The National Trade Union Museum

From the outside, the building bears a strong resemblance to a castle or burcht. There is a tower, there are 'battlements' and the outer stairs recall a drawbridge spanning a castle moat. This was once the stronghold of the bustling heart of the Amsterdam diamond business. However, World War 11 put an end to all its activities...
Inside the building, a commemorative stone is a constant reminder of this dramatic period. Most of the diamond cutters were of Jewish origin. Now the National Trade Unions Museum (or Vakbondsmuseum De Burcht) has its home here.

Inside, you're under the illusion that you have entered the covered courtyard of a Mediterranean palace. Sunlight streams down through a double roof of yellow and white glass and, passing through glass floor tiles, penetrates as far as the basement. The walls are of yellow, white and blue glazed brick and are relieved by vaults, columns and balustrades. An enormous hanging lamp high in the glass cupola, dominates the most beautiful of Amsterdam's staircases. In the stylish rooms, you can enjoy paintings by Richard Roland Holst, stained glass windows, wooden panelling and furniture designed by Beriage himself. You can explore as high as the tower room that offers a view of the impressive cupola construction. In the high tower, you will see a lighted window pane in the form of a diamond.

Two monumental buildings by Hendrik Petrus Berlage (1856- 1934) At the end of the nineteenth century, Amsterdam entered a new period of economic growth. The Dutch capital again became an important commercial centre, which also led to many new architectural commissions. On returning to Amsterdam, Berlage, still a 'young' architect who had studied under Semper in Zurich, associated with such left-wing liberals as Treub and socialdemocrats like Polak, and became friends with artists like Toorop, Verwey and Richard Roland Holst. Partly because of this, he was awarded the commission to design two important buildings: the head office of the General Dutch Diamond Cutters Union (or Algemene Nederlandse Diamantbewerkers-bond) and the new Stock Exchange, or Beurs. The latter was the centre of Dutch commerce, the former the heart of the richest and most powerful trade union in the Netherlands. Even from a distance, it is clear that neither building is just bricks and mortar: they are monuments, and were immediately recognised and acknowledged as such by almost everyone.

Berlage grew into one of the most important architects of the early twentieth century. Both the Burcht and the Beurs were designed at the beginning of his career. In his lifetime, he designed many other famous buildings, such as the Jachtslot Hubertus in the Hoge Veluwe and the Municipal Museum in The Hague. His designs in Amsterdam include drawings for Plan Zuid, the blueprints for South Amsterdam, and a bridge that now bears his name.

Berlage was in contact with such important architects as Frank Lloyd Wright, extended his design activities to include furniture and designs, wrote five plays, designed stage scenery for the Dutch national play Gijsbrecht van Amstel and was the inspiration behind not only the Amsterdam School, but also New Objectivity (Neue Sachlichkeit), two architectural movements that, even during his lifetime, exerted a powerful influence.