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in Western Europe, behind London 676,000, Paris 560,000 and Naples 324,000. This was all the more remarkable as Amsterdam was neither the capital city nor the seat of government of the Dutch Republic, which itself was a much smaller state than England, France or the Ottoman Empire. In contrast to those other metropolises, Amsterdam was also surrounded by large towns such as Leiden about 67,000, Rotterdam 45,000, Haarlem 38,000 and Utrecht 30,000.
The city's population declined in the early 19th century, dipping under 200,000 in 1820. By the second half of the 19th century, industrialisation spurred renewed growth. Amsterdam's population hit an alltime high of 872,000 in 1959, before declining in the following decades due to governmentsponsored suburbanisation to socalled groeikernen growth centres such as Purmerend and Almere. Between 1970 and 1980, Amsterdam experienced its sharp population decline, peaking at a net loss of 25,000 people in 1973. By 1985 the city had only 675,570 residents. This was soon fo |
llowed by reurbanisation and gentrification, leading to renewed population growth in the 2010s. Also in the 2010s, much of Amsterdam's population growth was due to immigration to the city. Amsterdam's population failed to beat the expectations of 873,000 in 2019.
Immigration
In the 16th and 17th century, nonDutch immigrants to Amsterdam were mostly Huguenots, Flemings, Sephardi Jews and Westphalians. Huguenots came after the Edict of Fontainebleau in 1685, while the Flemish Protestants came during the Eighty Years' War. The Westphalians came to Amsterdam mostly for economic reasons their influx continued through the 18th and 19th centuries. Before the Second World War, 10 of the city population was Jewish. Just twenty percent of them survived the Shoah.
The first mass immigration in the 20th century was by people from Indonesia, who came to Amsterdam after the independence of the Dutch East Indies in the 1940s and 1950s. In the 1960s guest workers from Turkey, Morocco, Italy, and Spain emigrated to Amster |
dam. After the independence of Suriname in 1975, a large wave of Surinamese settled in Amsterdam, mostly in the Bijlmer area. Other immigrants, including refugees asylum seekers and illegal immigrants, came from Europe, America, Asia and Africa. In the 1970s and 1980s, many 'old' Amsterdammers moved to 'new' cities like Almere and Purmerend, prompted by the third planological bill of the Dutch Government. This bill promoted suburbanisation and arranged for new developments in socalled "groeikernen", literally cores of growth. Young professionals and artists moved into neighborhoods De Pijp and the Jordaan abandoned by these Amsterdammers. The nonWestern immigrants settled mostly in the social housing projects in AmsterdamWest and the Bijlmer. Today, people of nonWestern origin make up approximately onefifth of the population of Amsterdam, and more than 30 of the city's children. Ethnic Dutch as defined by the Dutch census now make up a minority of the total population, although by far the largest one. Only on |
e in three inhabitants under 15 is an autochthon, or a person who has two parents of Dutch origin. Segregation along ethnic lines is clearly visible, with people of nonWestern origin, considered a separate group by Statistics Netherlands, concentrating in specific neighbourhoods especially in NieuwWest, Zeeburg, Bijlmer and in certain areas of AmsterdamNoord.
In 2000, Christians formed the largest religious group in the city 28 of the population. The next largest religion was Islam 8, most of whose followers were Sunni. In 2015, Christians formed the largest religious group in the city 28 of the population. The next largest religion was Islam 7.1, most of whose followers were Sunni.
Religion
In 1578, the largely Catholic city of Amsterdam joined the revolt against Spanish rule, late in comparison to other major northern Dutch cities. Catholic priests were driven out of the city. Following the Dutch takeover, all churches were converted to Protestant worship. Calvinism was declared the main religion; althou |
gh Catholicism was not forbidden and priests allowed to serve, the Catholic hierarchy was prohibited. This led to the establishment of schuilkerken, covert religious buildings that were hidden in preexisting buildings. Catholics, some Jewish and dissenting Protestants worshiped in such buildings. A large influx of foreigners of many religions came to 17thcentury Amsterdam, in particular Sefardic Jews from Spain and Portugal, Huguenots from France, Lutherans, Mennonites, as well as Protestants from across the Netherlands. This led to the establishment of many nonDutchspeaking churches. In 1603, the Jewish received permission to practice their religion in the city. In 1639, the first synagogue was consecrated. The Jews came to call the town 'Jerusalem of the West'.
As they became established in the city, other Christian denominations used converted Catholic chapels to conduct their own services. The oldest Englishlanguage church congregation in the world outside the United Kingdom is found at the Begijnhof. Re |
gular services there are still offered in English under the auspices of the Church of Scotland. Being Calvinists, the Huguenots soon integrated into the Dutch Reformed Church, though often retaining their own congregations. Some, commonly referred by the moniker 'Walloon', are recognizable today as they offer occasional services in French.
In the second half of the 17th century, Amsterdam experienced an influx of Ashkenazim, Jews from Central and Eastern Europe. Jews often fled the pogroms in those areas. The first Ashkenazis who arrived in Amsterdam were refugees from the Khmelnytsky Uprising occurring in Ukraine and the Thirty Years' War, which devastated much of Central Europe. They not only founded their own synagogues, but had a strong influence on the 'Amsterdam dialect' adding a large Yiddish local vocabulary. Despite an absence of an official Jewish ghetto, most Jews preferred to live in the eastern part, which used to be the center of medieval Amsterdam. The main street of this Jewish neighbourhood |
was Jodenbreestraat. The neighbourhood comprised the Waterlooplein and the Nieuwmarkt. Buildings in this neighbourhood fell into disrepair after the Second World War a large section of the neighbourhood was demolished during the construction of the metro system. This led to riots, and as a result the original plans for largescale reconstruction were abandoned by the government. The neighbourhood was rebuilt with smallerscale residence buildings on the basis of its original layout.
Catholic churches in Amsterdam have been constructed since the restoration of the episcopal hierarchy in 1853. One of the principal architects behind the city's Catholic churches, Cuypers, was also responsible for the Amsterdam Centraal station and the Rijksmuseum.
In 1924, the Catholic Church hosted the International Eucharistic Congress in Amsterdam; numerous Catholic prelates visited the city, where festivities were held in churches and stadiums. Catholic processions on the public streets, however, were still forbidden under la |
w at the time. Only in the 20th century was Amsterdam's relation to Catholicism normalised, but despite its far larger population size, the episcopal see of the city was placed in the provincial town of Haarlem.
Historically, Amsterdam has been predominantly Christian, in 1900 Christians formed the largest religious group in the city 70 of the population, Dutch Reformed Church formed 45 of the city population, while the Catholic Church formed 25 of the city population.
In recent times, religious demographics in Amsterdam have been changed by immigration from former colonies. Hinduism has been introduced from the Hindu diaspora from Suriname and several distinct branches of Islam have been brought from various parts of the world. Islam is now the largest nonChristian religion in Amsterdam. The large community of Ghanaian immigrants have established African churches, often in parking garages in the Bijlmer area.
Diversity and immigration
Amsterdam experienced an influx of religions and cultures after the Seco |
nd World War. With 180 different nationalities, Amsterdam is home to one of the widest varieties of nationalities of any city in the world. The proportion of the population of immigrant origin in the city proper is about 50 and 88 of the population are Dutch citizens.
Amsterdam has been one of the municipalities in the Netherlands which provided immigrants with extensive and free Dutchlanguage courses, which have benefited many immigrants.
Cityscape and architecture
Amsterdam fans out south from the Amsterdam Centraal station and Damrak, the main street off the station. The oldest area of the town is known as De Wallen English "The Quays". It lies to the east of Damrak and contains the city's famous redlight district. To the south of De Wallen is the old Jewish quarter of Waterlooplein.
The medieval and colonial age canals of Amsterdam, known as grachten, embraces the heart of the city where homes have interesting gables. Beyond the Grachtengordel are the former workingclass areas of Jordaan and de Pijp. |
The Museumplein with the city's major museums, the Vondelpark, a 19thcentury park named after the Dutch writer Joost van den Vondel, as well as the Plantage neighbourhood, with the zoo, are also located outside the Grachtengordel.
Several parts of the city and the surrounding urban area are polders. This can be recognised by the suffix meer which means lake, as in Aalsmeer, Bijlmermeer, Haarlemmermeer and Watergraafsmeer.
Canals
The Amsterdam canal system is the result of conscious city planning. In the early 17th century, when immigration was at a peak, a comprehensive plan was developed that was based on four concentric halfcircles of canals with their ends emerging at the IJ bay. Known as the Grachtengordel, three of the canals were mostly for residential development the Herengracht where "Heren" refers to Heren Regeerders van de stad Amsterdam, ruling lords of Amsterdam, whilst gracht means canal, so that the name can be roughly translated as "Canal of the Lords", Keizersgracht Emperor's Canal and Prin |
sengracht Prince's Canal. The fourth and outermost canal is the Singelgracht, which is often not mentioned on maps because it is a collective name for all canals in the outer ring. The Singelgracht should not be confused with the oldest and innermost canal, the Singel.
The canals served for defense, water management and transport. The defenses took the form of a moat and earthen dikes, with gates at transit points, but otherwise no masonry superstructures. The original plans have been lost, so historians, such as Ed Taverne, need to speculate on the original intentions it is thought that the considerations of the layout were purely practical and defensive rather than ornamental.
Construction started in 1613 and proceeded from west to east, across the breadth of the layout, like a gigantic windshield wiper as the historian Geert Mak calls it and not from the centre outwards, as a popular myth has it. The canal construction in the southern sector was completed by 1656. Subsequently, the construction of resid |
ential buildings proceeded slowly. The eastern part of the concentric canal plan, covering the area between the Amstel river and the IJ bay, has never been implemented. In the following centuries, the land was used for parks, senior citizens' homes, theatres, other public facilities, and waterways without much planning. Over the years, several canals have been filled in, becoming streets or squares, such as the Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal and the Spui.
Expansion
After the development of Amsterdam's canals in the 17th century, the city did not grow beyond its borders for two centuries. During the 19th century, Samuel Sarphati devised a plan based on the grandeur of Paris and London at that time. The plan envisaged the construction of new houses, public buildings and streets just outside the Grachtengordel. The main aim of the plan, however, was to improve public health. Although the plan did not expand the city, it did produce some of the largest public buildings to date, like the Paleis voor Volksvlijt.
Follow |
ing Sarphati, civil engineers Jacobus van Niftrik and Jan Kalff designed an entire ring of 19thcentury neighbourhoods surrounding the city's centre, with the city preserving the ownership of all land outside the 17thcentury limit, thus firmly controlling development. Most of these neighbourhoods became home to the working class.
In response to overcrowding, two plans were designed at the beginning of the 20th century which were very different from anything Amsterdam had ever seen before Plan Zuid designed by the architect Berlage and West. These plans involved the development of new neighbourhoods consisting of housing blocks for all social classes.
