To visit the Anne Frank House is to fulfil your duty to remember. In this house, where Anne and her family hid for several years, we learn about the daily life of Jews in the Netherlands during the Third Reich. A somewhat emotionally challenging visit, but well worth it.
Anne Frank's house.
- © Ivica Drusany / Shutterstock
Anne Frank was born into a Jewish family in Frankfurt in 1929. At the time, Hitler was gaining sympathisers across Germany by exploiting the country's latent anti-Semitism. As a result, she moved to Amsterdam with her parents and sister in 1933 and quickly felt at home.
Unfortunately, the Nazis invaded the Netherlands on 10 May 1940. Gradually, the Nazis took away more and more rights from the Jews until, in July 1942, they began to send them to concentration camps.
La statue d’Anne Frank sur la place Westerkerk.
- © Alexey Pevnev / ShutterstockAnne and her family took refuge in a secret annex of their house. They have to be as quiet as possible to avoid being discovered. Anne kept a diary in which she wrote about her daily life, the infamous Diary of Anne Frank. In August 1944, the secret annex was discovered and the Frank family was immediately deported to Auschwitz, where they would die of exhaustion and malnutrition. Only her father, Otto, survived.
The atmosphere in the Anne Frank House can be a little heavy, but a visit is essential to grasp the full horror of the Second World War. You can see the house where Anne grew up and the secret annex, hidden behind a library, where she hid with her family.
La maison d’Anne Frank.
- © EQRoy / ShutterstockThroughout the building, you can see objects that belonged to the family and their traces of life. For instance, pen marks on the walls show Anne and her sister's progressive heights over time. In the modern part of the museum, the Diary Room displays the original writings of Anne Frank, in particular the famous diary she received for her thirteenth birthday.
Anne Frank writing her diary.
- © GiuseppeCrimeni / Shutterstock
Amsterdam
The Anne Frank House is an essential part of any visit to Amsterdam. The visit lasts around an hour and provides an insight into the daily lives of the city's Jews during the darkest hours of its history.
Anne Frank House is located in the historic centre of Amsterdam, at 253-267 Prinsengracht. It is therefore easily accessible on foot (10 minutes from Dam Square and 20 minutes from the Central Station) or by public transport, the nearest stop being Westermarkt (trams 13 and 17).
Anne Frank's house seen from the outside.
- © Ivo Antonie de Rooij / ShutterstockThe Anne Frank House is open every day from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. With a few exceptions: on 27 August the house opens at 1 p.m., on 5 October it is closed and on 25 and 31 December it is closed from 5 p.m. onwards.
To find out all the prices and book your tickets, visit the official Anne Frank House website. Online booking is compulsory.
