Back to photostream

Amsterdam - Vondelpark

The Vondelpark (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈvɔndəlˌpɑr(ə)k]) is a public urban park of 47 hectares (120 acres) in Amsterdam, Netherlands. It is part of the borough of Amsterdam-Zuid and situated west from the Leidseplein and the Museumplein. The park was opened in 1865 and originally named Nieuwe Park (English: New Park), but later renamed Vondelpark, after the 17th-century playwright and poet Joost van den Vondel. The park has around 10 million visitors annually. Within the park is an open-air theatre, a playground and several food service facilities.

 

History

 

19th century

 

In 1864 a group of citizens led by Christiaan Pieter van Eeghen established the Vereeniging tot Aanleg van een Rij- en Wandelpark (English: Association for the Construction of a Park for Riding and Walking). They bought several hectares of grass-land and marshes at the rim of the city of Amsterdam, in order to create the new park. They assigned its design to the architect Jan David Zocher, and in 1865 "Het Nieuwe Park" (English: "The New Park") was opened free for members of the association and with other citizens paying an entrance fee.

 

Two years after the park opened, in 1867, a statue of writer and playwright Joost van den Vondel by sculptor Louis Royer was placed in the park on a stand designed by architect Pierre Cuypers As a result, people started to call the park "Vondelspark" (English: "Vondel's Park").

 

In 1873, a bandstand was built. In the same year, brewer Gerard Adriaan Heineken was denied permission to open a bar in the park, so he built the Bierhuis Vondel (English: "Beer House Vondel") in a nearby street in what is now Vondelstraat 41.

 

The last part of the park was designed by Louis Paul Zocher, Jan David Zocher's son, and was realized from 1876 to 1877. The park then arrived at its current size of 47 hectares. The English garden style design of the Zochers has been roughly maintained, although in the late 19th century the elongated park had a stream of water running through it with many paths and bushes alongside it.

 

In 1878, the Pavillon (English: "Pavilion") was built to replace a wooden chalet built by Louis Paul Zocher. The Pavillon is currently known as the Vondelparkpaviljoen (English: "Vondelpark Pavilion"). The park's name officially became "Vondelpark" (English: "Vondel Park") in 1880.

 

Already in the 1880s and 1890s cycling in the park was causing problems. The park management tried to resolve this with restrictive measures against cyclists, such as special bike paths, limited opening hours, and fines for cyclists that were going faster than a horse's trot. It was only after mediation of the Algemene Nederlandsche Wielrijders-Bond (English: "General Dutch Cyclists Union"), that helped fund the park, that a park guard was installed and cyclists were again permitted to cycle normally.

 

20th century

 

In 1936, a rose garden was created in the center of the park.

 

One year later in 1937, the Blauwe Theehuis (English: "Blue Tearoom") was opened. This tearoom is a round modernist building, designed by the architectural office Baanders.

 

In the following years the overall maintenance of the park became too expensive for the Vereniging tot aanleg van een rij- en wandelpark (English: "Association for the creation of a park for riding and strolling"), due to an intensified use, and in 1953 the association donated the park to the city of Amsterdam. The landscape architect Egbert Mos renovated the Vondelpark for the city in the 1950s. The purpose was improve the park for both usage and maintenance. Small bushes were grouped into larger bushes, superfluous paths were removed, and the rose garden was renovated. Also the stream of water in the "trunk" near the northern entrance of the park was removed.

 

In the 1960s children's playgrounds were created. During the flower power era in the 1960s/1970s the Vondelpark became a symbol of a place where "everything is possible and (almost) everything is allowed".[6] In the 1980s an open-air theatre was built.

 

The Vondelpark received the status of rijksmonument (English: "state monument") in 1996.

 

21st century

 

In the 1990s the number of visitors grew to approximately 10 million visitors annually. The grassy areas are used as sports field and the paths as bike paths. Consequently, the city renovated the park from 1999 to 2010. The purpose was to beautify the park and lessen the need for maintenance. The renovation took more than ten years in order to increase convenience for visitors and for the security of resident animals.

 

Starting in September 2008, adults were legally allowed to have sex in the park, as long as they "[took] their garbage with them afterwards and never [had] intercourse near the playground. Sexual activities were to be limited to the evening hours and night.", in the words of current Amsterdam Alderman Paul Van Grieken.

 

Facilities

 

Open-air theatre

 

The Vondelpark Openluchttheater is an open-air theatre with shows from June until August. There are performances of classical music, pop music, world music, dance, musical theatre, and cabaret. The theatre receives a subsidy from the city government. And although all performances have free entrance, visitors are asked for a donation of one euro.

 

Food service

 

In the park are several food service (horeca) facilities (listed in alphabetical order):

 

't Blauwe Theehuis, a bar and restaurant

Groot Melkhuis, a bar and restaurant

Vondeling, the bar and restaurant of the open-air theatre

Vondeltuin, a bar and restaurant

 

Statues

 

There are some statues in the park:

 

Joost van den Vondel (1867) by Louis Royer

The Fish (1965) by Pablo Picasso

Mama Baranka (1985) by Nelson Carrilho

 

Events

 

Every Friday there is the Fridaynightskate that starts in front of the Filmmuseum.

 

Yearly events include the golf tournament Vondelpark Open and the running contest Vondelparkloop.

 

The King's Day celebrations on 27 April in the Vondelpark focus specifically on children. There is a "freemarket" (Dutch: vrijmarkt) and there are games and other activities for children.

