Why go

The Anne Frank House is the canal house on the Prinsengracht where Anne Frank, her family and four other Jewish people hid from the Nazi occupiers for more than two years. Behind a movable bookcase in the building where her father Otto ran his business, they lived in the cramped rooms of the Secret Annex until they were betrayed and arrested in August 1944. Anne died in Bergen-Belsen in early 1945. Her diary, published after the war by her father, has been read by millions.

A visit is quiet and deeply affecting. The rooms are unfurnished, at Otto Frank’s request, but the pictures Anne pasted on her bedroom wall are still there, and the museum uses her own words to tell the story.

Anne’s father Otto was the only one of the eight people in hiding to survive the war. He returned to Amsterdam, was given his daughter’s diary by Miep Gies, one of the helpers, and worked to have it published. The house opened as a museum in 1960.

What to see

  • The Secret Annex. The hidden rooms at the back of the house, reached through the doorway behind the bookcase.
  • Anne’s room. The small room she shared with Fritz Pfeffer, with her film-star and royal pictures on the wall.
  • The diary. Anne’s original red-checked diary is displayed in the museum.
  • The front house. The offices and warehouse of Otto Frank’s business, where the helpers worked by day.
  • Temporary exhibitions. The current exhibition follows the Jewish Lyceum school in Amsterdam between 1941 and 1943.

Plan your visit

Tickets are sold only on the museum’s official website, for a specific date and time, and nothing is sold at the door. Every Tuesday at 10am CET, tickets are released for visits six weeks later, and popular times go quickly, so plan ahead. Adults pay €16.50, ages 10 to 17 pay €7 and children under 10 pay €1, all including a €1 booking fee. Museumkaart holders pay only the booking fee but must still book a slot, and the I amsterdam City Card gives no discount. Tickets cannot be exchanged, refunded or transferred.

The museum is open every day from 9am to 10pm, with shorter hours on some days, including 9am to 5pm on 25 and 31 December and noon to 10pm on New Year’s Day. You can book a regular visit or add a 30-minute introductory programme in English beforehand. Allow an hour to an hour and a half. The house has steep stairs and a high step, so check the accessibility information if stairs are difficult for you.

The entrance is around the corner from the canal house, at Westermarkt 20. Trams 13 and 17 stop at Westermarkt, and the walk from Amsterdam Centraal takes about 20 minutes.

Nearby

The Westerkerk, where Rembrandt is buried, stands next door; Anne wrote about hearing its bells. The Jordaan begins across the canal, and the Homomonument is on the Westermarkt. If you cannot get tickets, a guided walk of the Jewish Quarter and the canal ring tells the story well, although it does not include entry.