After the Second World War, large new neighbourhoods were built in the western, southeastern, and northern parts of the city. These new neighbourhoods were built to relieve the city's shortage of living space and give people affordable houses with modern conveniences. The neighbourhoods consisted mainly of large housing blocks located among green spaces, connect |
ed to wide roads, making the neighbourhoods easily accessible by motor car. The western suburbs which were built in that period are collectively called the Westelijke Tuinsteden. The area to the southeast of the city built during the same period is known as the Bijlmer.
Architecture
Amsterdam has a rich architectural history. The oldest building in Amsterdam is the Oude Kerk English Old Church, at the heart of the Wallen, consecrated in 1306. The oldest wooden building is Het Houten Huys at the Begijnhof. It was constructed around 1425 and is one of only two existing wooden buildings. It is also one of the few examples of Gothic architecture in Amsterdam. The oldest stone building of the Netherlands, The Moriaan is built in 'sHertogenbosch.
In the 16th century, wooden buildings were razed and replaced with brick ones. During this period, many buildings were constructed in the architectural style of the Renaissance. Buildings of this period are very recognisable with their stepped gable faades, which is the |
common Dutch Renaissance style. Amsterdam quickly developed its own Renaissance architecture. These buildings were built according to the principles of the architect Hendrick de Keyser. One of the most striking buildings designed by Hendrick de Keyser is the Westerkerk. In the 17th century baroque architecture became very popular, as it was elsewhere in Europe. This roughly coincided with Amsterdam's Golden Age. The leading architects of this style in Amsterdam were Jacob van Campen, Philips Vingboons and Daniel Stalpaert.
Philip Vingboons designed splendid merchants' houses throughout the city. A famous building in baroque style in Amsterdam is the Royal Palace on Dam Square. Throughout the 18th century, Amsterdam was heavily influenced by French culture. This is reflected in the architecture of that period. Around 1815, architects broke with the baroque style and started building in different neostyles. Most Gothic style buildings date from that era and are therefore said to be built in a neogothic style. |
At the end of the 19th century, the Jugendstil or Art Nouveau style became popular and many new buildings were constructed in this architectural style. Since Amsterdam expanded rapidly during this period, new buildings adjacent to the city centre were also built in this style. The houses in the vicinity of the Museum Square in Amsterdam OudZuid are an example of Jugendstil. The last style that was popular in Amsterdam before the modern era was Art Deco. Amsterdam had its own version of the style, which was called the Amsterdamse School. Whole districts were built this style, such as the Rivierenbuurt. A notable feature of the faades of buildings designed in Amsterdamse School is that they are highly decorated and ornate, with oddly shaped windows and doors.
The old city centre is the focal point of all the architectural styles before the end of the 19th century.
Jugendstil and Georgian are mostly found outside the city's centre in the neighbourhoods built in the early
20th century, although there are also s |
ome striking examples of these styles in the city centre.
Most historic buildings in the city centre and nearby are houses, such as the famous merchants' houses lining the canals.
Parks and recreational areas
Amsterdam has many parks, open spaces, and squares throughout the city. The Vondelpark, the largest park in the city, is located in the OudZuid neighbourhood and is named after the 17thcentury Amsterdam author Joost van den Vondel. Yearly, the park has around 10 million visitors. In the park is an openair theatre, a playground and several horeca facilities. In the Zuid borough, is the Beatrixpark, named after Queen Beatrix. Between Amsterdam and Amstelveen is the Amsterdamse Bos "Amsterdam Forest", the largest recreational area in Amsterdam. Annually, almost 4.5 million people visit the park, which has a size of 1.000 hectares and is approximately three times the size of Central Park. The Amstelpark in the Zuid borough houses the Rieker windmill, which dates to 1636. Other parks include the Sarphatipar |
k in the De Pijp neighbourhood, the Oosterpark in the Oost borough and the Westerpark in the Westerpark neighbourhood. The city has three beaches Nemo Beach, Citybeach "Het stenen hoofd" Silodam and Blijburg, all located in the Centrum borough.
The city has many open squares plein in Dutch. The namesake of the city as the site of the original dam, Dam Square, is the main city square and has the Royal Palace and National Monument. Museumplein hosts various museums, including the Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum, and Stedelijk Museum. Other squares include Rembrandtplein, Muntplein, Nieuwmarkt, Leidseplein, Spui and Waterlooplein. Also, near to Amsterdam is the Nekkeveld estate conservation project.
Economy
Amsterdam is the financial and business capital of the Netherlands.
According to the 2007 European Cities Monitor ECM an annual location survey of Europe's leading companies carried out by global real estate consultant Cushman Wakefield Amsterdam is one of the top European cities in which to locate an inte |
rnational business, ranking fifth in the survey. with the survey determining London, Paris, Frankfurt and Barcelona as the four European cities surpassing Amsterdam in this regard.
A substantial number of large corporations and banks' headquarters are located in the Amsterdam area, including AkzoNobel, Heineken International, ING Group, ABN AMRO, TomTom, Delta Lloyd Group, Booking.com and Philips.
Although many small offices remain along the historic canals, centrally based companies have increasingly relocated outside Amsterdam's city centre. Consequently, the Zuidas English South Axis has become the new financial and legal hub of Amsterdam, with the country's five largest law firms and several subsidiaries of large consulting firms, such as Boston Consulting Group and Accenture, as well as the World Trade Centre Amsterdam located in the Zuidas district. In addition to the Zuidas, there are three smaller financial districts in Amsterdam
around Amsterdam Sloterdijk railway station. Where one can find the |
offices of several newspapers, such as De Telegraaf. as well as those of Deloitte, the Gemeentelijk Vervoerbedrijf municipal public transport company, and the Dutch tax offices Belastingdienst;
around the Johan Cruyff Arena in Amsterdam Zuidoost, with the headquarters of ING Group;
around the Amstel railway station in the AmsterdamOost district to the east of the historical city. Amsterdam's tallest building, the Rembrandt Tower, is located here. As are the headquarters of Philips, the Dutch multinational conglomerate. Amsterdam has been a leading city to reduce the use of raw materials and has created a plan to become a circular city by 2050.
The adjoining municipality of Amstelveen is the location of KPMG International's global headquarters. Other nonDutch companies have chosen to settle in communities surrounding Amsterdam since they allow freehold property ownership, whereas Amsterdam retains ground rent.
The Amsterdam Stock Exchange AEX, now part of Euronext, is the world's oldest stock exchange and, |
due to Brexit, has overtaken LSE as the largest bourse in Europe. It is near Dam Square in the city centre.
Port of Amsterdam
The Port of Amsterdam is the fourthlargest port in Europe, the 38th largest port in the world and the secondlargest port in the Netherlands by metric tons of cargo. In 2014, the Port of Amsterdam had a cargo throughput of 97,4 million tons of cargo, which was mostly bulk cargo.
Amsterdam has the biggest cruise port in the Netherlands with more than 150 cruise ships every year.
In 2019, the new lock in IJmuiden opened; since then, the port has been able to grow to 125 million tonnes in capacity.
Tourism
Amsterdam is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Europe, receiving more than 5.34 million international visitors annually, this is excluding the 16 million daytrippers visiting the city every year. The number of visitors has been growing steadily over the past decade. This can be attributed to an increasing number of European visitors. Twothirds of the hotels are located |
in the city's centre. Hotels with 4 or 5 stars contribute 42 of the total beds available and 41 of the overnight stays in Amsterdam. The room occupation rate was 85 in 2017, up from 78 in 2006. The majority of tourists 74 originate from Europe. The largest group of nonEuropean visitors come from the United States, accounting for 14 of the total. Certain years have a theme in Amsterdam to attract extra tourists. For example, the year 2006 was designated "Rembrandt 400", to celebrate the 400th birthday of Rembrandt van Rijn. Some hotels offer special arrangements or activities during these years. The average number of guests per year staying at the four campsites around the city range from 12,000 to 65,000.
De Wallen redlight district
De Wallen, also known as Walletjes or Rosse Buurt, is a designated area for legalised prostitution and is Amsterdam's largest and bestknown redlight district. This neighbourhood has become a famous attraction for tourists. It consists of a network of canals, streets, and alleys |
containing several hundred small, oneroom apartments rented by sex workers who offer their services from behind a window or glass door, typically illuminated with red lights. In recent years, the city government has been closing and repurposing the famous redlight district windows in an effort to clean up the area and reduce the amount of party and sex tourism.
Retail
Shops in Amsterdam range from large highend department stores such as De Bijenkorf founded in 1870 to small speciality shops. Amsterdam's highend shops are found in the streets P.C. Hooftstraat and Cornelis Schuytstraat, which are located in the vicinity of the Vondelpark. One of Amsterdam's busiest high streets is the narrow, medieval Kalverstraat in the heart of the city. Other shopping areas include the Negen Straatjes and Haarlemmerdijk and Haarlemmerstraat. Negen Straatjes are nine narrow streets within the Grachtengordel, the concentric canal system of Amsterdam. The Negen Straatjes differ from other shopping districts with the presence o |
f a large diversity of privately owned shops. The Haarlemmerstraat and Haarlemmerdijk were voted best shopping street in the Netherlands in 2011. These streets have as the Negen Straatjes a large diversity of privately owned shops. However, as the Negen Straatjes are dominated by fashion stores, the Haarlemmerstraat and Haarlemmerdijk offer a wide variety of stores, just to name some specialities candy and other foodrelated stores, lingerie, sneakers, wedding clothing, interior shops, books, Italian deli's, racing and mountain bikes, skatewear, etc.
The city also features a large number of openair markets such as the Albert Cuyp Market, Westerstraatmarkt, Ten Katemarkt, and Dappermarkt. Some of these markets are held daily, like the Albert Cuypmarkt and the Dappermarkt. Others, like the Westerstraatmarkt, are held every week.
Fashion
Several fashion brands and designers are based in Amsterdam. Fashion designers include Iris van Herpen, Mart Visser, Viktor Rolf, Marlies Dekkers and Frans Molenaar. Fashion |
models like Yfke Sturm, Doutzen Kroes and Kim Noorda started their careers in Amsterdam. Amsterdam has its garment centre in the World Fashion Center. Fashion photographers Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin were born in Amsterdam.
Culture
During the later part of the 16thcentury, Amsterdam's Rederijkerskamer Chamber of rhetoric organised contests between different Chambers in the reading of poetry and drama. In 1637, Schouwburg, the first theatre in Amsterdam was built, opening on 3 January 1638. The first ballet performances in the Netherlands were given in Schouwburg in 1642 with the Ballet of the Five Senses. In the 18th century, French theatre became popular. While Amsterdam was under the influence of German music in the 19th century there were few national opera productions; the Hollandse Opera of Amsterdam was built in 1888 for the specific purpose of promoting Dutch opera. In the 19th century, popular culture was centred on the Nes area in Amsterdam mainly vaudeville and musichall. An improved |
metronome was invented in 1812 by Dietrich Nikolaus Winkel. The Rijksmuseum 1885 and Stedelijk Museum 1895 were built and opened. In 1888, the Concertgebouworkest orchestra was established. With the 20th century came cinema, radio and television. Though most studios are located in Hilversum and Aalsmeer, Amsterdam's influence on programming is very strong. Many people who work in the television industry live in Amsterdam. Also, the headquarters of the Dutch SBS Broadcasting Group is located in Amsterdam.
