In the 17th century, Amsterdam grew into the most important city in Europe. Trading on the high seas made the city incredibly rich and, in half a century, the city population grew to five times its size. A new, grand town hall was needed to underline the power of this metropolis
On 28 October 1648, the son of
Mayor De Graeff laid the first stone of the new town hall. The Munster Treaty
had been signed shortly beforehand, ending the 80 Years War between the Dutch
Republic and Spain. The town hall was designed by architect Jacob van Campen
partly as a monument to this important event. It was logical that the bronze
statue of Peace would take pride of place on the façade of the building.
For two centuries, the Town Hall of Amsterdam was the largest secular building in Europe.
The façade is 79 metres wide and
55 metres high to the top of the tower. A huge amount of sandstone and marble
were brought in from abroad to coat the façades and interiors. Exactly 13,659
wooden poles, made from Norwegian spruce, were driven into Amsterdam’s soft
ground to carry the weight of the building. It’s no wonder that, already during
construction, the building was called ‘the Eighth Wonder of the World’.
