Beurs van Berlage

Amsterdam, Netherlands

The Beurs van Berlage was designed as a commodity exchange by architect Hendrik Petrus Berlage and constructed between 1896 and 1903. It influenced many modernist architects, in particular functionalists and the Amsterdam School. It is now used as a venue for concerts, exhibitions and conferences.

The building is constructed of red brick, with an iron and glass roof and stone piers, lintels and corbels. Its entrance is under a 40m high clock tower, while inside lie three large multi-storey halls formerly used as trading floors, with offices and communal facilities grouped around them.

The aim of the architect was to modify the styles of the past by emphasizing sweeping planes and open plan interiors. It has stylistic similarities with some earlier buildings, for instance St Pancras station and the work of H. H. Richardson in America, or the Castell dels Tres Dragons, Barcelona, by Lluís Domènech i Montaner. True to its nineteenth-century roots, it maintains the use of ornament in a civic structure.

On 2 February 2002 the civil ceremony of the wedding of Crown Prince Willem-Alexander and Máxima Zorreguieta took place in the Beurs van Berlage.

The Beurs van Berlage has a café located on the Beursplein side and the tower is also open to the public.

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    Address

    Damrak 245, Amsterdam, Netherlands
    See all sites in Amsterdam

    Details

    Founded: 1896-1903
    Category:

    More Information

    www.beursvanberlage.nl
    en.wikipedia.org
    www.amsterdam.info
    www.holland.com

    Rating

    4.3/5 (based on Google user reviews)

    Interesting Sites Nearby


    Royal Palace of Amsterdam (0,4 km)
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    Van Gogh Museum (2,1 km)
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    Basilica of St. Nicholas (0,4 km)
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    St. Martin's Cathedral (35,2 km)
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    Castle de Haar (28,9 km)
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    Grote of Sint-Laurenskerk (57,7 km)
    Burcht van Leiden (36,5 km)
    Haarlem City Hall (17,7 km)
    St. John's Church (42,4 km)
    St. Peter's Church (35,2 km)

    User Reviews

    photocetera (6 months ago)
    A beautiful heritage building, very well maintained and with all the necessary endowments. Large and beautiful interior spaces with iconic decorations. Spaces can be restricted for smaller events or open. Lights were instaled in a very creative manner.
    Jonathan Munoz (7 months ago)
    Highly recommended whilst in Amsterdam. Enjoy and take in the beautiful history and art.
    Alma Cilurzo (7 months ago)
    Amazing venue. We had a convention in this place - breathtaking! The location is just perfectly located in amsterdam.
    Pablo Costa Tirado (8 months ago)
    It is a really good venue for conferences and events. It is located in the city centre, has spacious rooms and a great main area. The problem is the capacity is not that high, anything beyond 1300 people it's too much IMO.
    Bernadette Van Dal (10 months ago)
    We organized an event there but the place is more like a center for conventions for CEO's and not really able to host events with music. The sound (even though they have really expensive equipment) was not good. Maybe it would work for a spoken even but it does not work for music. The main hall looks like a big empty room. The architecture is great but boring if you do not rent external decor, with just a big screen, a bar, and little niches.Another point was the long cues for tokens. You can't pay at the bar and you will have to do cues both at the token machines and at the bar. Basically you will spend your time there by doing cues like receiving soup during the war or something. The machines will work even if the bar closes and tokens are not refundable. You will have to buy a minimum number of tokens and then you are stuck with tokens, they will be some pieces of plastic of no value whatsoever. Closing of the bar is not announced. Bad quality of money making I guess. I would have given 0 stars just for this. And millions, trillions of security guards. It gives you paranoia feelings just to be there. Some really like it here, but it was certainly not working for me. It has an image of a classy venue and actually it smells of sewage.
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