Museums
The most important museums of Amsterdam are located on the Museumplein Museum Square, located at the southwestern side of the Rijksmuseum. It was created in the last quarter of the 19th century on the grounds of the former World's fair. The northeastern part of the square is bordered by the large Rijksmuseum. In front of the Rijksmuseum on the square itself is a long, rectangular pond. This is transformed into an ice rink in winter. The northwestern part of the square is bordered by the Van Gogh Muse |
um, House of Bols Cocktail Genever Experience and Coster Diamonds. The southwestern border of the Museum Square is the Van Baerlestraat, which is a major thoroughfare in this part of Amsterdam. The Concertgebouw is located across this street from the square. To the southeast of the square are several large houses, one of which contains the American consulate. A parking garage can be found underneath the square, as well as a supermarket. The Museumplein is covered almost entirely with a lawn, except for the northeastern part of the square which is covered with gravel. The current appearance of the square was realised in 1999, when the square was remodelled. The square itself is the most prominent site in Amsterdam for festivals and outdoor concerts, especially in the summer. Plans were made in 2008 to remodel the square again because many inhabitants of Amsterdam are not happy with its current appearance.
The Rijksmuseum possesses the largest and most important collection of classical Dutch art.
It opened in |
1885. Its collection consists of nearly one million objects. The artist most associated with Amsterdam is Rembrandt, whose work, and the work of his pupils, is displayed in the Rijksmuseum. Rembrandt's masterpiece The Night Watch is one of the top pieces of art of the museum. It also houses paintings from artists like Bartholomeus van der Helst, Johannes Vermeer, Frans Hals, Ferdinand Bol, Albert Cuyp, Jacob van Ruisdael and Paulus Potter. Aside from paintings, the collection consists of a large variety of decorative art. This ranges from Delftware to giant dollhouses from the 17th century. The architect of the gothic revival building was P.J.H. Cuypers. The museum underwent a 10year, 375 million euro renovation starting in 2003. The full collection was reopened to the public on 13 April 2013 and the Rijksmuseum has remained the most visited museum in Amsterdam with 2.2 million visitors in 2016 and 2.16 million in 2017.
Van Gogh lived in Amsterdam for a short while and there is a museum dedicated to his wor |
k. The museum is housed in one of the few modern buildings in this area of Amsterdam. The building was designed by Gerrit Rietveld. This building is where the permanent collection is displayed. A new building was added to the museum in 1999. This building, known as the performance wing, was designed by Japanese architect Kisho Kurokawa. Its purpose is to house temporary exhibitions of the museum. Some of Van Gogh's most famous paintings, like The Potato Eaters and Sunflowers, are in the collection. The Van Gogh museum is the second most visited museum in Amsterdam, not far behind the Rijksmuseum in terms of the number of visits, being approximately 2.1 million in 2016, for example.
Next to the Van Gogh museum stands the Stedelijk Museum. This is Amsterdam's most important museum of modern art. The museum is as old as the square it borders and was opened in 1895. The permanent collection consists of works of art from artists like Piet Mondrian, Karel Appel, and Kazimir Malevich. After renovations lasting seve |
ral years, the museum opened in September 2012 with a new composite extension that has been called 'The Bathtub' due to its resemblance to one.
Amsterdam contains many other museums throughout the city. They range from small museums such as the Verzetsmuseum Resistance Museum, the Anne Frank House, and the Rembrandt House Museum, to the very large, like the Tropenmuseum Museum of the Tropics, Amsterdam Museum formerly known as Amsterdam Historical Museum, Hermitage Amsterdam a dependency of the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg and the Joods Historisch Museum Jewish Historical Museum. The modernstyled Nemo is dedicated to childfriendly science exhibitions.
Music
Amsterdam's musical culture includes a large collection of songs that treat the city nostalgically and lovingly. The 1949 song "Aan de Amsterdamse grachten" "On the canals of Amsterdam" was performed and recorded by many artists, including John Kraaijkamp Sr.; the bestknown version is probably that by Wim Sonneveld 1962. In the 1950s Johnny Jord |
aan rose to fame with "Geef mij maar Amsterdam" "I prefer Amsterdam", which praises the city above all others explicitly Paris; Jordaan sang especially about his own neighbourhood, the Jordaan "Bij ons in de Jordaan". Colleagues and contemporaries of Johnny include Tante Leen and Manke Nelis. Another notable Amsterdam song is "Amsterdam" by Jacques Brel 1964. A 2011 poll by Amsterdam newspaper Het Parool that Trio Bier's "Oude Wolf" was voted "Amsterdams lijflied". Notable Amsterdam bands from the modern era include the Osdorp Posse and The Ex.
AFAS Live formerly known as the Heineken Music Hall is a concert hall located near the Johan Cruyff Arena known as the Amsterdam Arena until 2018. Its main purpose is to serve as a podium for pop concerts for big audiences. Many famous international artists have performed there. Two other notable venues, Paradiso and the Melkweg are located near the Leidseplein. Both focus on broad programming, ranging from indie rock to hip hop, RB, and other popular genres. Other mo |
re subcultural music venues are OCCII, OT301, De Nieuwe Anita, Winston Kingdom, and Zaal 100. Jazz has a strong following in Amsterdam, with the Bimhuis being the premier venue. In 2012, Ziggo Dome was opened, also near Amsterdam Arena, a stateoftheart indoor music arena.
AFAS Live is also host to many electronic dance music festivals, alongside many other venues. Armin van Buuren and Tiesto, some of the worlds leading Trance DJ's hail from the Netherlands and frequently perform in Amsterdam. Each year in October, the city hosts the Amsterdam Dance Event ADE which is one of the leading electronic music conferences and one of the biggest club festivals for electronic music in the world, attracting over 350,000 visitors each year. Another popular dance festival is 5daysoff, which takes place in the venues Paradiso and Melkweg. In the summertime, there are several big outdoor dance parties in or nearby Amsterdam, such as Awakenings, Dance Valley, Mystery Land, Loveland, A Day at the Park, Welcome to the Future, |
and Valtifest.
Amsterdam has a worldclass symphony orchestra, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. Their home is the Concertgebouw, which is across the Van Baerlestraat from the Museum Square. It is considered by critics to be a concert hall with some of the best acoustics in the world. The building contains three halls, Grote Zaal, Kleine Zaal, and Spiegelzaal. Some nine hundred concerts and other events per year take place in the Concertgebouw, for a public of over 700,000, making it one of the mostvisited concert halls in the world. The opera house of Amsterdam is located adjacent to the city hall. Therefore, the two buildings combined are often called the Stopera, a word originally coined by protesters against it very construction Stop the Operahouse. This huge modern complex, opened in 1986, lies in the former Jewish neighbourhood at Waterlooplein next to the river Amstel. The Stopera is the home base of Dutch National Opera, Dutch National Ballet and the Holland Symfonia. Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ is a con |
cert hall, which is located in the IJ near the central station. Its concerts perform mostly modern classical music. Located adjacent to it, is the Bimhuis, a concert hall for improvised and Jazz music.
Performing arts
Amsterdam has three main theatre buildings.
The Stadsschouwburg at the Leidseplein is the home base of Toneelgroep Amsterdam. The current building dates from 1894. Most plays are performed in the Grote Zaal Great Hall. The normal program of events encompasses all sorts of theatrical forms. The Stadsschouwburg is currently being renovated and expanded. The third theatre space, to be operated jointly with next door Melkweg, will open in late 2009 or early 2010.
The Dutch National Opera and Ballet formerly known as Het Muziektheater, dating from 1986, is the principal opera house and home to Dutch National Opera and Dutch National Ballet. Royal Theatre Carr was built as a permanent circus theatre in 1887 and is currently mainly used for musicals, cabaret performances, and pop concerts.
The rec |
ently reopened DeLaMar Theater houses more commercial plays and musicals. A new theatre has also moved into the Amsterdam scene in 2014, joining other established venues Theater Amsterdam is located in the west part of Amsterdam, on the Danzigerkade. It is housed in a modern building with a panoramic view over the harbour. The theatre is the firstever purposebuilt venue to showcase a single play entitled ANNE, the play based on Anne Frank's life.
On the east side of town, there is a small theatre in a converted bathhouse, the Badhuistheater. The theatre often has English programming.
The Netherlands has a tradition of cabaret or kleinkunst, which combines music, storytelling, commentary, theatre and comedy. Cabaret dates back to the 1930s and artists like Wim Kan, Wim Sonneveld and Toon Hermans were pioneers of this form of art in the Netherlands. In Amsterdam is the Kleinkunstacademie English Cabaret Academy and Nederlied Kleinkunstkoor English Cabaret Choir. Contemporary popular artists are Youp van 't He |
k, Freek de Jonge, Herman Finkers, Hans Teeuwen, Theo Maassen, Herman van Veen, Najib Amhali, Raoul Heertje, Jrgen Raymann, Brigitte Kaandorp and Comedytrain. The English spoken comedy scene was established with the founding of Boom Chicago in 1993. They have their own theatre at Leidseplein.
Nightlife
Amsterdam is famous for its vibrant and diverse nightlife. Amsterdam has many cafs bars. They range from large and modern to small and cosy. The typical Bruine Kroeg brown caf breathe a more old fashioned atmosphere with dimmed lights, candles, and somewhat older clientele. These brown cafs mostly offer a wide range of local and international artisanal beers. Most cafs have terraces in summertime. A common sight on the Leidseplein during summer is a square full of terraces packed with people drinking beer or wine. Many restaurants can be found in Amsterdam as well. Since Amsterdam is a multicultural city, a lot of different ethnic restaurants can be found. Restaurants range from being rather luxurious and ex |
pensive to being ordinary and affordable. Amsterdam also possesses many discothques. The two main nightlife areas for tourists are the Leidseplein and the Rembrandtplein. The Paradiso, Melkweg and Sugar Factory are cultural centres, which turn into discothques on some nights. Examples of discothques near the Rembrandtplein are the Escape, Air, John Doe and Club Abe. Also noteworthy are Panama, Hotel Arena East, TrouwAmsterdam and Studio 80. In recent years '24hour' clubs opened their doors, most notably Radion De School, Shelter and Marktkantine. Bimhuis located near the Central Station, with its rich programming hosting the best in the field is considered one of the best jazz clubs in the world. The Reguliersdwarsstraat is the main street for the LGBT community and nightlife.
Festivals
In 2008, there were 140 festivals and events in Amsterdam.
