De Negen Straatjes is a named group of nine cross streets in Amsterdam’s canal belt, between the Singel, Herengracht, Keizersgracht and Prinsengracht. Their small plots once housed trades serving canal residents; today the historic street pattern frames a changing mix of shops, cafés and homes.
Quick facts
The nine streets—Reestraat, Hartenstraat, Gasthuismolensteeg, Berenstraat, Wolvenstraat, Oude Spiegelstraat, Runstraat, Huidenstraat and Wijde Heisteeg—lie between four canals: Singel, Herengracht, Keizersgracht and Prinsengracht.
In 1996, Huidenstraat antique dealer Djoeke Wessing proposed the shared name; an entrepreneurs’ association was founded that year at café De Doffer in the Runstraat.
Street names such as Huidenstraat and Runstraat preserve links to the hide and leather trades; Stadsherstel reports that tanners were moved east around 1650 and other workshops then supplied canal-house residents.
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De Negen Straatjes—literally, “the Nine Streets”—is a named shopping area in Amsterdam’s historic canal belt, not one street or a self-contained monument. Its nine cross streets sit between the Singel, Herengracht, Keizersgracht and Prinsengracht, in the central municipality of Amsterdam. The names are Reestraat, Hartenstraat, Gasthuismolensteeg, Berenstraat, Wolvenstraat, Oude Spiegelstraat, Runstraat, Huidenstraat and Wijde Heisteeg.
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