Rokin Plaza

The Hotel Polen fire occurred on 9 May 1977 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The conflagration destroyed the Hotel Polen (Hotel Poland), a five-story hotel in the centre of the city which had been built in 1891, as well as the furniture store on the ground level and a nearby bookstore. Many of the tourists staying at the hotel (of whom the majority were Swedes) jumped to their deaths trying to escape the flames. Upon their arrival, the fire department used a life net to help people escape, but not everyone could be saved. The incident resulted in 33 deaths and 21 severe injuries. The cause of the fire is unknown. In 1986 the Polish-born artist Ania Bien created a photographic installation based on the fire which compared it to the Holocaust. The hotel was located between the Kalverstraat (no. 15–17) and the Rokin (no. 14), near the present day Madame Tussauds. Its place is now occupied by the Rokin Plaza, originally an office building, which today houses several fashion shops.

Madame Tussauds Amsterdam is a wax museum situated in Amsterdam, the capital city of the Netherlands. It is located in the centre of the city on Dam Square, near the Royal Palace of Amsterdam. Founded in 1970, it was the first Madame Tussauds that was opened in mainland Europe as well as being the first foreign branch of the British institution. The collection of Madame Tussauds Amsterdam consists of a collection of wax figures of famous celebrities in different categories such as the Golden Age of Dutch history, music, sport and film.

Dam Square or the Dam (Dutch pronunciation: [dɑm]) is a town square in Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands. Its notable buildings and frequent events make it one of the best-known and most important locations in the city and the country.

Amsterdam Ordnance Datum or Normaal Amsterdams Peil (NAP) is a vertical datum in use in large parts of Western Europe. Originally created for use in the Netherlands, its height was used by Prussia in 1879 for defining Normalnull, and in 1955 by other European countries. In the 1990s, it was used as the reference level for the United European leveling Network (UELN) which in turn led to the European Vertical Reference System (EVRS).Mayor Johannes Hudde of Amsterdam in a way came up with the idea after he expanded the sea dike after a flood in Amsterdam in 1675. Of course a dike should be storm-resistant to protect a city against flooding, and in this case a margin of "9 feet and 5 inches" (2.67 m - margin is defined in Amsterdam feet) was deemed enough to cope with rising water. So he measured the water level of the adjacent sea arm, Het IJ and compared it with the water level in the canals within the city itself. He found that the water level at an average summer flood in the sea arm (when the water level reaches its maximum, not counting storms) was about the same as the level on the other side of the sea-dike, plus the margin of 9 feet and 5 inches. The relatively constant water level in the canals of Amsterdam, called Amsterdams Peil ("Amsterdam level", AP), equalled the level at summer flood at sea in the sea-inlet, which changes throughout the year. AP was carried over to other areas in the Netherlands in 1860, to replace locally used levels. In this operation, an error was introduced which was corrected (normalised) between 1885 and 1894, resulting in the Normaal Amsterdams Peil. Originally the zero level of NAP was the average summer flood water level in the IJ just north of the centre of Amsterdam (which was at the time, in 1684, the main shipping area, then still connected with the open sea). Currently it is physically realised by a brass benchmark on a 22-meter pile below the Dam square in Amsterdam. The brass benchmark in the Amsterdam Stopera (combined city hall and opera house), which is a tourist attraction, is no longer used as a reference point.

Amsterdam-Centrum is the inner-most borough and historical city centre of Amsterdam, Netherlands containing the majority of the city's landmarks. Established in 2002, Amsterdam-Centrum was the last area in the city to be granted the status of self-governing borough. The borough is only 8.04 km2 large and covers the old innercity and the UNESCO-listed Amsterdam canal belt. In 2013, the borough had approximately 85,000 inhabitants, who on average had the second-highest income per household in the city (after Amsterdam-Zuid) and one of the highest in the country.

The following is a timeline of the history of the municipality of Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Rokin is an Amsterdam Metro station on Line 52. It began service in July 2018 and is under the Rokin canal in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

The National Monument on Dam Square (Dutch: Nationaal Monument op de Dam) is a 1956 cenotaph in Amsterdam, Netherlands. A national Remembrance of the Dead ceremony is held at the monument every year on 4 May to commemorate the casualties of World War II and subsequent armed conflicts.

Nes ([ˈnɛs]; sometimes called de Nes, "the Nes") is a narrow, old, street in central Amsterdam, Netherlands. It runs parallel to and to the east of Rokin, between Dam Square to the north and Grimburgwal to the south. The Dutch word nes means headland or spit (compare the English word "ness", often found as a suffix in placenames). Until the seventeenth century, the northern part of Nes (roughly near where Dam Square now is) was called Gansoord ("Goose-oord"). (An oord (nl) is a piece of land between where two rivers meet.) The name most likely described the nature of the street's original situation among the waterways of Amsterdam. In the year 1500, there were around 20 monasteries in Amsterdam; of which five were in Nes. The street was nicknamed Gebed zonder End ("Prayer without end"). A side alley bears that name to this day (nl). Open practice of Catholicism was banned after the Alteratie of 1578, and the monasteries were given over to other uses. For example, the Binnengasthuis was founded as a hospital on the sites of the Old and New Nunneries. From early in the nineteenth century, Nes became a centre for entertainment. Its attractions included brothels, café-chantants, the Salon des Variétés, the Theatre Tivoli, and artists' cafés. Later, it became important in the tobacco trade. From 1911 (or earlier) until the mid 1930s, No. 17 was home to one of the earliest gay bars: The Empire. Since the 1960s, Nes has become known as a theatrical quarter; with sites including Frascati, Engelenbak, De Brakke Grond (a Flemish cultural centre), TOBACCO Theater (a rijksmonument), and the Comedy Theatre in de Nes.

Swissôtel Amsterdam is a four-star luxury hotel in Amsterdam, the capital city of the Netherlands, and is managed by the Switzerland-based hotel chain Swissôtel Hotels & Resorts. Swissotel Amsterdam is located near Dam Square, in the heart of Amsterdam's historic city centre.

The Anantara Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky Amsterdam, colloquially known as Kras, is a five-star luxury hotel located on Dam Square in central Amsterdam, Netherlands. Founded in 1865, the hotel has 402 rooms, a convention center, restaurants, and a pier for boats on the Oudezijds Voorburgwal canal. The hotel is part of the Anantara Hotels, Resorts & Spas brand under Minor Hotels.

The Royal Palace of Amsterdam in Amsterdam (Dutch: Koninklijk Paleis van Amsterdam or Paleis op de Dam) is one of three palaces in the Netherlands which are at the disposal of the monarch by Act of Parliament. It is situated on the west side of Dam Square in the centre of Amsterdam, opposite the War Memorial and next to the Nieuwe Kerk. The palace was built as a city hall during the Dutch Golden Age in the 17th century. The building became the royal palace of King Louis Napoleon and later of the Dutch Royal House.