Famous festivals and events in Amsterdam include Koningsdag which was named Koninginnedag until the crowning of King WillemAlexander in 2013 King's Day Queen's Da |
y; the Holland Festival for the performing arts; the yearly Prinsengrachtconcert classical concerto on the Prinsen canal in August; the 'Stille Omgang' a silent Roman Catholic evening procession held every March; Amsterdam Gay Pride; The Cannabis Cup; and the Uitmarkt. On Koningsdagthat is held each year on 27 Aprilhundreds of thousands of people travel to Amsterdam to celebrate with the city's residents. The entire city becomes overcrowded with people buying products from the freemarket, or visiting one of the many music concerts.
The yearly Holland Festival attracts international artists and visitors from all over Europe. Amsterdam Gay Pride is a yearly local LGBT parade of boats in Amsterdam's canals, held on the first Saturday in August. The annual Uitmarkt is a threeday cultural event at the start of the cultural season in late August. It offers previews of many different artists, such as musicians and poets, who perform on podia.
Sports
Amsterdam is home of the Eredivisie football club AFC Ajax. The |
stadium Johan Cruyff Arena is the home of Ajax. It is located in the southeast of the city next to the new Amsterdam Bijlmer ArenA railway station. Before moving to their current location in 1996, Ajax played their regular matches in the now demolished De Meer Stadion in the eastern part of the city or in the Olympic Stadium.
In 1928, Amsterdam hosted the Summer Olympics. The Olympic Stadium built for the occasion has been completely restored and is now used for cultural and sporting events, such as the Amsterdam Marathon. In 1920, Amsterdam assisted in hosting some of the sailing events for the Summer Olympics held in neighbouring Antwerp, Belgium by hosting events at Buiten IJ.
The city holds the Dam to Dam Run, a race from Amsterdam to Zaandam, as well as the Amsterdam Marathon. The ice hockey team Amstel Tijgers play in the Jaap Eden ice rink. The team competes in the Dutch ice hockey premier league. Speed skating championships have been held on the 400meter lane of this ice rink.
Amsterdam holds two A |
merican football franchises the Amsterdam Crusaders and the Amsterdam Panthers. The Amsterdam Pirates baseball team competes in the Dutch Major League. There are three field hockey teams Amsterdam, Pinok and Hurley, who play their matches around the Wagener Stadium in the nearby city of Amstelveen. The basketball team MyGuide Amsterdam competes in the Dutch premier division and play their games in the Sporthallen Zuid.
There is one rugby club in Amsterdam, which also hosts sports training classes such as RTC Rugby Talenten Centrum or Rugby Talent Centre and the National Rugby stadium.
Since 1999, the city of Amsterdam honours the best sportsmen and women at the Amsterdam Sports Awards. Boxer Raymond Joval and field hockey midfielder Carole Thate were the first to receive the awards, in 1999.
Amsterdam hosted the World Gymnaestrada in 1991 and will do so again in 2023.
Politics
The city of Amsterdam is a municipality under the Dutch Municipalities Act. It is governed by a directly elected municipal coun |
cil, a municipal executive board and a mayor. Since 1981, the municipality of Amsterdam has gradually been divided into semiautonomous boroughs, called stadsdelen or 'districts'. Over time, a total of 15 boroughs were created. In May 2010, under a major reform, the number of Amsterdam boroughs was reduced to eight AmsterdamCentrum covering the city centre including the canal belt, AmsterdamNoord consisting of the neighbourhoods north of the IJ lake, AmsterdamOost in the east, AmsterdamZuid in the south, AmsterdamWest in the west, Amsterdam NieuwWest in the far west, Amsterdam Zuidoost in the southeast, and Westpoort covering the Port of Amsterdam area.
City government
As with all Dutch municipalities, Amsterdam is governed by a directly elected municipal council, a municipal executive board and a government appointed mayor burgemeester. The mayor is a member of the municipal executive board, but also has individual responsibilities in maintaining public order. On 27 June 2018, Femke Halsema former member of |
House of Representatives for GroenLinks from 1998 to 2011 was appointed as the first woman to be Mayor of Amsterdam by the King's Commissioner of North Holland for a sixyear term after being nominated by the Amsterdam municipal council and began serving a sixyear term on 12 July 2018. She replaces Eberhard van der Laan Labour Party who was the Mayor of Amsterdam from 2010 until his death in October 2017. After the 2014 municipal council elections, a governing majority of D66, VVD and SP was formed the first coalition without the Labour Party since World War II. Next to the Mayor, the municipal executive board consists of eight wethouders 'alderpersons' appointed by the municipal council four D66 alderpersons, two VVD alderpersons and two SP alderpersons.
On 18 September 2017, it was announced by Eberhard van der Laan in an open letter to Amsterdam citizens that Kajsa Ollongren would take up his office as acting Mayor of Amsterdam with immediate effect due to ill health. Ollongren was succeeded as acting Ma |
yor by Eric van der Burg on 26 October 2017 and by Jozias van Aartsen on 4 December 2017.
Unlike most other Dutch municipalities, Amsterdam is subdivided into eight boroughs, called stadsdelen or 'districts', a system that was implemented gradually in the 1980s to improve local governance. The boroughs are responsible for many activities that had previously been run by the central city. In 2010, the number of Amsterdam boroughs reached fifteen. Fourteen of those had their own district council deelraad, elected by a popular vote. The fifteenth, Westpoort, covers the harbour of Amsterdam and had very few residents. Therefore, it was governed by the central municipal council.
Under the borough system, municipal decisions are made at borough level, except for those affairs pertaining to the whole city such as major infrastructure projects, which are the jurisdiction of the central municipal authorities. In 2010, the borough system was restructured, in which many smaller boroughs merged into larger boroughs. In |
2014, under a reform of the Dutch Municipalities Act, the Amsterdam boroughs lost much of their autonomous status, as their district councils were abolished.
The municipal council of Amsterdam voted to maintain the borough system by replacing the district councils with smaller, but still directly elected district committees bestuurscommissies. Under a municipal ordinance, the new district committees were granted responsibilities through delegation of regulatory and executive powers by the central municipal council.
Metropolitan area
"Amsterdam" is usually understood to refer to the municipality of Amsterdam. Colloquially, some areas within the municipality, such as the town of Durgerdam, may not be considered part of Amsterdam.
Statistics Netherlands uses three other definitions of Amsterdam metropolitan agglomeration Amsterdam Grootstedelijke Agglomeratie Amsterdam, not to be confused with Grootstedelijk Gebied Amsterdam, a synonym of Groot Amsterdam, Greater Amsterdam Groot Amsterdam, a COROP region and |
the urban region Amsterdam Stadsgewest Amsterdam. The Amsterdam Department for Research and Statistics uses a fourth conurbation, namely the Stadsregio Amsterdam 'City Region of Amsterdam'. The city region is similar to Greater Amsterdam but includes the municipalities of Zaanstad and Wormerland. It excludes GraftDe Rijp.
The smallest of these areas is the municipality of Amsterdam with a population of 802,938 in 2013. The conurbation had a population of 1,096,042 in 2013. It includes the municipalities of Zaanstad, Wormerland, Oostzaan, Diemen and Amstelveen only, as well as the municipality of Amsterdam. Greater Amsterdam includes 15 municipalities, and had a population of 1,293,208 in 2013. Though much larger in area, the population of this area is only slightly larger, because the definition excludes the relatively populous municipality of Zaanstad. The largest area by population, the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area Dutch Metropoolregio Amsterdam, has a population of 2,33 million. It includes for instance Z |
aanstad, Wormerland, Muiden, Abcoude, Haarlem, Almere and Lelystad but excludes GraftDe Rijp. Amsterdam is part of the conglomerate metropolitan area Randstad, with a total population of 6,659,300 inhabitants.
Of these various metropolitan area configurations, only the Stadsregio Amsterdam City Region of Amsterdam has a formal governmental status. Its responsibilities include regional spatial planning and the metropolitan public transport concessions.
National capital
Under the Dutch Constitution, Amsterdam is the capital of the Netherlands. Since the 1983 constitutional revision, the constitution mentions "Amsterdam" and "capital" in chapter 2, article 32 The king's confirmation by oath and his coronation take place in "the capital Amsterdam" "de hoofdstad Amsterdam". Previous versions of the constitution only mentioned "the city of Amsterdam" "de stad Amsterdam". For a royal investiture, therefore, the States General of the Netherlands the Dutch Parliament meets for a ceremonial joint session in Amsterda |
m. The ceremony traditionally takes place at the Nieuwe Kerk on Dam Square, immediately after the former monarch has signed the act of abdication at the nearby Royal Palace of Amsterdam. Normally, however, the Parliament sits in The Hague, the city which has historically been the seat of the Dutch government, the Dutch monarchy, and the Dutch supreme court. Foreign embassies are also located in The Hague.
Symbols
The coat of arms of Amsterdam is composed of several historical elements. First and centre are three St Andrew's crosses, aligned in a vertical band on the city's shield although Amsterdam's patron saint was Saint Nicholas. These St Andrew's crosses can also be found on the city shields of neighbours Amstelveen and OuderAmstel. This part of the coat of arms is the basis of the flag of Amsterdam, flown by the city government, but also as civil ensign for ships registered in Amsterdam. Second is the Imperial Crown of Austria. In 1489, out of gratitude for services and loans, Maximilian I awarded Amst |
erdam the right to adorn its coat of arms with the king's crown. Then, in 1508, this was replaced with Maximilian's imperial crown when he was crowned Holy Roman Emperor. In the early years of the 17th century, Maximilian's crown in Amsterdam's coat of arms was again replaced, this time with the crown of Emperor Rudolph II, a crown that became the Imperial Crown of Austria. The lions date from the late 16th century, when city and province became part of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands. Last came the city's official motto Heldhaftig, Vastberaden, Barmhartig "Heroic, Determined, Merciful", bestowed on the city in 1947 by Queen Wilhelmina, in recognition of the city's bravery during the Second World War.
Transport
Metro, tram and bus
Currently, there are sixteen tram routes and five metro routes. All are operated by municipal public transport operator Gemeentelijk Vervoerbedrijf GVB, which also runs the city bus network.
Four farefree GVB ferries carry pedestrians and cyclists across the IJ lake |
to the borough of AmsterdamNoord, and two farecharging ferries run east and west along the harbour. There are also privately operated water taxis, a water bus, a boat sharing operation, electric rental boats and canal cruises, that transport people along Amsterdam's waterways.
Regional buses, and some suburban buses, are operated by Connexxion and EBS. International coach services are provided by Eurolines from Amsterdam Amstel railway station, IDBUS from Amsterdam Sloterdijk railway station, and Megabus from the Zuiderzeeweg in the east of the city.
In order to facilitate easier transport to the centre of Amsterdam, the city has various PR Locations where people can park their car at an affordable price and transfer to one of the numerous public transport lines.
