The Amsterdam Museum’s historic home occupies the former Burgerweeshuis, a centuries-old complex shaped by a convent, an orphanage and the city museum. Its courtyards and façades preserve that changing civic story; the Kalverstraat site is currently closed during renovation.
Quick facts
The museum was founded in 1926; its main home in the former Burgerweeshuis opened in 1975.
The Burgerweeshuis complex began as the Sint Luciënklooster, first documented in 1414, and became an orphanage after Amsterdam’s 1578 political change.
The Amsterdam Museum cares for more than 107,000 objects on behalf of the city, and its collecting also includes residents’ digital stories and intangible heritage.
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The Amsterdam Museum’s historic address is itself one of its most revealing exhibits. Behind the busy Kalverstraat, the former Burgerweeshuis is a layered complex of gates, courtyards and buildings. Its story moves from a medieval convent to a civic orphanage and, from 1975, to the city museum. The museum as an institution was founded in 1926; this Kalverstraat home came later.
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