History

The Royal Palace was originally built as a town hall for Amsterdam’s administrative and judicial authorities.

In 1648 the burgomaster and magistrates of Amsterdam commissioned the famous architect Jacob van Campen to design their new building. Amsterdam at the time was the most powerful trading nation in the world and people were attracted by its power and prestige. Newcomers were flocking to the city and in the space of a century its population increased sixfold. As a result, the responsibilities of government were greater than ever before. The old Gothic Town Hall was no longer up to its task and the renowned Exchange Bank, which was housed there, was unable to cope with its growing workload. As a result, the city fathers decided to build a bigger and more impressive town hall, an edifice worthy of a metropolis of Amsterdam’s stature. Jacob van Campen’s classicist building, recalling the architecture of ancient Greece and Rome, was monumental by Dutch standards of the day.

Both the architecture and the decoration proclaimed by the city’s supremacy and prosperity. The Antwerp sculptor Artus Quellinus and other celebrated artists were engaged to execute Van Campen’s designs in oil paint and costly stone. The most important rooms were decorated with paintings that related to their function, made by famous artists like Rembrandt van Rijn, Ferdinand Bol and Govaert Flinck.

Though far from ready, the town hall opened its doors for business in 1655. The delighted citizens of Amsterdam proudly referred to it as ‘the eighth wonder of the world’, and the poet Joost Vondel proclaimed it the ‘crown of creation’. He said it was built like the human body: ‘It has a midriff, arms, feet, head and shoulders…..and also internal organs. Each limb, each organ has its own function, purpose and disposition ‘. The town hall was built to serve a secular purpose, but there was more to it than that. It was homage to creation, with all its splendour alluding to a superior power.

150 years later, in 1808, the town hall acquired a different function.

Napoleon’s brother, Louis Napoleon, who had become the king of Holland two years before, decided to make the Town Hall his residence. Finding himself in an impoverished country, the twenty-seven-year-old Louis was moved with compassion. To his brother’s fury, he turned a blind eye to the trade between Holland and France’s archrival England, and so obstructed Napoleon’s efforts to isolate England economically from the rest of Europe.

The entire administration was moved out of the building. However, given the poor state of the country’s economy, it seemed wiser not to relocate the Exchange Bank. But, a palace with an Exchange Bank on its premises was certainly something out of the ordinary.

The lavish interior and furnishings give us some idea of how the building was transformed from what was essentially an office complex into a palace in the French Empire style. A reformist at heart, Louis tried to revive the decaying city. He promptly took measures to deal with the appalling state of the drinking water supply, the silted-up harbour, the polluted canals, and the practice of burying the dead within the city. The ancient Weighing House in the centre of Dam Square lacked the prestige that had saved the Exchange Bank, and, deaf to the protest of the populace, Louis insisted that it be demolished.

But Napoleon’s patience soon wore thin. Louis was forced to leave the country with undignified haste, only to spend the rest of his life reminiscing about his brief spell as the king of Holland. After Paris and Rome, Amsterdam had been the third capital of the Napoleonic Empire. And for a fleeting moment in its history the Town Hall had served as the third Imperial Palace in the declining years of the Empire. Almost the entire collection of costly furniture dating from that time was left behind. It is one of the best-preserved and most complete collections of its kind.

From 29 June to 16 September 2012, the Royal Palace Amsterdam presents the exhibition Louis Napoleon & his Palace in Dam Square. For more information, click here.

In 1813 Prince William of Orange, later King William I, returned the Palace to the City of Amsterdam. But after taking the throne, he came to appreciate the benefits of having a residence in the capital, and the city agreed to grant him the use of the building once more.

At present the Royal Palace is used for State Visits, the Queen’s New Year receptions and other official functions, including the annual presentation of the Erasmus Prize, the Silver Carnation, the Royal Awards for Painting, and the Prince Claus Prize.

When not in use by the Queen or members of the Royal House, the palace is open to the public under the auspices of the Amsterdam Royal Palace Foundation. Two exihibitions are held each year.

The Royal Palace Amsterdam in it's function as Palace of the House of Orange