Anne Frank House

The Travel Pages visits the Anne Frank House, one of the main attractions in Amsterdam, with a visit to the secret annex where Anne Frank kept her diary.

Anne Frank was born in 1929 and died in March 1945 in the Nazi death camp at Belsen, because she was Jewish. For almost two years she had lived in hiding with her family in this house, where her father Otto had built up two businesses – a herb and spice company and a company that produced pectin, for use in jam.

They had come to Amsterdam from Frankfurt in Germany in 1933 when Adolf Hitler came to power, but in 1940 Hitler invaded the Netherlands. When Anne’s sister Margot was called to go to a so-called work project in Germany, which people knew was in effect a death sentence, Otto Frank took her and the rest of his family into hiding in some rooms above his business premises. They stayed there in virtual secrecy for 25 months, till someone betrayed them to the authorities.

Anne Frank’s Diary

The diary that Anne Frank kept of their secret life became an international best-seller and brings millions of people to see this old merchant’s house, built in 1635, where the Frank family lived. Because it is an old house, and some of the rooms are small and with narrow stairways, it can be slow-moving.

When to Visit the Anne Frank House

Ideally you should try to be there when it opens, even up to 30 minutes beforehand, otherwise crowds build up and you could be in for a lengthy wait. The other option is to go late in the day, but allow at least an hour for your visit. You should also be prepared for the fact that it can be an upsetting experience. There’s a nice café here, if you need some time afterwards to reflect on the visit.

Where Is the Anne Frank House?

The entrance to the building is round the corner at Prinsengracht 267, though there’s usually no missing the long queue. The tour is self-guided and you can take your time, starting with some background exhibitions before you move through to the original part of the house, where Otto Frank had his business.

You move up through the offices above the workshops downstairs, and up again to the annex where the Frank family lived. Its very smallness has you shaking your head in wonder, that eight people could have lived here for over two years, and gone almost undetected.

Read Anne Frank’s Diary Before Visiting

If you can, read Anne Frank’s diary just before visiting, to get the full emotional impact. You’ll probably want to read it again afterwards too, having seen the place where it was written.

After visiting the secret annex, you move along to more exhibition areas, and a library where the café also is. The rooms here have computer displays, where you can pull up more information on particular aspects of the house, and the whole Jewish experience during World War II. They do get very busy, though, and you may have a wait.

Visiting the Anne Frank House

Open daily
Address: Prinsengracht 263
Tel: 020 556 7100

Museum website

The excellent website enables you to make a virtual tour of parts of the Anne Frank House, including the secret annex.