Beurs van Berlage is the most significant 19th-century architectural landmark in the Netherlands. This long red-brick building is easy to find if you walk from the central railway station.
The construction of the exchange, designed by architect Hendrik Petrus Berlage, lasted for five years — from 1898 to 1903.
It was intended that the building would stand by the Amstel River — on reclaimed land where merchant ships docked. For many years, the freight, grain, stock, currency, and commodities exchanges coexisted in this building. The heroes of the Dutch capital also found their place here — at three different corners of Beurs van Berlage stand Jan Pieterszoon Coen, the famous 17th-century conqueror and admiral, Gijsbrecht van Aemstel, the knight who founded Amsterdam, and the jurist Hugo Grotius.
In addition, the building delights visitors with Jan Toorop's mosaic paintings in the exchange vestibule and a museum opened on the centenary of the laying of the foundation stone of Beurs van Berlage.