Car
Amsterdam was intended in 1932 to be the hub, a kind of Kilometre Zero, of the highway system of the Netherlands, with freeways numbered One to Eight planned to originate from the city. The outbreak of the Second World War and shifting priori |
ties led to the current situation, where only roads A1, A2, and A4 originate from Amsterdam according to the original plan. The A3 to Rotterdam was cancelled in 1970 in order to conserve the Groene Hart. Road A8, leading north to Zaandam and the A10 Ringroad were opened between 1968 and 1974. Besides the A1, A2, A4 and A8, several freeways, such as the A7 and A6, carry traffic mainly bound for Amsterdam.
The A10 ringroad surrounding the city connects Amsterdam with the Dutch national network of freeways. Interchanges on the A10 allow cars to enter the city by transferring to one of the 18 city roads, numbered S101 through to S118. These city roads are regional roads without grade separation, and sometimes without a central reservation. Most are accessible by cyclists. The S100 Centrumring is a smaller ringroad circumnavigating the city's centre.
In the city centre, driving a car is discouraged. Parking fees are expensive, and many streets are closed to cars or are oneway. The local government sponsors carsh |
aring and carpooling initiatives such as Autodelen and Meerijden.nu. The local government has also started removing parking spaces in the city, with the goal of removing 10,000 spaces roughly 1,500 per year by 2025
National rail
Amsterdam is served by ten stations of the Nederlandse Spoorwegen Dutch Railways. Five are intercity stops Sloterdijk, Zuid, Amstel, Bijlmer ArenA and Amsterdam Centraal. The stations for local services are Lelylaan, RAI, Holendrecht, Muiderpoort and Science Park. Amsterdam Centraal is also an international railway station. From the station there are regular services to destinations such as Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Russia, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Among these trains are international trains of the Nederlandse Spoorwegen AmsterdamBerlin, the Eurostar AmsterdamBrusselsLondon, Thalys AmsterdamBrusselsParisLille, and IntercityExpress AmsterdamCologneFrankfurt.
Airport
Amsterdam Airport Schiphol is less than 20 minutes by |
train from Amsterdam Centraal station and is served by domestic and international intercity trains, such as Thalys, Eurostar and Intercity Brussel. Schiphol is the largest airport in the Netherlands, the thirdlargest in Europe, and the 14thlargest in the world in terms of passengers. It handles over 68 million passengers per year and is the home base of four airlines, KLM, Transavia, Martinair and Arkefly. , Schiphol was the fifth busiest airport in the world measured by international passenger numbers. This airport is 4 meters below sea level. Although Schiphol is internationally known as Amsterdam Schiphol Airport it actually lies in the neighbouring municipality of Haarlemmermeer, southwest of the city.
Cycling
Amsterdam is one of the most bicyclefriendly large cities in the world and is a centre of bicycle culture with good facilities for cyclists such as bike paths and bike racks, and several guarded bike storage garages fietsenstalling which can be used.
According to the most recent figures publishe |
d by Central Bureau of Statistics CBS, in 2015 the 442.693 households 850.000 residents in Amsterdam together owned 847.000 bicycles 1.91 bicycle per household. Previously, wildly different figures were arrived at using a Wisdom of the crowd approach. Theft is widespreadin 2011, about 83,000 bicycles were stolen in Amsterdam. Bicycles are used by all socioeconomic groups because of their convenience, Amsterdam's small size, the of bike paths, the flat terrain, and the inconvenience of driving an automobile.
Education
Amsterdam has two universities the University of Amsterdam Universiteit van Amsterdam, UvA, and the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam VU. Other institutions for higher education include an art school Gerrit Rietveld Academie, a university of applied sciences the Hogeschool van Amsterdam, and the Amsterdamse Hogeschool voor de Kunsten. Amsterdam's International Institute of Social History is one of the world's largest documentary and research institutions concerning social history, and especially |
the history of the labour movement. Amsterdam's Hortus Botanicus, founded in the early 17th century, is one of the oldest botanical gardens in the world, with many old and rare specimens, among them the coffee plant that served as the parent for the entire coffee culture in Central and South America.
There are over 200 primary schools in Amsterdam. Some of these primary schools base their teachings on particular pedagogic theories like the various Montessori schools. The biggest Montessori high school in Amsterdam is the Montessori Lyceum Amsterdam. Many schools, however, are based on religion. This used to be primarily Roman Catholicism and various Protestant denominations, but with the influx of Muslim immigrants, there has been a rise in the number of Islamic schools. Jewish schools can be found in the southern suburbs of Amsterdam.
Amsterdam is noted for having five independent grammar schools Dutch gymnasia, the Vossius Gymnasium, Barlaeus Gymnasium, St. Ignatius Gymnasium, Het 4e Gymnasium and the Cy |
gnus Gymnasium where a classical curriculum including Latin and classical Greek is taught. Though believed until recently by many to be an anachronistic and elitist concept that would soon die out, the gymnasia have recently experienced a revival, leading to the formation of a fourth and fifth grammar school in which the three aforementioned schools participate. Most secondary schools in Amsterdam offer a variety of different levels of education in the same school. The city also has various colleges ranging from art and design to politics and economics which are mostly also available for students coming from other countries.
Schools for foreign nationals in Amsterdam include the Amsterdam International Community School, British School of Amsterdam, Albert Einstein International School Amsterdam, Lyce Vincent van Gogh La HayeAmsterdam primary campus French school, International School of Amsterdam, and the Japanese School of Amsterdam.
Notable people
Media
Amsterdam is a prominent centre for national and in |
ternational media. Some locally based newspapers include Het Parool, a national daily paper; De Telegraaf, the largest Dutch daily newspaper; the daily newspapers Trouw, de Volkskrant and NRC Handelsblad; De Groene Amsterdammer, a weekly newspaper; the free newspapers Metro and The Holland Times printed in English.
Amsterdam is home to the secondlargest Dutch commercial TV group SBS Broadcasting Group, consisting of TVstations SBS 6, Net 5 and Veronica. However, Amsterdam is not considered 'the media city of the Netherlands'. The town of Hilversum, southeast of Amsterdam, has been crowned with this unofficial title. Hilversum is the principal centre for radio and television broadcasting in the Netherlands. Radio Netherlands, heard worldwide via shortwave radio since the 1920s, is also based there. Hilversum is home to an extensive complex of audio and television studios belonging to the national broadcast production company NOS, as well as to the studios and offices of all the Dutch public broadcasting orga |
nisations and many commercial TV production companies.
In 2012, the music video of Far East Movement, 'Live My Life', was filmed in various parts of Amsterdam.
Also, several movies were filmed in Amsterdam, such as James Bond's Diamonds Are Forever, Ocean's Twelve, Girl with a Pearl Earring and The Hitman's Bodyguard. Amsterdam is also featured in John Green's book The Fault in Our Stars, which has been made into a film as well that partly takes place in Amsterdam.
Housing
From the late 1960s onwards many buildings in Amsterdam have been squatted both for housing and for using as social centres. A number of these squats have legalised and become well known, such as OCCII, OT301, Paradiso and Vrankrijk.
Sister cities
Manchester, United Kingdom, 2007
Zapopan, Mexico, 2011
See also
Notes and references
Citations
Literature
Charles Caspers Peter Jan Margry 2017, Het Mirakel van Amsterdam. Biografie van een betwiste devotie Amsterdam, Prometheus.
Further reading
External links
Amsterdam.nl |
Official government site
I amsterdam Portal for international visitors
Tourist information about Amsterdam Website of the Netherlands
Capitals in Europe
Cities in the Netherlands
Municipalities of North Holland
Olympic cycling venues
Populated places established in the 13th century
Populated places in North Holland
Port cities and towns in the Netherlands
Port cities and towns of the North Sea
Venues of the 1928 Summer Olympics |
The Museum of Work Arbetets museum is a museum located in Norrkping, Sweden. The museum is located in the Strykjrn Clothes iron, a former weaving mill in the old industrial area on the Motala strm river in the city centre of Norrkping. The former textile factory Holmens Bruk sv operated in the building from 1917 to 1962.
The museum documents work and everyday life by collecting personal stories about people's professional lives from both the past and the present. The museum's archive contain material from memory collections and documentation projects.
Since 2009, the museum also houses the EWK Center for Political Illustration Art, which is based on work of the satirist Ewert Karlsson 1918 2004. For decades he was frequently published in the Swedish tabloid, Aftonbladet.
Overview
The museum is a national central museum with the task of preserving and telling about work and everyday life. It has, among other things, exhibitions on the terms and conditions of the work and the history of the industrial s |
ociety. The museum is also known to highlight gender perspective in their exhibitions.
The work museum documents work and everyday life by collecting personal stories, including people's professional life from both the past and present. In the museum's archive, there is a rich material of memory collections and documentation projects over 2600 interviews, stories and photodocumentations have been collected since the museum opened.
The museum is also a support for the country's approximately 1,500 working life museums that are old workplaces preserved to convey their history.
Exhibitions
The Museum of Work shows exhibitions going on over several years, but also shorter exhibitions including several photo exhibitions on themes that can be linked to work and everyday life.
The history of Alva
The history of Alva Karlsson is the only exhibition in the museum that is permanent. The exhibition connects to the museum's building and its history as part of the textile industry in Norrkping. Alva worked as a r |
ollers between the years 1927 1962.
Industriland
One of the museum longterm exhibitions is Industriland when Sweden became modern, the exhibition was in 2007 2013 and consisted of an ongoing bond with various objects that were somehow significant both for working life and everyday during the period 1930 1980. The exhibition also consisted of presentations of the working life museums in Sweden and a number of rooms with themes such as leisure, world, living and consumption.
Framtidsland Future country
In 2014, the exhibition was inaugurated that takes by where Industriland ends Future country. It is an exhibition that investigates what a sustainable society is will be part of the museum's exhibitions until 2019. The exhibition consists of materials that are designed based on conversations between young people and researchers around Sweden. The exhibition addresses themes such as work, environment and everyday life. A tour version of the exhibition is given in the locations Falun, Kristianstad and rebro |
.
EWK The Center for Political Illustration Art
Since 2009, the Museum also houses EWK center for political illustration art. The museum preserves, develops and conveys the political illustrator Ewert Karlsson's production. The museum also holds theme exhibitions with national and international political illustrators with the aim of highlighting and strengthening the political art.
See also
List of museums in Sweden
Culture of Sweden
References
External links
Arbetetsmuseum Official site
Museums in stergtland County
Norrkping
Industry museums in Sweden
Cultural heritage of Sweden |
Audi AG commonly referred to as Audi is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. As a subsidiary of its parent company, the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide.
The origins of the company are complex, going back to the early 20th century and the initial enterprises Horch and the Audiwerke founded by engineer August Horch; and two other manufacturers DKW and Wanderer, leading to the foundation of Auto Union in 1932. The modern Audi era began in the 1960s, when Auto Union was acquired by Volkswagen from DaimlerBenz. After relaunching the Audi brand with the 1965 introduction of the Audi F103 series, Volkswagen merged Auto Union with NSU Motorenwerke in 1969, thus creating the presentday form of the company.
