Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
4
Diamond Museum
MUSEUM
Almost all of the exhibits at the small, low-tech Diamond Museum are clever re-creations,
glinting in glass cases. Those who are economically minded might want to save money by
just going next door to Coster Diamonds (the company owns the museum and is attached
to it) and taking a free workshop tour, where you can see gem cutters and polishers doing
their thing.
(
www.diamantmuseum.nl
; Paulus Potterstraat 8; adult/child €7.50/5;
9am-5pm;
2/5 Hobbemas-
traat)
Understand
The Golden Age
The Golden Age spans roughly the 17th century, when Holland was at the peak of its powers. It's the era when
Rembrandt painted, when city planners built the canals and when Dutch ships conquered the seas.
It started when trading rival Antwerp was retaken by the Spaniards in the late 16th century, and merchants,
skippers and artisans flocked to Amsterdam. A new moneyed society emerged. Persecuted Jews from Portugal
and Spain also fled to Amsterdam. Not only did they introduce the diamond industry, they knew of trade routes
to the West and East Indies.
Enter the Dutch East India Company, which wrested the Asian spice trade from the Portuguese. It soon grew
into the world's richest corporation, with more than 50,000 employees and a private army. Its sister, the Dutch
West India Company, traded with Africa and the Americas and was at the centre of the American slave trade. In
1672 Louis XIV of France invaded the Low Countries, and the brief era known as the Dutch Golden Age ended.
