History of Amsterdam Trivia Quiz

Answer: Removed the tolls to cross bridges

Prior to Floris V, Count of Holland's removal of the bridge tolls, Amsterdam was a secluded fishing village. The tolls prevented most merchants and traders from visiting Amsterdam and other nearby places. By removing the tolls, he weakened the economies of nearby noblemen, many of whom he was at war with and had failed to conquer a few years prior.

Answer: Miracle of the Host

According to the legend in 1345, a dying man was given Communion as part of his last rites. However, he was so ill he vomited the host up. As is customary, the host was burned overnight. However, the host remained intact in the flames and this became the Miracle of Amsterdam or the Miracle of the Host.

The man's house was knocked down a church was built over it. Since the 16th century a procession called Stille Omgang occurs to celebrate this miracle.

Answer: Munster

During the Munster Rebellion in the Reformation, Anabaptists or Mennonites briefly seized control of Munster and established a sectarian government. In 1535, the Anabaptists lost control of the city. In Amsterdam, the Munster Rebellion had a profound effect and Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor began a kingdom-wide persecution of Anabaptists.

In Amsterdam alone, over 70 Anabaptists were executed for fear they would overthrow the government in the city. Many more were exiled and these persecutions last well into the 1550s.

Answer: Increase in religious tolerance

Technically after the Dutch Rebellion and the Eighty Years War, only Calvinism and some other Protestant religions were officially sanction but Catholics and other religious groups saw a stop in their persecution. Catholics still attended secret clandestine churches but they were no longer targeted.

Many of these clandestine churches' locations were known by authorities and were left alone. It was also during this time that Jewish people from other places in Europe were widely prosecuted and moved to Amsterdam, which they saw as a safe refuge from discrimination.

Answer: Dutch East India Company

The Dutch East India Company (VOC) was founded in 1602 whose primary purpose was to unite Dutch trading entities into one group. The VOC greatly improved trade with Dutch colonies in the South China Sea Region and the Dutch were able to secure a monopoly on the Spice Trade.

As a result, Amsterdam and the Netherlands at large were ushered into a Golden Age during the 17th century. The city was the financially most dominated one in all of Europe. Artists such as Rembrandt worked in the city during this era.

The Dutch were also able to expand their trade with colonies in Africa and in the Caribbean as well. It was also in 1602 that the city's stock exchange was founded further expanding its economic dominance.

Answer: Bubonic plague

Amsterdam was a center of trade in Europe and allowed foreign ships into its ports. It is said that a ship from Algeria had brought plague-infested rats into Amsterdam and the plague spread. The plague was initially mild but picked up steam as more and more foreign ships entered the city. Thousands died and many of the city's noble people and merchants had moved out of Amsterdam to avoid the plague.


At the same time, London and Paris were becoming more and more dominate as England and France expanded their presence on the High Seas and in Europe. The plague sent many artists, merchants and inventors who had previously lived in Amsterdam to these city's instead.

Answer: Economic riots

Pachtersoproer riots did not begin in Amsterdam but in Friesland. Friesland was a relatively rural area of the Netherlands that was highly taxed, much to the people's dissatisfaction. Tax collectors were attacked and forced out of office. After public gatherings were banned, the rioters moved onto Amsterdam and raided the houses of the wealthy, destroying property and throwing money into the river system.

Some rioters were hanged which caused more rioting when the crowd tried to free the prisoners.

Answer: No one knows for sure

There are many conspiracy theories about who exposed the Frank Family but none of them have been proven correct. It has been the subject of many books, films and documentaries.

Anne Frank was a German-born young girl who wished to be an author. Her family was Jewish and moved to Amsterdam when they lost their German citizenship. They went into hiding in 1942 to avoid deportation to a death camp and were provided for by their closest confidants, many of whom are suspects in their reveal. Anne kept a diary she received for her birthday and the diary was kept by Miep Gies when the family was arrested. Gies kept the diary a secret and passed it to Otto, Anne's father, and the diary was published posthumously in 1947. Today, Anne Frank House is one of the most visited museums in Amsterdam.

Answer: Van Gogh Museum

When the Van Gogh Museum opened in 1973, it was built near the Rijksmuseum which displays works by Rembrandt, another famous Dutch artist. The Van Gogh Museum contains the largest collection Van Gogh works in the world, including some of his most famous works like "Sunflowers".

It also contains work by Vincent van Gogh's contemporaries like Paul Gaugin and Auguste Rodin. There have been several instances over the years of thefts from the museum, most famously in 1991 when twenty paintings were stolen and three were torn, but the works have been recovered.

Answer: Theo van Gogh

Theo van Gogh was a Dutch filmmaker and the great-grandson of Vincent van Gogh's brother also named Theo. The younger Theo focused his films on social issues and problems. His film "Submission" focused on the poor treatment of Muslim women in predominantly Muslim societies.

The short film caused a stir among fundamentalist Muslim men and van Gogh and the film's screenwriter Ayaan Hirsh Ali received death threats that neither took seriously. Van Gogh was shot by Mohammed Bouyeri, a Dutch-Moroccan citizen with ties to terrorist groups.

The murder sparked a dialogue about tolerance in the diverse Amsterdam which, up until that point, had not caused tension among the many communities in decades.