The company name is based on the Latin translation of the surname of the founder, August Horch. , meaning "listen" in German, becomes in Latin. The four rings of the Audi logo each represent one of four |
car companies that banded together to create Audi's predecessor company, Auto Union. Audi's slogan is , meaning "Being Ahead through Technology". Audi, along with fellow German marques BMW and MercedesBenz, is among the bestselling luxury automobile brands in the world.
History
Birth of the company and its name
Automobile company Wanderer was originally established in 1885, later becoming a branch of Audi AG. Another company, NSU, which also later merged into Audi, was founded during this time, and later supplied the chassis for Gottlieb Daimler's fourwheeler.
On 14 November 1899, August Horch 18681951 established the company A. Horch Cie. in the Ehrenfeld district of Cologne. In 1902, he moved with his company to Reichenbach im Vogtland. On 10 May 1904, he founded the August Horch Cie. Motorwagenwerke AG, a jointstock company in Zwickau State of Saxony.
After troubles with Horch chief financial officer, August Horch left Motorwagenwerke and founded in Zwickau on 16 July 1909, his second company, the A |
ugust Horch Automobilwerke GmbH. His former partners sued him for trademark infringement. The German Reichsgericht Supreme Court in Leipzig, eventually determined that the Horch brand belonged to his former company.
Since August Horch was prohibited from using "Horch" as a trade name in his new car business, he called a meeting with close business friends, Paul and Franz Fikentscher from Zwickau. At the apartment of Franz Fikentscher, they discussed how to come up with a new name for the company. During this meeting, Franz's son was quietly studying Latin in a corner of the room. Several times he looked like he was on the verge of saying something but would just swallow his words and continue working, until he finally blurted out, "Father audiatur et altera pars... wouldn't it be a good idea to call it audi instead of horch?" "Horch!" in German means "Hark!" or "hear", which is "Audi" in the singular imperative form of "audire" "to listen" in Latin. The idea was enthusiastically accepted by everyone atte |
nding the meeting. On 25 April 1910 the Audi Automobilwerke GmbH Zwickau from 1915 on Audiwerke AG Zwickau was entered in the company's register of Zwickau registration court.
The first Audi automobile, the Audi Type A 10 SportPhaeton, was produced in the same year, followed by the successor Type B 1028PS in the same year.
Audi started with a 2,612 cc inlinefour engine model Type A, followed by a 3,564 cc model, as well as 4,680 cc and 5,720 cc models. These cars were successful even in sporting events. The first sixcylinder model Type M, 4,655 cc appeared in 1924.
August Horch left the Audiwerke in 1920 for a high position at the ministry of transport, but he was still involved with Audi as a member of the board of trustees. In September 1921, Audi became the first German car manufacturer to present a production car, the Audi Type K, with lefthanded drive. Lefthand drive spread and established dominance during the 1920s because it provided a better view of oncoming traffic, making overtaking safer when dr |
iving on the right.
The merger of the four companies under the logo of four rings
In August 1928, Jrgen Rasmussen, the owner of DampfKraftWagen DKW, acquired the majority of shares in Audiwerke AG. In the same year, Rasmussen bought the remains of the U.S. automobile manufacturer Rickenbacker, including the manufacturing equipment for 8cylinder engines. These engines were used in Audi Zwickau and Audi Dresden models that were launched in 1929. At the same time, 6cylinder and 4cylinder the "four" with a Peugeot engine models were manufactured. Audi cars of that era were luxurious cars equipped with special bodywork.
In 1932, Audi merged with Horch, DKW, and Wanderer, to form Auto Union AG, Chemnitz. It was during this period that the company offered the Audi Front that became the first European car to combine a sixcylinder engine with frontwheel drive. It used a power train shared with the Wanderer, but turned 180 degrees, so that the drive shaft faced the front.
Before World War II, Auto Union used the fo |
ur interlinked rings that make up the Audi badge today, representing these four brands. However, this badge was used only on Auto Union racing cars in that period while the member companies used their own names and emblems. The technological development became more and more concentrated and some Audi models were propelled by Horch or Wandererbuilt engines.
Reflecting the economic pressures of the time, Auto Union concentrated increasingly on smaller cars through the 1930s, so that by 1938 the company's DKW brand accounted for 17.9 of the German car market, while Audi held only 0.1. After the final few Audis were delivered in 1939 the "Audi" name disappeared completely from the new car market for more than two decades.
PostWorld War II
Like most German manufacturing, at the onset of World War II the Auto Union plants were retooled for military production, and were a target for allied bombing during the war which left them damaged.
Overrun by the Soviet Army in 1945, on the orders of the Soviet Union milita |
ry administration the factories were dismantled as part of war reparations. Following this, the company's entire assets were expropriated without compensation. On 17 August 1948, Auto Union AG of Chemnitz was deleted from the commercial register. These actions had the effect of liquidating Germany's Auto Union AG. The remains of the Audi plant of Zwickau became the VEB for "People Owned Enterprise" or AWZ in English Automobile Works Zwickau.
With no prospect of continuing production in Sovietcontrolled East Germany, Auto Union executives began the process of relocating what was left of the company to West Germany. A site was chosen in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, to start a spare parts operation in late 1945, which would eventually serve as the headquarters of the reformed Auto Union in 1949.
The former Audi factory in Zwickau restarted assembly of the prewar models in 1949. These DKW models were renamed to IFA F8 and IFA F9 and were similar to the West German versions. West and East German models were equipped wi |
th the traditional and renowned DKW twostroke engines. The Zwickau plant manufactured the infamous Trabant until 1991, when it came under Volkswagen controleffectively bringing it under the same umbrella as Audi since 1945.
New Auto Union unit
A new West German headquartered Auto Union was launched in Ingolstadt with loans from the Bavarian state government and Marshall Plan aid. The reformed company was launched 3 September 1949 and continued DKW's tradition of producing frontwheel drive vehicles with twostroke engines. This included production of a small but sturdy 125 cc motorcycle and a DKW delivery van, the DKW F89 L at Ingolstadt. The Ingolstadt site was large, consisting of an extensive complex of formerly military buildings which was suitable for administration as well as vehicle warehousing and distribution, but at this stage there was at Ingolstadt no dedicated plant suitable for mass production of automobiles for manufacturing the company's first postwar massmarket passenger car plant capacity in |
Dsseldorf was rented from RheinmetallBorsig. It was only ten years later, after the company had attracted an investor, when funds became available for construction of major car plant at the Ingolstadt head office site.
In 1958, in response to pressure from Friedrich Flick, then the company's largest single shareholder, DaimlerBenz took an 87 holding in the Auto Union company, and this was increased to a 100 holding in 1959. However, small twostroke cars were not the focus of DaimlerBenz's interests, and while the early 1960s saw major investment in new Mercedes models and in a state of the art factory for Auto Union's, the company's aging model range at this time did not benefit from the economic boom of the early 1960s to the same extent as competitor manufacturers such as Volkswagen and Opel. The decision to dispose of the Auto Union business was based on its lack of profitability. Ironically, by the time they sold the business, it also included a large new factory and near productionready modern fourstro |
ke engine, which would enable the Auto Union business, under a new owner, to embark on a period of profitable growth, now producing not Auto Unions or DKWs, but using the "Audi" name, resurrected in 1965 after a 25year gap.
In 1964, Volkswagen acquired a 50 holding in the business, which included the new factory in Ingolstadt, the DKW and Audi brands along with the rights to the new engine design which had been funded by DaimlerBenz, who in return retained the dormant Horch trademark and the Dsseldorf factory which became a MercedesBenz van assembly plant. Eighteen months later, Volkswagen bought complete control of Ingolstadt, and by 1966 were using the spare capacity of the Ingolstadt plant to assemble an additional 60,000 Volkswagen Beetles per year. Twostroke engines became less popular during the 1960s as customers were more attracted to the smoother fourstroke engines. In September 1965, the DKW F102 was fitted with a fourstroke engine and a facelift for the car's front and rear. Volkswagen dumped the |
DKW brand because of its associations with twostroke technology, and having classified the model internally as the F103, sold it simply as the "Audi". Later developments of the model were named after their horsepower ratings and sold as the Audi 60, 75, 80, and Super 90, selling until 1972. Initially, Volkswagen was hostile to the idea of Auto Union as a standalone entity producing its own models having acquired the company merely to boost its own production capacity through the Ingolstadt assembly plant to the point where Volkswagen executives ordered that the Auto Union name and flags bearing the four rings were removed from the factory buildings. Then VW chief Heinz Nordhoff explicitly forbade Auto Union from any further product development. Fearing that Volkswagen had no longterm ambition for the Audi brand, Auto Union engineers under the leadership of Ludwig Kraus developed the first Audi 100 in secret, without Nordhoff's knowledge. When presented with a finished prototype, Nordhoff was so impressed he |
authorised the car for production, which when launched in 1968, went on to be a huge success. With this, the resurrection of the Audi brand was now complete, this being followed by the first generation Audi 80 in 1972, which would in turn provide a template for VW's new frontwheeldrive watercooled range which debuted from the mid1970s onward.
In 1969, Auto Union merged with NSU, based in Neckarsulm, near Stuttgart. In the 1950s, NSU had been the world's largest manufacturer of motorcycles, but had moved on to produce small cars like the NSU Prinz, the TT and TTS versions of which are still popular as vintage race cars. NSU then focused on new rotary engines based on the ideas of Felix Wankel. In 1967, the new NSU Ro 80 was a car well ahead of its time in technical details such as aerodynamics, light weight, and safety. However, teething problems with the rotary engines put an end to the independence of NSU. The Neckarsulm plant is now used to produce the larger Audi models A6 and A8. The Neckarsulm factory |
is also home of the "quattro GmbH" from November 2016 "Audi Sport GmbH", a subsidiary responsible for development and production of Audi highperformance models the R8 and the RS model range.
Modern era
The new merged company was incorporated on 1 January 1969 and was known as Audi NSU Auto Union AG, with its headquarters at NSU's Neckarsulm plant, and saw the emergence of Audi as a separate brand for the first time since the prewar era. Volkswagen introduced the Audi brand to the United States for the 1970 model year. That same year, the midsized car that NSU had been working on, the K70, originally intended to slot between the rearengined Prinz models and the futuristic NSU Ro 80, was instead launched as a Volkswagen.
After the launch of the Audi 100 of 1968, the Audi 80Fox which formed the basis for the 1973 Volkswagen Passat followed in 1972 and the Audi 50 later rebadged as the Volkswagen Polo in 1974. The Audi 50 was a seminal design because it was the first incarnation of the GolfPolo concept, one t |
hat led to a hugely successful world car. Ultimately, the Audi 80 and 100 progenitors of the A4 and A6, respectively became the company's biggest sellers, whilst little investment was made in the fading NSU range; the Prinz models were dropped in 1973 whilst the fatally flawed NSU Ro80 went out of production in 1977, spelling the effective end of the NSU brand. Production of the Audi 100 had been steadily moved from Ingolstadt to Neckarsulm as the 1970s had progressed, and by the appearance of the second generation C2 version in 1976, all production was now at the former NSU plant. Neckarsulm from that point onward would produce Audi's higherend models.
