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Jordaan

4 important questions on Jordaan

The Palingoproer (Eel Riot)

At the end of the 19th century, a small war broke out in the Jordaan: the Amsterdam Eel Riot. The Jordaan residents were playing an illegal game called eel pulling. A rope was stretched over the canal with a live eel hanging from it. The game was to pull the eel off the rope from a rickety boat. The police intervened, and the Jordaan residents revolted. A huge battle ensued. Flowerpots, hot water, and cobblestones flew through the air. Even the army was called in. In the end, 25 people died.

What caused Renovations and Changes in the Jordaan?

Both the cholera outbreak and the Eel Riot prompted the city council to renovate the Jordaan. Some of the characteristic houses disappeared, but fortunately, much was preserved. The Jordaan remained a true working-class neighborhood until the mid-20th century, where stories and music colored the lives of the residents.

Drie Hendricken (Three Hendricks)

Bloemgracht 87. Together, these façades from the 17th century are called "De Drie Hendricken," named after the Amsterdam architect of these houses, Hendrick de Keyser.

Knuffelhuis (Stuffed animal House)

Address: Bloemgracht 140 Artist Kees Pé lives in the stuffed animal house on the Bloemgracht. He started with stuffed animal trees and made them for children. Not just literal children, but also the child within us. He wants to help us remember the time before we were three years old, before we were 'programmed' to do what we must and behave as expected. He says, "as a child, everything is nothing. You don’t know that you are alive. You just are." He hopes that as adults, we can rediscover a bit of that liveliness of the child.

The question on the page originate from the summary of the following study material:

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