Amsterdam

The Begijnhof Chapel, dedicated to Saint John and Saint Ursula, is a Roman Catholic chapel run by the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament, in the... St Nicholas Parish of Amsterdam. It is located in a former schuilkerk in the Begijnhof across from its original location, the English Reformed Church, Amsterdam. The Miracle of Amsterdam is commemorated yearly with a procession starting from this church. Around 1150, a group of women came together to live in a religious community, primarily to look after the sick. These were the first 'Beguines’ although the name was not yet used. The women were not nuns and nor did they live in the seclusion of a convent. They had no founders nor did they make lifelong vows. They were unmarried women who made a vow of chastity and promised obedience to the parish priest, but since they were not expected to make a vow of poverty, they were free to dispose of their own possessions as they wished. They could renounce their vows at any moment and leave the Beguinage, for instance, to get married. We do not know exactly when the Beguinage was founded.
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Artis, short for Natura Artis Magistra , is a zoo in the centre of Amsterdam. It is the oldest zoo in the Netherlands. In addition to the zoo, Artis... has an aquarium, a planetarium, a geological museum, and a zoological museum. The zoo is a member of the Dutch Zoo Federation , the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria , the International Species Information System , and the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums . The zoo was founded in 1838 by Gerard Westerman, J.W.H. Werlemann and J.J. Wijsmuller . It was initially open only to members. Starting in 1851 it was opened to the public during the month of September. In 1920 it was opened year-round to the public, but September remains discount month. The core of the current zoo property, then the "Middenhof" estate, was purchased by the board of the Zoological Society "Natura Artis Magistra" late in 1938 in the Plantage, which was then a rural area on the outskirts of Amsterdam. From the start it exhibited both live and mounted specimens.
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The Van Gogh Museum is an art museum in Amsterdam, Netherlands, featuring the works of the Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh and his contemporaries. It... has the largest collection of Van Gogh's paintings and drawings in the world. Upon Vincent's death in 1890, his work not sold fell into the possession of his brother Theo. Theo died six months after Vincent, leaving the work in the possession of his widow, Johanna van Gogh-Bonger. Selling many of Vincent's paintings with the ambition of spreading knowledge of his artwork, Johanna maintained a private collection of his works. This collection was inherited by her son Vincent Willem van Gogh in 1925, eventually loaned to the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam where it displayed for many years, and was transferred to the state-initiated Vincent van Gogh Foundation in 1962. Design for a Van Gogh Museum was commissioned by the Dutch government in 1963 to Dutch architect and furniture designer Gerrit Rietveld. Rietveld died a year later, and the building was not completed until 1973. An Exhibition Wing was added in 1999 by Japanese modernist Kisho Kurokawa. The main exhibition chronicles the various phases of Van Gogh's artistic life.
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Madame Tussauds is a wax museum in London with branches in a number of major cities. It was founded by wax sculptor Marie Tussaud and was formerly... known as "Madame Tussaud's", but the apostrophe is no longer used . Madame Tussauds is a major tourist attraction in London, displaying waxworks of historical and royal figures, film stars, sports stars and famous murderers. Marie Tussaud, was born Anna Maria Grosholtz in Strasbourg, France. Her mother worked as a housekeeper for Dr. Philippe Curtius in Bern, Switzerland, who was a physician skilled in wax modelling. Curtius taught Tussaud the art of wax modelling. Tussaud created her first wax figure, of Voltaire, in 1777. Other famous people she modelled at that time include Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Benjamin Franklin. During the French Revolution she modelled many prominent victims. In her memoirs she claims that she would search through corpses to find the decapitated heads of executed citizens, from which she would make death masks.
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The Anne Frank House on Prinsengracht canal in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, is a museum dedicated to Jewish wartime diarist Anne Frank, who hid from... Nazi persecution with her family and four other people in hidden rooms at the rear of the building. As well as the preservation of the hiding place — known in Dutch as the Achterhuis — and an exhibition on the life and times of Anne Frank, the museum acts as an exhibition space to highlight all forms of persecution and discrimination. It opened on 3 May 1960 with the aid of public subscription, three years after a foundation was established to protect the property from developers who wanted to demolish the block. The house — and the one next door at number 265, which was later purchased by the museum — was built by Dirk van Delft in 1635. The canal-side facade dates from a renovation of 1740 when the rear annex was demolished and the taller one which now stands in its place was built. It was originally a private residence, then a warehouse, and in the nineteenth century, the front warehouse with its wide stable-like doors was used to house horses.
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Marius Job Cohen is a Dutch social democratic politician and former legal scholar of Jewish background. Since 2010 he has been the leader of the... Labour Party and since June 17, 2010 he has been a member of the House of Representatives, where he also is the Parliamentary group leader of the Labour Party. Cohen obtained his Master of Laws degree at the University of Groningen and his PhD at Leiden University . In 1983 he became a law professor of methods and techniques and in 1991 rector magnificus at Maastricht University. As a member of the Labour Party, Cohen held several political positions and offices over the years. He was State Secretary for Education and Sciences in the third Lubbers cabinet , member of and parliamentary group leader in the Senate , State Secretary for Justice in the second Kok cabinet , and Mayor of Amsterdam . He resigned as mayor in order to become the top candidate for the Labour Party in the 2010 general election.
