Jewish Museum Amsterdam in the Jewish Cultural Quarter

The Jewish Museum Amsterdam is housed in four preserved synagogues from the 17th and 18th centuries. You step into buildings where people prayed and sang for generations. Today, personal stories, objects and art tell you about Jewish religion, culture and history in the Netherlands. The great silver Rintel chanukiah has stood in the same place for more than two hundred years. For children there is a junior museum, a family home where they can touch everything. The museum is part of the Jewish Cultural Quarter, together with three other sites within walking distance.

What you see at Jewish Museum Amsterdam

The museum fills four synagogues, among them the Great Synagogue. Its permanent presentations are called What's being Jewish all about? and Eden and the Golden Rule. Take a moment at the Rintel chanukiah, a silver Hanukkah lamp from 1753 that is more than a metre tall, given by Sara Rintel. The collection holds about 11,000 objects, of which only a small part is on display at any time. There are also changing exhibitions and an Art Gallery where recent additions to the collection get a place.

Jewish Museum junior for children

Turn right in the lobby and you enter the home of the Hollander family, a Jewish home made for children aged 6 to 12. Here they are allowed to touch everything. In the kitchen they bake challah, the braided bread for Shabbat. They write their name in Hebrew letters, and in the attic they discover Jewish music. The junior museum has received the Kidsproof seal, a Dutch award for museums that work well for children. The main museum is meant for adults and children aged 6 and up.

From the Weigh House to four synagogues

The museum opened on 24 February 1932 in the Waag, the old weigh house on the Nieuwmarkt. During the German occupation it had to close, and a large part of the collection was lost. It reopened in 1955, and in 1987 it moved to the four former synagogues on the Jonas Daniel Meijerplein, opposite the Portuguese Synagogue. In 1989, still under its old name Joods Historisch Museum, it won the Council of Europe Museum Prize. Today it is the centre of the Jewish Cultural Quarter, which also includes the Portuguese Synagogue, the National Holocaust Museum and the Hollandsche Schouwburg.

Planning your visit to Jewish Museum Amsterdam

Ticket options for the other three sites of the Jewish Cultural Quarter change from time to time, so check when you book which sites your ticket covers. With the Museumkaart, the Dutch annual museum pass, you collect a free ticket at the desk. Audio tours are free. The museum café serves kosher food, with dairy and parve dishes only. All rooms can be reached by lift, and you can borrow a wheelchair if you reserve it in advance. For more ideas, browse all museums in Amsterdam.

Frequently asked questions about the Jewish Museum

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