The Red Light District of Amsterdam
De Wallen, also known as Walletjes or Rosse Buurt, is the largest and best-known red-light district in Amsterdam, a major tourist attraction. It is a network of alleys containing several hundred tiny one-room apartments rented by female prostitutes (and some ladyboys) who offer their services from behind a window or glass door, typically illuminated with red lights. The area also has a number of sex shops, sex theatres, peep shows, a sex museum, a cannabis museum, and a number of coffee shops offering various cannabis products.
The Amsterdam red light district is very close to its center, the Dam Square.
Here Amsterdam started as a settlement around a dam
in the river Amstel. To the left off Damrak the infamous red-light district stretches across two
canals - Oudezijds (abbreviated to O.Z.) Voorburgwal and O.Z. Achterburgwal. It is one of the real sights of the city, thronged in high season
with visitors keen to discover just how shocking it all is. Though seamy and seedy, the legalized prostitution on flagrant display here is world-renowned. The two canals, with their narrow connecting
passages, are thronged with neon-lit "window brothels", and at busy times the crass on-street haggling over the price of various sex acts is drowned
out by a surprisingly festive atmosphere.
Amsterdam started to flourish in the late 14th and 15th century. The fast growth formed
the foundation for what is know as the "Golden Age". In the Middle Ages, Amsterdam was a city of
stone monasteries and wooden houses. Only a few of
these buildings still exist now in the 21st century. The main ones are the "Old Church", around which the red light district develloped, and the
"New Church". The "New Church" is located at Dam Square and the "Old Church" is located in the middle of what is now the
Amsterdam Red Light District.
In the Golden Age (17th century) Amsterdam was the main trading market in the world. In this age Amsterdam develops its half crescent
shape of concentric half circles of canals.
Nowadays the total length of the canals is around 100 km with approximately 200 bridges. The
main monuments of Amsterdam were built during the Golden Age. For example the Town Hall at Dam Square which later became, and still is, a royal
palace. Many of the historical houses along the canals where built in that period.
At the end of the 17th century Amsterdam
was widely known in Europe for it's many "
houses of pleasure". In these luxury brothels, that were tolerated in the red light district, one
could enjoy music, dancing and the company of common prostitutes.
"The Procuress" - Gerard van Honthorst (1625)
Through the ages, authorities tried to control prostitution
to limit nuisance and prevent exploitation. Depending on the morality of
the time, different solutions were used.
In the middle ages prostitution
was not so much considered to be a moral issue. Although
is was considered as dishonesty (literally: without honor) it was also seen as an indispensable phenomenon. So it was tolerated.
Prostitutes had a dress code and were not allowed to be married.
It was prohibited for married men to visit prostitutes and prostitution was confined to certain spots in the city. This later became The
Red Light District).
In the 16th and 17th century
the influence of the Church on governmental policies increased. Sins became crimes and repression was on the rise. In spite of prohibition
and sometimes hard punishment, prostitution thrived in the prosperous trade city of Amsterdam.
Prostitution remained small-scale and
prostitutes worked for madams, frequently former prostitutes, for board and logging and to pay off working clothes and make-up If they stayed
out of trouble, madams would not be bothered by the town governing authorities.
In the 18th century regulations became less strict.
Owners of dancing rooms were allowed to expand their businesses and prostitutes started working in these places. This way the whole business
was out of the public eye.
During the time Napoleon ruled Holland, health concerns were more important than morality. To prevent
loosing soldiers to syphilis, prostitutes were forced to have health checks twice a week. Paid sex was seen as a necessary evil. Sexual
abstention would lead to depression and little zest for life.
The testing remained after the French period. However the pragmatic
approach towards prostitution changed. It was seen as "legalized sexual abuse" and this stricter morality led to a law in 1911,
banning brothels.
Although prostitution diminished, an article of law was not enough to ban it. Behind the facades of decent
companies such as massage salons, art trades and tobacco shops, clandestine brothels thrived.
The authorities quickly realized
that it was impossible to enforce the law in the area around the Old Church, the old prostitution district. So an unofficial policy of
tolerating this business was adopted. As long as the women worked inside and were not standing in the door openings they could do their
business. Women made potential customers aware of their presence thru a small opening between the curtains and a soft knock on the window.
Dating back to the 14th Century when sailors arrived in need of some female company, the district is full of sex shops, brothels, gay bars, cinemas, hotels and different kinds of museums. This infamous part of the city is a major tourist attraction. Each year, millions of visitors come to see this vibrant and exciting part of Amsterdam.
This site was made out of a personal love for Amsterdam, my native town and favorite city. I want to share my knowledge about Amsterdam and help you to enjoy the city as well. And since a lot of questions, asked by visitors of Amsterdam, are about the Red Light District and where to find it, that is where I start...
The Red Light District is located just south (10 minutes walking) of Centraal Station, the main train station. It consists of theaters, shops, museums, restaurants, bars, coffee
shops and of course the famous windows (about 250) with sexy girls, dressed in eye-popping underwear. And window-shopping, performed by both sexes is a favorite activity in the Red Light District.
Although there is a lot of adult entertainment, it is much more then just a tourist attraction.
This district of 300-year-old gabled buildings and expensive real estate houses doctors, lawyers and plenty of families. It is a tolerant community where freedom is highly valued.
Tourist authorities acknowledge the 700-year-old red-light district -- a maze of narrow alleys and canals lined with sex shops, prostitutes behind windows and marijuana-selling "coffee shops" -- is as much of a draw as other attractions such as the Van Gogh museum or the Anne Frank House.
Every night visitors throng the streets, looking at women sitting behind huge red-lit windows, and who sell their services for as little as €50 ($80). Amsterdam Red Light District prices are low compared to most other western cities.
If you want to take pictures yourself in this area, be very careful. You will see "No Photos" stickers everywhere and most girls hate to be photographed. If you get caught by them, verbal abuse is the least you can expect and you won't be the first person whose camera ends up in one of the canals.
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