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Annelies Marie "Anne" Frank ; 12 June 1929 – early March 1945 was one of the most renowned and most discussed Jewish victims of the... Holocaust. Acknowledged for the quality of her writing, her diary has become one of the world's most widely read books, and has been the basis for several plays and films. Born in the city of Frankfurt am Main in Weimar Germany, she lived most of her life in or near Amsterdam, in the Netherlands. Born a German national, Frank lost her citizenship in 1941 when Nazi Germany passed the anti-Semitic Nuremberg Laws. She gained international fame posthumously after her diary was published. It documents her experiences hiding during the German occupation of the Netherlands in World War II. The Frank family moved from Germany to Amsterdam in 1933, the year the Nazis gained control over Germany. By the beginning of 1940, they were trapped in Amsterdam by the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. As persecutions of the Jewish population increased in July 1942, the family went into hiding in the hidden rooms of Anne's father, Otto Frank's, office building. After two years, the group was betrayed and transported to concentration camps.
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Matthijs Nicolaas van de Sande Bakhuyzen is a Dutch movie and television actor and former child actor. Van de Sande Bakhuyzen was born on October... 16, 1988 in Amsterdam as the son of movie director Willem van de Sande Bakhuyzen. In 1992 his little sister Roeltje van de Sande Bakhuyzen was born. Nowadays, she is also an actress. His big break was in 1999, when he got the role of Erik in the VPRO television series De Daltons. He later played small roles in several films directed by his father, including Cloaca and Leef! . That same year, his father died of cancer. In 2006, he got his first big role in a movie when he beat 4000 other guys for the role of Jordi in the movie Afblijven, a teen-oriented film based on a novel by Carry Slee. Van de Sande Bakhuyzen followed acting lessons of Carla van Driel and Tom de Ket in the same year. At the ending of 2006, he was busy with filming De Daltons, de jongensjaren, the sequel on De Daltons which was aired in the 2007-2008 television season. In 2008, Van de Sande Bakhuyzen played in the telefilm Bloedbroeders.
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Carrie Daumery was a Dutch-born American film actress. She appeared in 63 films between 1908 and 1937. She was born in Amsterdam, Netherlands and... died in Los Angeles, California. She was the mother of film director John Daumery.
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Anita Doth is a Dutch singer, best known for her participation in the Eurodance group 2 Unlimited. Anita Daniëlle Doth was born in Amsterdam to... Rolf and Lydia Doth. In 1991 she finished her education and landed her first steady job in an administrative position at a police station. Together with Ray Slijngaard, she formed the group 2 Unlimited. In the early 1990s, Ray Slijngaard had been asked to write rap lyrics for a tune written by Belgian producers J.P. de Coster and Phil Wilde. Ray also wrote a chorus to be sung by a female vocalist, for which he asked Doth to sing the lyrics. The demo was presented to de Coster and Wilde, leading to Doth joining 2 Unlimited. Doth sang the choruses for the majority of their songs; however there were some B sides, and one successful single, "Nothing Like the Rain", where she sang close to all the lyrics. The band became an instant success in Europe and throughout the world. Their hits included songs such as "Get Ready For This", "Maximum Overdrive", "No Limit", "Tribal Dance", "The Real Thing", "Twilight Zone" and "Workaholic".
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Cornelis Willem Heuckeroth is a Dutch performer and radio and television personality, better known by his nickname Gordon. As a singer, he had his... greatest hit with the single Kon ik maar even bij je zijn , which was a number one hit in The Netherlands in 1991. Cornelis Willem Heuckeroth was born on 6 July 1968 in the north-area of Amsterdam, Netherlands. Before he became a professional performer, Gordon worked as a salesman on the streetmarket. At first it looked like it was not possible for him to have a career in music. He was turned down at the Soundmixshow and came in ninth in the National Songfestival contest finals, with only one point more than Georgie Davis, who was tenth and last. In 1991 Gordon broke through with his third single. At first he sang only Dutch positive songs like Ik hou van jou and Omdat ik zo van je hou , but later in the '90s his repertoire shifted to Dutch R&B. Gordon again participated in the national finals of the Eurovision Song Contest in 2003, finishing second after Esther Hart.
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Paul Verhoeven ]; born July 18, 1938 is a Dutch film director, screenwriter, and producer who has made movies in both the Netherlands and the United... States. Explicitly violent and/or sexual content and social satire are trademarks of both his drama and science fiction films. He is best known for directing the American feature films RoboCop , Total Recall , Basic Instinct , Starship Troopers , and Hollow Man . Turkish Delight received the award for Best Dutch Film of the Century at the Netherlands Film Festival. His films altogether received a total of nine Academy Award nominations, mainly for editing and effects. Both RoboCop and Total Recall won an Academy Special Achievement Award. In contrast, his film Showgirls was poorly received and won seven Golden Raspberry Awards, but has become a cult film over time. Verhoeven was born in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, the son of school teacher Wim Verhoeven and hat maker Nel van Schaardenburg. Although born in Amsterdam, the family lived in the village of Slikkerveer.
