Old Jewish Quarter in Amsterdam

stunning synagogues, striking buildings and impressive memorials

Jodenbuurt, the former Jewish Quarter, is the neighbourhood in Amsterdam where - from the late 16th century to the period of the persecution of the Jews during the Second World War - many Jews lived.

Statue 'De Dokwerker' on the Jonas Daniël Meijerplein, erected in memory of the February Strike of 1941

For more than 350 years, Amsterdam was a centre of Jewish life, and its Jewish community was a major contributor to the city's vitality and prosperity. The Waterlooplein area was their neighborhood, where they held their market and built their synagogues.

In 1593, Sephardic Jews from Portugal and Spain settled in this neighbourhood. In the course of the 17th century Ashkenazi Jews from Central, Eastern, and partly Western Europe also moved into the district.

In 1602 the Jews started to build their first synagogues. And in the centuries that followed, the neighbourhood was enriched with many more synagogues.

Diamond factories

Initially, the Jews were not permitted by the guilds of Amsterdam, so the only occupations that were open to them were street trading, financing, book printing and diamond cutting. In the 19th century many Jews worked in the flourishing diamond trade and industry.

Nowadays there are about a dozen diamond factories in the city left, five of which offer guided tours.