Amsterdam is first mentioned on paper on October 27, 1275, when Count Floris V of Holland grants the residents free navigation on the Dutch waters, so-called toll privilege. At that time, Amsterdam was no more than a small fishing village near a dam in the river Amstel. The dam in the Amstel created an open seaport (today's Damrak) and an inland harbor (today's Rokin) with a market square (Dam square).
After gaining the toll privilege, Amsterdam grew rapidly and around 1300 the first church was built, the core of what is now the Oude Kerk. Around 1300 Amsterdam gets city rights. The increasing trade with Scandinavian countries and the exclusive right to import beer from Hamburg ensures that the city continues to grow considerably. Around 1400, Amsterdam has about 3,000 residents.
The Golden Age is a heyday in Amsterdam's history. With the establishment of the VOC (Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie) and the successful trade with Asia, Amsterdam is getting richer. Because more and more citizens have a good income, art and culture flourish in the city. Amsterdam has a great attraction for job seekers, making the city bursting at the seams. Construction of the canals is being started to make more space for the city.
In 1806 Lodewijk Napoleon Bonaparte becomes king of the Netherlands and he names Amsterdam the capital of the republic. Trade and shipping with the colonies is declining and poverty among the population is increasing. When the French are expelled in 1813, the Kingdom of the Netherlands is proclaimed. King Willem I wants to make Amsterdam a trading center again and resumes contact with the colonies. Industrialization causes a new influx of workers to the city and the city again grows rapidly. Housing associations are being set up and new neighborhoods are being built for workers.
When Germany invades the Netherlands in 1940, a dark chapter in Amsterdam's history begins. Of the 90,000 Jewish people living in Amsterdam, only about 6% survive the Second World War. On 25th and 26th of February 1941, Amsterdam went on strike as a resistance against the Nazis. This strike, known as the February Strike, is the first and only massive and open opposition to the persecution of the Jews in Europe. A new attempt at a large-scale strike in 1944 was prevented by the German occupier by banning the transport of fuel and foodstuffs to the west of the Netherlands. The lack of fuel and food in combination with a severe winter cost the lives of more than 5000 Amsterdammers during the hunger winter of 1944-1945. On May 5, 1945, the German army capitulated and World War II came to an end. The liberation was celebrated in Amsterdam on May 7. German soldiers inflicted another massacre on the partying crowd on Dam Square by firing at the crowd.
After the Second World War, Amsterdam continued to grow. New residential areas are being built and the accessibility of the city is being increased. Amsterdam is also becoming a center of artistic and cultural renewal. Hippies smoke weed on Dam Square and spend the night in Vondelpark. The first coffee shops open their doors in the 1960s and the city is nicknamed the 'Magic Center'. At the end of the twentieth century and the beginning of the twenty-first century, Amsterdam grows into an economic center, which attracts many highly educated young people to the city. Today, Amsterdam is a thriving city and tourist attraction. The combination of the historic city center and the large cultural offer makes the city popular with a wide audience.
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