The Anne Frank House on the Prinsengracht

Anne Frank House

Anne Frank Huis · Amsterdam, Netherlands (Prinsengracht 263)

Foto: Jose A. · CC BY 2.0

The secret annexe behind a bookcase where Anne Frank's family hid for two years and she wrote her diary.

Antes de ir · Know before you go

  • Don't make noise, laugh or take selfies in the annexe
  • don't queue for long at the door blocking the canal-side pavement

Este artículo está «Sin verificar». Consulte los avisos oficiales sobre precios, horarios y fechas.

Stories & people

Historias y personajes

Historia

Two years behind a bookcase

On the morning of 6 July 1942 the Frank family moved into the secret annexe at the back of the building that housed Otto Frank's company, its entrance hidden behind a bookcase; several of Otto's most trusted employees became their helpers. On 4 August 1944 the hiding place was discovered and the whole family was arrested by the Gestapo. Anne and her sister Margot died at Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in early 1945; their father Otto survived Auschwitz. He published his daughter's diary in 1947, and in 1960 the house opened as a museum.

Anne Frank1929–1945

Fuente: Wikipedia: Anne Frank; Wikipedia: Anne Frank House

Culture

Cultura y costumbres

Contexto cultural

During the German occupation of the Netherlands, the Jewish teenager Anne Frank, her family and four others hid in a secret annexe at the back of this 17th-century canal house on the Prinsengracht, its entrance concealed behind a bookcase. Anne did not survive the war; her diary was published in 1947. Ten years later the Anne Frank Foundation was set up to stop developers demolishing the houses; the museum opened on 3 May 1960, preserving the annexe and presenting exhibitions on persecution and discrimination of all kinds.

Costumbres locales

  • This is a memorial: the route is narrow and the stairs steep
  • keep quiet in the annexe

Etiquette

Normas y tabúes

Normas que se aplican aquí

Línea rojaSeguridadNetherlands

Netherlands: don't swim in Amsterdam's canals

  • Swim in designated swimming areas
  • Jumping into a canal to swim
  • Urinating by a canal

Swimming in a canal brings a €160 fine; urinating in a canal is also fined.

Verificado el 19 oct 2026Fuente: GOV.UK: Netherlands travel advice

Línea rojaModales cotidianosNetherlands

Netherlands: cannabis is tolerated only in designated places

  • Understand that 'tolerated' does not mean legal
  • Smoking cannabis in public places
  • Buying or possessing drugs outside designated places

Using it in public is illegal; buying or possessing it outside designated places can mean prison.

Verificado el 19 oct 2026Fuente: GOV.UK: Netherlands travel advice

Línea rojaModales cotidianosNetherlands

Netherlands: everyone over 14 must be able to show ID

  • Carry your passport
  • Going out without any ID

€100 fine for those over 16, €50 for those aged 14–15.

Verificado el 19 oct 2026Fuente: GOV.UK: Netherlands travel advice

No lo haga DON'T

  • Don't make noise, laugh or take selfies in the annexe
  • don't queue for long at the door blocking the canal-side pavement

Lo que aprecian los locales DO

Amsterdammers appreciate visitors who come in a spirit of remembrance, having read the diary first.

Plan your visit

Información práctica

Mejor épocaYour booked time slot
Tiempo recomendado1–1.5 hours

Consejos de viaje

  • Tickets are sold only online for fixed time slots, so book early in peak season
  • next door is the Westerkerk, where Rembrandt is buried
Fuentes y notas de verificación

Wikipedia: Anne Frank House

Wikipedia: Anne Frank