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Lucia Rijker is a Dutch professional female boxer, kickboxer, and actress. Rijker has been dubbed by the press and opponents "The Most Dangerous... Woman in the World". She can speak four languages and is a Buddhist, dedicating time daily to meditation and chanting. Her mother was born in the Netherlands and her father is from Suriname. Rijker started her martial arts career at the early age of six, when she began training in judo. A year later, she was part of the Dutch National Softball Team. At fourteen, after picking up fencing a year earlier, Lucia became the Netherlands Junior Champion of that sport. After winning her first 14 fights, but failing to secure a match with Martin, Rijker stepped away from boxing in 1999 to pursue a career in Hollywood. She appeared as Billie 'The Blue Bear' in 2004's Oscar-winning, female boxer-based film Million Dollar Baby. She was also featured in the documentary film Shadow Boxers. She played a minor role in Rollerball and had a brief cameo in the season 2 finale of The L Word as Dana's trainer. She returned to The L Word in Season 5 as Dusty, Helena's cellmate in prison.
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Edward Lodewijk "Eddie" Van Halen is a Dutch guitarist, keyboardist, songwriter and producer, best known as the lead guitarist and co-founder of the... hard rock band Van Halen, inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Eddie Van Halen is commonly known for his innovative performing and recording styles in blues-based rock, tapping, intense solos and high frequency feedback; he is also known for energetic and acrobatic stage performances. The All Music Guide has described him as "Second to only Jimi Hendrixundoubtedly one of the most influential, original, and talented rock guitarists of the 20th century.". He is ranked 8th in Rolling Stone's 2011 list of the Top 100 guitarists. Born in Nijmegen, The Netherlands, Edward Lodewijk van Halen is a son of clarinetist, saxophonist and pianist father Jan van Halen and mother Eugenia. Eugenia van Halen was originally from Indonesia which was a former Dutch colony. Eugenia was half Dutch and half Indonesian. Edward's middle name "Lodewijk" was derived from composer Ludwig van Beethoven.
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Bernard Johan Herman Haitink, CH, KBE is a Dutch conductor and violinist. Haitink was born in Amsterdam, the son of Willem Haitink and Anna... Haitink. He studied music at the conservatoire in Amsterdam. He played the violin in orchestras before taking courses in conducting under Ferdinand Leitner in 1954 and 1955. Haitink became second conductor of the Netherlands Radio Union Orchestra in 1955. He took the post of chief conductor of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic in 1957. His conducting debut with the Concertgebouw Orchestra was on 7 November 1956, substituting for Carlo Maria Giulini. After the sudden death of Eduard van Beinum, Haitink was named first conductor of the Concertgebouw Orchestra on 1 September 1959. He became principal conductor of the Concertgebouw Orchestra in 1961, and shared that position jointly with Eugen Jochum until 1963, when Haitink became sole principal conductor. With the Concertgebouw Orchestra, Haitink made many recordings for the Philips label, and later Decca and EMI Classics, and toured widely with the orchestra.
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Frederik "Frits" Bolkestein is a retired Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy . He served as a Member of the House of... Representatives from 16 January 1978, until 5 November 1982, when he became State Secretary for Economic Affairs from 5 November 1982, until 14 July 1986, in the Cabinet Lubbers I. And again a Member of the House of Representatives from 3 June 1986, until 24 September 1988, when he became Minister of Defence from 24 September 1988, until 7 November 1989, in the Cabinet Lubbers II. He again returned to the House of Representatives on 14 September 1989, and nine months later on 1 May 1990, he became the Parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives and the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy party leader. He served in this position for eight years until 30 July 1998. From 15 September 1999, until 22 November 2004, he was the European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services. In the European Commission, Bolkestein was responsible for Internal Market, Taxation and Customs Union issues.
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Edo de Waart is a Dutch conductor, and the Music Director of both the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra. De... Waart studied oboe, piano and conducting at the Sweelinck Conservatory, graduating in 1962. The following year, he was appointed associate principal oboe of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. In 1964, at the age of 23, he won the Dimitri Mitropoulos Conducting Competition in New York. As part of his prize, he served for one year as assistant conductor to Leonard Bernstein at the New York Philharmonic. On his return to the Netherlands, he was appointed assistant conductor of the Concertgebouw Orchestra under Bernard Haitink. In 1967, he was appointed conductor of both the Netherlands Wind Ensemble and Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, and was the latter's music director from 1973 to 1979. De Waart made his début at the San Francisco Symphony in 1975. A year later, he became principal guest conductor, and from 1977 to 1985 he was its music director. From 1986 to 1995, he was music director of the Minnesota Orchestra.
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