Anne Frank Huis - Amsterdam - TravBuddy

Very moving experience. If you see one thing in Amsterdam this should be it. Its a walk through of the actual annex where Anne Frank and her friends and family hid from the Nazis. There are also a lot of items on display from that period, as well as video interviews at various points with people involved in the hiding.

One thing I must say: buy your tickets online! The que for this was outrageous! Luckily, however, its open until almost 10pm during the summer so its easy to make time to get there.

Also, I need to say this and a feel like I shouldn't have to, but be respectful. Some people were behind us, pushing past the que, and giggling and making jokes such as 'Shh, the neighbors will hear.' :( Some of us are trying to mourn a very sad time for humanity, and I feel like those who lived in the annex as well as all the people who fell victim to the attrocities of the Nazi regime deserve your respect. Please be mindful of that.

I am not a museum 'guru' anything, I do visit musuems and places at least one time. However I made a special second trip to Anne Frank's Huis and going there always gives me chills and goosebumps. I read the story of Anne Frank in the 8th grade, like majority of my peers, we have read parts from the play and act them out in class. It is one of my few memories of school that I can say WERENT negative so by visiting Amsterdam....how could you pass it up??

The place is not hard to find, located on a corner in the Prisengracht centrum..during the day time you cant miss the long line....it will be for Anne Frank Huis tour.

The place is a self-guided tour and you pay 7.50 Euro to walk around the house. But if you are like me, educated in Public School in America, everyone has read or seen the 'Diary of Anne Frank'. It is well worth seeing in Amsterdam and meaningful if you have at least read a part in the book as a kid in school : )

At the time of my visit, the Diaries were not on display, not sure for how long , perhaps that are doing maintenance on them.

If you go, it is well worth the wait in line but go in the mornings. That way you have more time to browse the streets and look through the Flower Markt, which makes for a pleasant day.

To get there....use a map! That wasn't hard. Address is Prinsengracht 267.

I read the story of Anne Frank when I was in 7th grade and at that time, non-fictional stories never peaked my interest, until I grew up and realized what exactly this story was about. Being in her house made me think of everything she must have been through. There were original pieces of her diary, photos of her family and friends and plenty other artifacts from this tragic time. Videos played in some of the rooms where her father and neighbors were being interviewed. It was very emotional being in this house and strongly recommended that you visit. We paid 6 euros to get in when I was there in 2002. There is a gift shop at the end of the path, which sells the Diary of Anne Frank in many different languages, along with various other merchandise

At last! I'd been wanting so long to go to Amsterdam, and it was really a nice
afternoon we passed there. I wanted to go to the Anne Frank House right
away, so that was our first stop. It was a really moving experience,
though it wasn't what we expected in a couple of ways. My bf was
expecting the annexe to be re-created, so that it would look the way it
did when the families were hiding there. It would have given you a
better sense of how crowded it was and how little space there actually
was. In fact it was pretty barren, save for a few objects on display in
glass cases, and of course the decorations and bits of paper Anne glued
onto the wall.


On the other hand, I was happy that you were given complete access to the annexe. You walk
through the opening behind the swinging bookcase, and ascend the
narrowest possible steps (almost a ladder!) up to the secret levels.
You wandered around the rooms freely (except for Peter's attic,
probably because the steps would have collapsed under the feet of
millions of people). I guess that's the rub with re-creating the
annexe- if they had, you wouldn't be able to wander around- they
probably would have had to barricade everything and have a very set
path for you to walk along. I think I prefer being able to walk around
the space and just take it all in.

It's incredible how cruel humans can be. And how indifferent we can be! There have been many, many holocausts throughout history, and even today there are millions suffering and dying. But I can understand how it's so easy to ignore- you really have to make an effort to keep fueling that desire to be aware and to effect change on the world. We can't be horrified at how we let the genocide in Rwanda happen and not do anything about Darfur. We can't boast about removing Saddam's murderous government and ignore what our own government did in Latin America. There was a quote at the museum that I thought rang true. That Anne suffered what millions of others suffered (and many others even worse), but that it takes that one individual- that one little girl- to personalize and connect the entire, terrible experience in history to us today. We can empathize with the millions through the one.

And look at me, spending all this free time and money travelling and fulfilling my own selfish desires. I'm such a hypocrite.