The Audi image at this time was a conservative one, and so, a proposal from chassis engineer Jrg Bensinger was accepted to develop the fourwheel drive technology in Volkswagen's Iltis military vehicle for an Audi performance car and rally racing car. The performance car, introduced in 1980, was named the "Audi Quattro", a turbocharged coup which was also the |
first German largescale production vehicle to feature permanent allwheel drive through a centre differential. Commonly referred to as the "UrQuattro" the "Ur" prefix is a German augmentative used, in this case, to mean "original" and is also applied to the first generation of Audi's S4 and S6 Sport Saloons, as in "UrS4" and "UrS6", few of these vehicles were produced all handbuilt by a single team, but the model was a great success in rallying. Prominent wins proved the viability of allwheeldrive racecars, and the Audi name became associated with advances in automotive technology.
In 1985, with the Auto Union and NSU brands effectively dead, the company's official name was now shortened to simply Audi AG. At the same time the company's headquarters moved back to Ingolstadt and two new wholly owned subsidiaries; Auto Union GmbH and NSU GmbH, were formed to own and manage the historical trademarks and intellectual property of the original constituent companies the exception being Horch, which had been retained |
by DaimlerBenz after the VW takeover, and to operate Audi's heritage operations.
In 1986, as the Passatbased Audi 80 was beginning to develop a kind of "grandfather's car" image, the type 89 was introduced. This completely new development sold extremely well. However, its modern and dynamic exterior belied the low performance of its base engine, and its base package was quite spartan even the passengerside mirror was an option. In 1987, Audi put forward a new and very elegant Audi 90, which had a much superior set of standard features. In the early 1990s, sales began to slump for the Audi 80 series, and some basic construction problems started to surface.
In the early part of the 21st century, Audi set forth on a German racetrack to claim and maintain several world records, such as top speed endurance. This effort was inline with the company's heritage from the 1930s racing era Silver Arrows.
Through the early 1990s, Audi began to shift its target market upscale to compete against German automakers Merced |
esBenz and BMW. This began with the release of the Audi V8 in 1990. It was essentially a new engine fitted to the Audi 100200, but with noticeable bodywork differences. Most obvious was the new grille that was now incorporated in the bonnet.
By 1991, Audi had the fourcylinder Audi 80, the 5cylinder Audi 90 and Audi 100, the turbocharged Audi 200 and the Audi V8. There was also a coup version of the 8090 with both four and fivecylinder engines.
Although the fivecylinder engine was a successful and robust powerplant, it was still a little too different for the target market. With the introduction of an allnew Audi 100 in 1992, Audi introduced a 2.8L V6 engine. This engine was also fitted to a facelifted Audi 80 all 80 and 90 models were now badged 80 except for the USA, giving this model a choice of four, five, and sixcylinder engines, in saloon, coup and convertible body styles.
The fivecylinder was soon dropped as a major engine choice; however, a turbocharged version remained. The engine, initially fitte |
d to the 200 quattro 20V of 1991, was a derivative of the engine fitted to the Sport Quattro. It was fitted to the Audi Coup, named the S2, and also to the Audi 100 body, and named the S4. These two models were the beginning of the massproduced S series of performance cars.
Audi 5000 unintended acceleration allegations
Sales in the United States fell after a series of recalls from 1982 to 1987 of Audi 5000 models associated with reported incidents of sudden unintended acceleration linked to six deaths and 700 accidents. At the time, NHTSA was investigating 50 car models from 20 manufacturers for sudden surges of power.
A 60 Minutes report aired 23 November 1986, featuring interviews with six people who had sued Audi after reporting unintended acceleration, showing an Audi 5000 ostensibly suffering a problem when the brake pedal was pushed. Subsequent investigation revealed that 60 Minutes had engineered the failure fitting a canister of compressed air on the passengerside floor, linked via a hose to a hol |
e drilled into the transmission.
Audi contended, prior to findings by outside investigators, that the problems were caused by driver error, specifically pedal misapplication. Subsequently, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration NHTSA concluded that the majority of unintended acceleration cases, including all the ones that prompted the 60 Minutes report, were caused by driver error such as confusion of pedals. CBS did not acknowledge the test results of involved government agencies, but did acknowledge the similar results of another study.
In a review study published in 2012, NHTSA summarized its past findings about the Audi unintended acceleration problems "Once an unintended acceleration had begun, in the Audi 5000, due to a failure in the idlestabilizer system producing an initial acceleration of 0.3g, pedal misapplication resulting from panic, confusion, or unfamiliarity with the Audi 5000 contributed to the severity of the incident."
This summary is consistent with the conclusions of NHTS |
A's most technical analysis at the time "Audi idlestabilization systems were prone to defects which resulted in excessive idle speeds and brief unanticipated accelerations of up to 0.3g which is similar in magnitude to an emergency stop in a subway car. These accelerations could not be the sole cause of longduration sudden acceleration incidents SAI, but might have triggered some SAIs by startling the driver. The defective idlestabilization system performed a type of electronic throttle control. Significantly multiple "intermittent malfunctions of the electronic control unit were observed and recorded ... and were also observed and reported by Transport Canada."
With a series of recall campaigns, Audi made several modifications; the first adjusted the distance between the brake and accelerator pedal on automatictransmission models. Later repairs, of 250,000 cars dating back to 1978, added a device requiring the driver to press the brake pedal before shifting out of park. A legacy of the Audi 5000 and other |
reported cases of sudden unintended acceleration are intricate gear stick patterns and brake interlock mechanisms to prevent inadvertent shifting into forward or reverse. It is unclear how the defects in the idlestabilization system were addressed.
Audi's U.S. sales, which had reached 74,061 in 1985, dropped to 12,283 in 1991 and remained level for three years, with resale values falling dramatically. Audi subsequently offered increased warranty protection and renamed the affected models with the 5000 becoming the 100 and 200 in 1989 and reached the same sales levels again only by model year 2000.
A 2010 BusinessWeek article outlining possible parallels between Audi's experience and 20092010 Toyota vehicle recalls noted a classaction lawsuit filed in 1987 by about 7,500 Audi 5000model owners remains unsettled and remains contested in Chicago's Cook County after appeals at the Illinois state and U.S. federal levels.
Model introductions
In the midtolate 1990s, Audi introduced new technologies includin |
g the use of aluminium construction. Produced from 1999 to 2005, the Audi A2 was a futuristic super mini, born from the Al2 concept, with many features that helped regain consumer confidence, like the aluminium space frame, which was a first in production car design. In the A2 Audi further expanded their TDI technology through the use of frugal threecylinder engines. The A2 was extremely aerodynamic and was designed around a wind tunnel. The Audi A2 was criticised for its high price and was never really a sales success but it planted Audi as a cuttingedge manufacturer. The model, a MercedesBenz AClass competitor, sold relatively well in Europe. However, the A2 was discontinued in 2005 and Audi decided not to develop an immediate replacement.
The next major model change came in 1995 when the Audi A4 replaced the Audi 80. The new nomenclature scheme was applied to the Audi 100 to become the Audi A6 with a minor facelift. This also meant the S4 became the S6 and a new S4 was introduced in the A4 body. The S2 wa |
s discontinued. The Audi Cabriolet continued on based on the Audi 80 platform until 1999, gaining the engine upgrades along the way. A new A3 hatchback model sharing the Volkswagen Golf Mk4's platform was introduced to the range in 1996, and the radical Audi TT coup and roadster were debuted in 1998 based on the same underpinnings.
The engines available throughout the range were now a 1.4 L, 1.6 L and 1.8 L fourcylinder, 1.8 L fourcylinder turbo, 2.6 L and 2.8 L V6, 2.2 L turbocharged fivecylinder and the 4.2 L V8 engine. The V6s were replaced by new 2.4 L and 2.8 L 30V V6s in 1998, with marked improvement in power, torque and smoothness. Further engines were added along the way, including a 3.7 L V8 and 6.0 L W12 engine for the A8.
Audi AG today
Audi's sales grew strongly in the 2000s, with deliveries to customers increasing from 653,000 in 2000 to 1,003,000 in 2008. The largest sales increases came from Eastern Europe 19.3, Africa 17.2 and the Middle East 58.5. China in particular has become a key market, |
representing 108,000 out of 705,000 cars delivered in the first three quarters of 2009. One factor for its popularity in China is that Audis have become the car of choice for purchase by the Chinese government for officials, and purchases by the government are responsible for 20 of its sales in China. As of late 2009, Audi's operating profit of 1.17 billion 1.85 billion made it the biggest contributor to parent Volkswagen Group's ninemonth operating profit of 1.5 billion, while the other marques in Group such as Bentley and SEAT had suffered considerable losses. May 2011 saw record sales for Audi of America with the new Audi A7 and Audi A3 TDI Clean Diesel. In May 2012, Audi reported a 10 increase in its salesfrom 408 units to 480 in the last year alone.
Audi manufactures vehicles in seven plants around the world, some of which are shared with other VW Group marques although many subassemblies such as engines and transmissions are manufactured within other Volkswagen Group plants.
Audi's two principal asse |
mbly plants are
Ingolstadt, opened by Auto Union in 1964 A3, A4, A5, Q5
Neckarsulm, acquired from NSU in 1969 A4, A6, A7, A8, R8, and all RS variants
Outside of Germany, Audi produces vehicles at
Aurangabad, India, since 2006
Bratislava, Slovakia, shared with Volkswagen, SEAT, koda and Porsche Q7 and Q8
Brussels, Belgium, acquired from Volkswagen in 2007 etron
Changchun, China, since 1995
Gyr, Hungary TT and some A3 variants
Jakarta, Indonesia, since 2011
Martorell, Spain, shared with SEAT and Volkswagen A1
San Jos Chiapa, Mexico 2nd gen Q5
In September 2012, Audi announced the construction of its first North American manufacturing plant in Puebla, Mexico. This plant became operative in 2016 and produces the second generation Q5.
From 2002 up to 2003, Audi headed the Audi Brand Group, a subdivision of the Volkswagen Group's Automotive Division consisting of Audi, Lamborghini and SEAT, which was focused on sporty values, with the marques' product vehicles and performance being under the higher r |
esponsibility of the Audi brand.
In January 2014, Audi, along with the Wireless Power Consortium, operated a booth which demonstrated a phone compartment using the Qi open interface standard at the Consumer Electronics Show CES. In May, most of the Audi dealers in the UK falsely claimed that the Audi A7, A8, and R8 were Euro NCAP safety tested, all achieving five out of five stars. In fact none were tested.
