs and Videos (if anyone still has a VCR).

The museum is open all year round, except on Yom Kippur. Opening hours vary through the year so it's best the check the website - it gets later as it gets colder. Adult Entry is 7.5 euros, which is about £6GBP, or just over $11US.

The Anne Frank House is on Prinsengracht, and it's a 20 minutes walk from the main train station. Busses stop near by, and you can also get a taxi.

The House is a wonderful living museum, which I think would be enhanced if there were furniture put back in. My Mum (who I was with) had seen the museum with furniture and said it was much more emotive. But there's lots to learn from it, and also to be thankful we live in a (relatively) free world.