For centuries before World War II, it was the center of the Dutch Jews of Amsterdam — hence, its name (literally Jewish quarter).

It is best known as the birthplace of Baruch Spinoza, the home of Rembrandt, and the Jewish ghetto of Nazi occupation of the Netherlands.

Traditionally, the boundaries of the Jodenbuurt, east of the city center, are the Amstel River in the southwest, the Zwanenburgwal "Swans City Wall" and Oudeschans "Old Rampart" canals in the northwest, Rapenburg, a street in the northeast and the Nieuwe Herengracht "New Patricians Canal" in the southeast.

In 1641, a group of Franciscans also came to establish a Catholic clandestine church in a house called "Moses", out of the reach of the Protestant authorities of Amsterdam.

So in Amsterdam they sent for the rabbis to come out of Italy, North Africa, and the Ottoman Empire to teach them the ways of Judaism in the Jodenbuurt.

Several Jews, such as Isaac de Pinto and his father David, had a great influence on the national government of the Republic of the Seven United Provinces but they came under heavy criticism from the Doelisten, a political coalition of Orangists, moderates, radicals and democrats.

In the days of the Batavian Republic, several residents of the Jodenbuurt, including Jonas Daniel Meijer ( 1780–1834 ), the first Jewish lawyer in the Netherlands, and Carel Asser ( 1780–1836 ),[4] a judge, were admitted to the bar, the civil societies and even municipal politics but they came in conflict with the parnassiem, the religious leaders of their neighborhood.

After the Leprozengracht and Houtgracht were filled in 1882, the Jodenbuurt market was moved from Jodensbreestraat to the new square, Waterlooplein, and became a popular Sunday attraction for the rest of Amsterdam.

The Amsterdam Tram 8 Alliance began in 1906 to run its lines from the Central Station through Nieuwmarkt, Waterlooplein, Weesperplein to Van Woustraat and later the Rivierenbuurt.

In the 1930s, with the rise of Adolf Hitler, many German Jews fled from the persecutions of the Nazis to the Netherlands but the Dutch government would accept them only if they were in "direct danger of life".

A big fence was erected around the entire quarter and many bridges were placed under permanent guard to control the comings and goings of the residents.

Many buildings of the Jodenbuurt were demolished by the cold and starving people of Amsterdam to feed their stoves and fireplaces for the cooking and heating.

They were stripped of almost all wood, from the galleries and even three of the four sacred Arks ( aron hakodesh, the cabinets for housing the scrolls of the Torah ).

Many houses were demolished and replaced with large apartment blocks and office buildings, including the Maupoleum, built by and named for the Jewish real estate developer Maup Caransa, who had survived the war in the neighborhood and acquired much of it.