The square that began as a world fair
Transcript
The Museumplein started life as an empty plot of land behind a building site. The building site was the Rijksmuseum, still unfinished in 1883.
That summer, from May to October, Amsterdam used the empty land for an international exhibition, with pavilions from twenty-eight nations. More than a million people came. The main hall looked like a Moorish palace, with two great towers, but it was made of wood, plaster and painted cloth dressed up as marble. When the show was over, it all came down.
The exhibition changed the city anyway. Hotels were built or expanded for the visitors, including the Krasnapolsky, whose winter garden used electric light at a time when that was still a marvel. The gate at the entrance of the Vondelpark is a survivor from the exhibition. And a local brewery won a gold medal there, which it still prints on its labels today.
In 1885, with the Rijksmuseum finished, the street plan for the square was laid out to a design by its architect, Pierre Cuypers. Around it came the museums and the Concertgebouw that make this the cultural heart of Amsterdam. The square you see now was redesigned in 1999. The big red I amsterdam letters, once photographed by everyone, were taken away in December 2018.
In winter the long pond becomes an ice rink, and the Christmas village sets up beside it. So, in a way, the square is doing what it was first used for: a temporary show, for a few weeks, for visitors from all over the world.
Source: en.wikipedia.org, www.wikiwand.com