In 2015, Audi admitted that at least 2.1 million Audi cars had been involved in the Volkswagen emissions testing scandal in which software installed in the cars manipulated emissions data to fool regulators and allow the cars to pollute at higher than governmentmandated levels. The A1, A3, A4, A5, A6, TT, Q3 and Q5 models were implicated in the scandal. Audi promised to quickly find a technical solution and upgrade the cars so they can function within emissions regulations. Ulrich Hackenberg, the head of research and development at Audi, was suspended in relation to the scandal. Despite widespread media |
coverage about the scandal through the month of September, Audi reported that U.S. sales for the month had increased by 16.2. Audi's parent company Volkswagen announced on 18 June 2018 that Audi chief executive Rupert Stadler had been arrested.
In November 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency implicated the 3liter diesel engine versions of the 2016 Audi A6 Quattro, A7 Quattro, A8, A8L and the Q5 as further models that had emissions regulation defeatdevice software installed. Thus, these models emitted nitrogen oxide at up to nine times the legal limit when the car detected that it was not hooked up to emissions testing equipment.
In November 2016, Audi expressed an intention to establish an assembly factory in Pakistan, with the company's local partner acquiring land for a plant in Korangi Creek Industrial Park in Karachi. Approval of the plan would lead to an investment of 30 million in the new plant. Audi planned to cut 9,500 jobs in Germany starting from 2020 till 2025 to fund electric vehicles |
and digital working.
In February 2020, Volkswagen AG announced that it plans to take over all Audi shares it does not own totalling 0.36 via a squeezeout according to German stock corporation law, thus making Audi a fully owned subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group. This change took effect from 16 November 2020, when Audi became a wholly owned subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group.
In January 2021, Audi announced that it is planning to sell 1 million vehicles in China in 2023, comparing to 726,000 vehicles in 2020.
Technology
Audi AI
Audi AI is a driver assist feature offered by Audi. The company's stated intent is to offer fully autonomous driving at a future time, acknowledging that legal, regulatory and technical hurdles must be overcome to achieve this goal. On 4 June 2017, Audi stated that its new A8 will be fully selfdriving for speeds up to 60 kmh using its Audi AI. Contrary to other cars, the driver will not have to do safety checks such as touching the steering wheel every 15 seconds to use this feat |
ure. The Audi A8 will therefore be the first production car to reach level 3 autonomous driving, meaning that the driver can safely turn their attention away from driving tasks, e.g. the driver can text or watch a movie. Audi will also be the first manufacturer to use a 3D Lidar system in addition to cameras and ultrasonic sensors for their AI.
Bodyshells
Audi produces 100 galvanised cars to prevent corrosion, and was the first massmarket vehicle to do so, following introduction of the process by Porsche, c. 1975. Along with other precautionary measures, the fullbody zinc coating has proved to be very effective in preventing rust. The body's resulting durability even surpassed Audi's own expectations, causing the manufacturer to extend its original 10year warranty against corrosion perforation to currently 12 years except for aluminium bodies which do not rust.
Space frame
Audi introduced a new series of vehicles in the mid1990s and continues to pursue new technology and high performance. An allaluminium c |
ar was brought forward by Audi, and in 1994 the Audi A8 was launched, which introduced aluminium space frame technology called Audi Space Frame or ASF which saves weight and improves torsion rigidity compared to a conventional steel frame. Prior to that effort, Audi used examples of the Type 44 chassis fabricated out of aluminium as testbeds for the technique. The disadvantage of the aluminium frame is that it is very expensive to repair and requires a specialized aluminium bodyshop. The weight reduction is somewhat offset by the quattro fourwheel drive system which is standard in most markets. Nonetheless, the A8 is usually the lightest allwheel drive car in the fullsize luxury segment, also having bestinclass fuel economy. The Audi A2, Audi TT and Audi R8 also use Audi Space Frame designs.
Drivetrains
Layout
For most of its lineup excluding the A3, A1, and TT models, Audi has not adopted the transverse engine layout which is typically found in economy cars such as Peugeot and Citron, since that would lim |
it the type and power of engines that can be installed. To be able to mount powerful engines such as a V8 engine in the Audi S4 and Audi RS4, as well as the W12 engine in the Audi A8L W12, Audi has usually engineered its more expensive cars with a longitudinally frontmounted engine, in an "overhung" position, over the front wheels in front of the axle line this layout dates back to the DKW and Auto Union saloons from the 1950s. But while this allows for the easy adoption of allwheel drive, it goes against the ideal 5050 weight distribution.
In all its post Volkswagenera models, Audi has firmly refused to adopt the traditional rearwheel drive layout favored by its two archrivals MercedesBenz and BMW, favoring either frontwheel drive or allwheel drive. The majority of Audi's lineup in the United States features allwheel drive standard on most of its expensive vehicles only the entrylevel trims of the A4 and A6 are available with frontwheel drive, in contrast to MercedesBenz and BMW whose lineup treats allwhee |
l drive as an option. BMW did not offer allwheel drive on its V8powered cars as opposed to crossover SUVs until the 2010 BMW 7 Series and 2011 BMW 5 Series, while the Audi A8 has had allwheel drive availablestandard since the 1990s. Regarding highperformance variants, Audi S and RS models have always had allwheel drive, unlike their direct rivals from BMW M and MercedesAMG whose cars are rearwheel drive only although their performance crossover SUVs are allwheel drive.
Audi has recently applied the quattro badge to models such as the A3 and TT which do not use the Torsenbased system as in prior years with a mechanical center differential, but with the Haldex Traction electromechanical clutch AWD system.
Engines
Prior to the introduction of the Audi 80 and Audi 50 in 1972 and 1974, respectively, Audi had led the development of the EA111 and EA827 inlinefour engine families. These new power units underpinned the watercooled revival of parent company Volkswagen in the Polo, Golf, Passat and Scirocco, whilst |
the many derivatives and descendants of these two basic engine designs have appeared in every generation of VW Group vehicles right up to the present day.
In the 1980s, Audi, along with Volvo, was the champion of the inlinefive cylinder, 2.12.2 L engine as a longerlasting alternative to more traditional sixcylinder engines. This engine was used not only in production cars but also in their race cars. The 2.1 L inline fivecylinder engine was used as a base for the rally cars in the 1980s, providing well over after modification. Before 1990, there were engines produced with a displacement between 2.0 L and 2.3 L. This range of engine capacity allowed for both fuel economy and power.
For the ultraluxury version of its Audi A8 fullsize luxury flagship sedan, the Audi A8L W12, Audi uses the Volkswagen Group W12 engine instead of the conventional V12 engine favored by rivals MercedesBenz and BMW. The W12 engine configuration also known as a "WR12" is created by forming two imaginary narrowangle 15 VR6 engines at |
an angle of 72, and the narrow angle of each set of cylinders allows just two overhead camshafts to drive each pair of banks, so just four are needed in total. The advantage of the W12 engine is its compact packaging, allowing Audi to build a 12cylinder sedan with allwheel drive, whereas a conventional V12 engine could have only a rearwheel drive configuration as it would have no space in the engine bay for a differential and other components required to power the front wheels. In fact, the 6.0 L W12 in the Audi A8L W12 is smaller in overall dimensions than the 4.2 L V8 that powers the Audi A8 4.2 variants. The 2011 Audi A8 debuted a revised 6.3litre version of the W12 WR12 engine with .
Fuel Stratified Injection
New models of the A3, A4, A6 and A8 have been introduced, with the ageing 1.8litre engine now having been replaced by new Fuel Stratified Injection FSI engines. Nearly every petroleum burning model in the range now incorporates this fuelsaving technology.
DirectShift Gearbox
In 2003, Volkswagen in |
troduced the DirectShift Gearbox DSG, a type of dualclutch transmission. It is a type of automatic transmission, drivable like a conventional torque converter automatic transmission. Based on the gearbox found in the Group B S1, the system includes dual electrohydraulically controlled clutches instead of a torque converter. This is implemented in some VW Golfs, Audi A3, Audi A4 and TT models where DSG is called STronic.
LED daytime running lights
Beginning in 2005, Audi has implemented white LED technology as daytime running lights DRL in their products. The distinctive shape of the DRLs has become a trademark of sorts. LEDs were first introduced on the Audi A8 W12, the world's first production car to have LED DRLs, and have since spread throughout the entire model range. The LEDs are present on some Audi billboards.
Since 2010, Audi has also offered the LED technology in low and highbeam headlights.
Multi Media Interface
Starting with the 2003 Audi A8, Audi has used a centralised control interface for it |
s onboard infotainment systems, called Multi Media Interface MMI. It is essentially a rotating control knob and 'segment' buttons designed to control all incar entertainment devices radio, CD changer, iPod, TV tuner, satellite navigation, heating and ventilation, and other car controls with a screen.
The availability of MMI has gradually filtered down the Audi lineup, and following its introduction on the third generation A3 in 2011, MMI is now available across the entire range. It has been generally well received, as it requires less menusurfing with its segment buttons around a central knob, along with 'main function' direct access buttons with shortcuts to the radio or phone functions. The colour screen is mounted on the upright dashboard, and on the A4 new, A5, A6, A8, and Q7, the controls are mounted horizontally.
Synthetic fuels
Audi has assisted with technology to produce synthetic diesel from water and carbon dioxide. Audi calls the synthetic diesel Ediesel. It is also working on synthetic gaso |
line which it calls Egasoline.
Logistics
Audi uses scanning gloves for parts registration during assembly, and automatic robots to transfer cars from factory to rail cars.
Models
Current model range
The following tables list Audi production vehicles that are sold as of 2018
S and RS models
Electric vehicles
Audi is planning an alliance with the Japanese electronics giant Sanyo to develop a pilot hybrid electric project for the Volkswagen Group. The alliance could result in Sanyo batteries and other electronic components being used in future models of the Volkswagen Group. Concept electric vehicles unveiled to date include the Audi A1 Sportback Concept, Audi A4 TDI Concept E, and the fully electric Audi etron Concept Supercar.
Selfdriving cars
In December 2018, Audi announced to invest 14 billion Euro 15.9 billion in emobility, selfdriving cars.
Production figures
Data from 1998 to 2010. Figures for different body typesversions of models have been merged to create overall figures for each model.
M |
otorsport
Audi has competed in various forms of motorsports. Audi's tradition in motorsport began with their former company Auto Union in the 1930s. In the 1990s, Audi found success in the Touring and Super Touring categories of motor racing after success in circuit racing in North America.
Rallying
In 1980, Audi released the Quattro, a fourwheel drive 4WD turbocharged car that went on to win rallies and races worldwide. It is considered one of the most significant rally cars of all time, because it was one of the first to take advantage of the thenrecently changed rules which allowed the use of fourwheel drive in competition racing. Many critics doubted the viability of fourwheel drive racers, thinking them to be too heavy and complex, yet the Quattro was to become a successful car. It led its first rally before going off the road, however, the rally world had been served notice 4WD was the future. The Quattro went on to achieve much success in the World Rally Championship. It won the 1983 Hannu Mikkola an |
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