 

From June until August there are music and dance performances in the open-air theatre.

 

Since 2011 on the evening of All Soul's Day people gather and float many small "remembrance" boats with a lighted candle in the big pond to remember those who have died in the last year(s).

 

Popular culture

 

The park is referenced in Acda en De Munnik's song "Vondelpark vannacht" from the album Acda en De Munnik (1997), in Omar Rodríguez-López's song "Vondelpark bij nacht" from the album Omar Rodriguez (2005) and in John Craigie's song "Vondelpark" from the album Working On My Farewell (2015). 1990s' 2009 album 'Kicks' opens with a track entitled "Vondelpark", which is a tour diary from one of the band's trips to the Netherlands. The English dream pop band Vondelpark took their name from the park.

 

English Indie musician Jess Kemp has a single titled 'Vondelpark'

 

There is also the map version named "Vondel" in 2022 video game Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 in season 4 based on Vondelpark.

 

Since the 1970s the park has a growing population of feral rose-ringed parakeets.

 

(Wikipedia)

 

Der Vondelpark ist der bekannteste und größte Park der niederländischen Hauptstadt Amsterdam.

 

Der Park umfasst rund 47 Hektar und liegt im Stadtbezirk Amsterdam-Zuid, an der Grenze zum Stadtbezirk Amsterdam-West. Er erstreckt sich südsüdöstlich der Ein- und Ausfallstraße Overtoom von der Stadhouderskade im Osten bis zum Amstelveenseweg im Westen. Der Vondelpark ist nach dem niederländischen Dramatiker Joost van den Vondel benannt, dessen Denkmal im Park steht. Jährlich wird der Park, in dem sich auch eine Freilichtbühne, ein Spielplatz, eine Reihe von Cafés und Restaurants sowie ein Teehaus befinden, von rund 10 Millionen Besuchern frequentiert. Der Vondelpark steht seit 1996 als Rijksmonument unter Denkmalschutz.

 

Geschichte

 

Eine Privatinitiative von Personen um C. P. van Eeghen, dem damaligen Präsidenten der Niederländischen Nationalbank, kaufte 1864 das Gebiet auf und beauftragte Jan David Zocher und dessen Sohn Louis David mit dem Entwurf eines Parks im Stil eines englischen Landschaftsgartens. Er wurde 1865 als Nieuwe Park („Neuer Park“) eröffnet. Als 1867 das Denkmal Joost van den Vondels aufgestellt wurde, bürgerte sich der Name Vondelpark ein, wie der Park seit 1880 auch offiziell heißt.

 

Bis 1953 befand er sich im Privateigentum der Vereniging tot aanleg van een rij- en wandelpark („Verein zur Anlage eines Parks zum Fahren und Spazierengehen“). Da der Verein schließlich die Unterhaltskosten nicht mehr aufzubringen vermochte, schenkte er das Gelände der Gemeinde Amsterdam.

 

Von den späten 1960er bis Mitte der 1970er Jahre war der Park ein wichtiger Treffpunkt und Veranstaltungsort der Hippie- und Provobewegung.

 

Vondelpark Openluchttheater

 

Auf der Open-Air-Bühne Vondelpark Openluchttheater im Vondelpark werden seit 1974 in den Sommermonaten Juni, Juli und August Musik-, Tanz-, Kabarett-, Film- und Theatervorstellungen gegeben. Es gibt, neben der überdachten Hauptbühne, bis zu zwei weitere mobile Bedarfsbühnen; der Zugang zu den Veranstaltungen ist gratis.

 

Vondelparkpaviljoen

 

Der Vondelparkpaviljoen ist ein 1874 bis 1881 nach Plänen von Willem Hamer jr. errichtetes Neorenaissance-Gebäude, das im Vondelpark auf dem tiefsten Punkt Amsterdams steht. Zunächst wurden in den Räumlichkeiten Kunstausstellungen organisiert und es entwickelte sich zu einem beliebten Treffpunkt der Bohème des ausgehenden 19. Jahrhunderts.

 

In den 1950er Jahren diente es als Standpunkt des Holland Festivals. Seit 1972 beherbergte es das Nederlands Filmmuseum. Es verfügte über zwei Filmsäle und empfing jährlich mehr als 150.000 Besucher. Im Keller ist ein Café-Restaurant untergebracht.

 

1991 wurde das Gebäude umfangreich restauriert. Das Filmmuseum ist seit April 2012 in ein neues futuristisches Gebäude am IJ umgezogen und der Vondelparkpaviljoen wird, nach einjähriger Vorbereitung, seit März 2024 vom International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam genutzt, welches dort auch seinen Hauptsitz eingerichtet hat.

 

Heutige Nutzung

 

Die Gemeinde Amsterdam führt seit 1999 eine großflächige Renovierung und Verbesserung des Parks durch, die 2015 beendet werden sollte. Erneuert wird vor allem die Drainage dieses ursprünglichen Sumpfgebietes, das unter dem Meeresspiegel liegt. Nachdem Anfang des 20. Jahrhunderts um den Park herum erste Wohnhäuser entstanden, mussten diese rund einen Meter höher gebaut werden. Daraus ergaben sich große Schwierigkeiten, den Vondelpark zu entwässern, weshalb nun versucht wird, dieses Problem mit einer neuen Drainage zu beheben.

 

(Wikipedia)

1,794 views
14 faves
0 comments
Uploaded on July 25, 2025
Taken on June 20, 2025