Originally created for use in the Netherlands, its height was used by Prussia in 1879 for defining Normalnull, and in 1955 by other European countries.
Between 1873 and 1874, he had daily measurements taken of the water level of the adjacent sea arm, Het IJ, during high tide.
In this operation, an error was introduced which was corrected (normalised) between 1885 and 1894, resulting in the Normaal Amsterdams Peil.
Currently it is physically realised by a brass benchmark on a 22-metre (72 ft) pile below the Dam square in Amsterdam.
[4] The brass benchmark in the Amsterdam Stopera (combined city hall and opera house), which is a tourist attraction, is no longer used as a reference point.