Waterlooplein is a market square formed over two filled canals in Amsterdam’s historic Jewish quarter. Its story connects Jewish street trade and wartime persecution with metro construction, neighborhood protest, and the Stopera redevelopment.
Quick facts
The present Waterlooplein took shape in 1882, when the Houtgracht and Leprozengracht were filled and nearby traders moved onto the new square.
From September 1941 Jews in Amsterdam were restricted to designated Jewish markets; German authorities closed the Waterlooplein Jewish market in August 1943.
Amsterdam chose Waterlooplein for a new city hall in 1954; the Muziektheater in the Stopera opened on 23 September 1986.
Get directions to Waterlooplein. Confirm the visitor entrance and current access with the venue before travelling.
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Guide
Waterlooplein is a market square built over water and layered with memories. The broad open space is itself a clue: until 1882, the Houtgracht and Leprozengracht crossed here. When the canals were filled, traders moved from nearby streets onto the new square. The market began in the heart of Amsterdam’s old Jewish quarter, where Portuguese and German-speaking Jewish migrants had settled from the seventeenth century onward.
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