Dam Square

Oud and erected in 1956 to memorialize the victims of World War II, dominates the opposite side of the square.

Also overlooking the plaza are the NH Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky and the upscale department store De Bijenkorf.

It was demolished in 1808 by order of Louis Bonaparte who, upon taking up residence in the newly converted Royal Palace, complained that his view was obstructed.

The Damrak, or the former mouth of the Amstel River, was partially filled in the 19th century; since then, the Dam square has been surrounded by land on all sides.

In 1856, a war memorial named De Eendracht (The Unity) was unveiled inside the square before King William III.

On 7 May 1945, two days after German capitulation, thousands of Dutch people were waiting for Canadian troops to arrive on the Dam square in Amsterdam.

In the Grote Club, on the corner of Kalverstraat and Paleisstraat, members of the German Kriegsmarine watched as the crowd below their balcony grew and people danced and cheered.

[5][6] Dam Square was the central scene of the largest post-war civil disturbance in the Netherlands during the Amsterdam coronation riots on 30 April 1980.

On 6 December 2003, Bulgarian mobster Konstantin "Samokovetsa" Dimitrov was shot dead on Dam Square.

National Monument , with the Hotel Krasnapolsky on the right.
The Dam in 1544, as an actual dam in the river Amstel . View faces roughly southwest. On the right hand side are the old town hall and the Nieuwe Kerk.
The Dam with the weigh house, late 1600s by Gerrit Berckheyde .
Dam Square just after the shooting, 1945.
The Dam during the 1980 riots.
An image of the funfair in Dam square showing a Ferris wheel on the left, behind it spinning-arm ride called Speed; and a Matterhorn on the right with its spinning cars at maximum extension.
Several times a year there used to be a large funfair on Dam Square.
A 360-degree view of Dam Square in 2008.