Anne Frank House

The house was built in 1635 by Dirk van Delft and is a typical canal house. The facade was renovated in 1740 when neighboring houses were demolished. Originally, it was a mansion, then a warehouse. In the early 20th century, it housed a domestic appliance manufacturing facility.

On December 1, 1940, the "Opekta" company, which made jam additives and was employed by Anne's father, Otto Frank, moved in. On July 6, 1942, Anne Frank and her family moved into the "Secret Annex”, arranged by company employees in the back rooms of the house. The entrance was disguised behind a bookcase. Here, Anne wrote her diary from 1942 to 1944. In 1944, the Nazi authorities were tipped off and searched the house on August 4. The Frank family was arrested and sent to concentration camps.

After Anne Frank's diary was published in the Netherlands in 1947, people began visiting the house. However, in the 1950s, there was a plan to demolish the building and the entire district. The newspaper "Het Vrije Volk" started a campaign to save the Frank family's house, which resonated with the public. In 1957, Otto Frank and Johan Kleiman created the Anne Frank Foundation to raise funds for purchasing and restoring the building. That year, the company that owned the house (No. 263) gifted it to the foundation. Funds were also raised to purchase the adjacent building (No. 265).

On May 3, 1960, the Anne Frank House Museum was opened. During the restoration, the rooms were returned to their appearance before the Nazi raids. The front part of the building was restored to its pre-war office condition.

At the entrance to the museum, visitors see a statue of a thirteen-year-old girl who, after her death, conveyed to the world the truth about the atrocities of the Nazi regime. The exhibition consists of documents and household items from that time — an album, a typewriter, photographs. On the door frame, visitors can see notches made by the parents to mark the growth of their children. A special focus is given to the secret cupboard of Anne Frank's house, which served as the entrance to the shelter. Photos of Amsterdam during the German occupation are displayed on the ceiling.

The museum's main treasure is Anne Frank's diary, saved from destruction by Miep Gies, a Dutch woman who gave it to Otto Frank after the war. The diary was published in the USA and the UK in 1952 and sold in record numbers. Based on the diary, several books have been written and movies made. In 1959, the film "The Diary of Anne Frank" was released, and actress S. Winters, who played in it, received an Oscar for a supporting role. The Oscar statuette is now in the museum.

The Anne Frank House also engages in publishing activities, creates and organizes traveling exhibitions that have visited many countries.

The number of museum visitors continues to grow.