Reflections on the Memorial Landscape of Amsterdam from a Slavery and Dependency Perspective

Amsterdam’s cultural and historical institutions play a crucial role in addressing the Netherlands’ colonial past. They provide thoughtful insights into issues of slavery and dependency and their lasting effects on the Dutch and formerly colonized societies, as well as the enslaved and colonized people. As discussions around historical accountability and restitution become more prominent, museums in the Netherlands, Germany, and other European countries are increasingly important in shaping collective memory.

Spending six months at the International Institute of Social History (IISH) as part of a mobility grant for early career researchers from the University of Bonn (Argelander Mobility Grant), Amsterdam, proved to be a deeply enriching and professional experience. As an early modernist focusing on Dutch colonialism and slavery in South Africa during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, I found this opportunity to engage directly with Amsterdam’s complex historical and cultural fabric transformative. The city’s archives, museums, and architectural landmarks gave me valuable perspectives, weaving together stories of slavery, colonial exploitation, and resilience. This blog entry reflects on my experience, highlighting the rich historical resources Amsterdam offers to scholars and others interested in the history of slavery and colonialism.

The IISH: A Nexus of Social History, Slavery Studies, and International Collaboration

The IISH, where I was hosted from August 2024 to January 2025, is the leading research institute for the history of social movements. Its partnership with the Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies (BCDSS) made it an ideal setting for my research. The institute’s vast archival collections focus on social movements, labor history, and the histories of inequality, with particular emphasis on global labor relations and systems of unfree labor—subjects central to the research at the BCDSS. The IISH fosters a collaborative and inclusive environment with formal and informal gatherings offering opportunities to exchange ideas with scholars, archivists, activists, and artists in residence.

If you spend some days in Amsterdam and are interested in the history of slavery and dependency, the following museums, exhibitions, and memorials will be interesting for you.

The Amsterdam City Museum and H’ART Museum

Figure 1: The Amsterdam Museum celebrates the city’s 750th Birthday with an exhibition. Picture taken by the author.

Luckily, my stay in Amsterdam coincided with the 750th anniversary of the city, which was first named “Amstelledamme” in a document from 1275. As part of the commemoration, the Amsterdam Museum offers an exhibition on the city’s multifaceted history. Of particular interest to me were exhibits on colonial history and slavery as well as those featuring entanglements between Dutch and German history. The museum is housed in a former city orphanage. The building itself tells a story about children in Amsterdam – some of whom became shipboys for the Dutch East India Company or were sent to the colonies as brides.

The exhibition inside the building showcases artifacts, objects, and topics in a chronological order on the history of Amsterdam in a large room. In the middle of this space is a smaller room displaying information on parentless children, orphanages, colonialism, slavery, and the criminal and punishment system, thereby challenging the otherwise positive narrative of the city. I learned, for example, that Alexander de Lavaux, who was born in Berlin, designed a map of Suriname (1737-1757) in which he included the destruction of Maroon communities of formerly enslaved, runaway slaves, and indigenous people. A fascinating map that can be explored on the website of the Rijksmuseum.

Also, the story of an enslaved servant named Christina from Batavia is exhibited here. After being brought from Batavia to Amsterdam, she sought freedom as a runaway but was captured and put into the Spinhuis, a form of prison and workhouse for women in early modern Amsterdam.

Figure 2: Patricia Kaer Senhout: Of Palimpsests and Erasure, 2021, picture taken by the author.

The H’Art Museum is in the same building and features artwork dedicated to the city of Amsterdam. It includes, for example, painting that engages with Sybilla Merian and Anton de Kom. Sybilla Merian was a German woman who traveled to Suriname in the seventeenth century where she created drawings and descriptions of plants and insects. Indigenous and enslaved women from Suriname deeply influenced her botanical and other knowledge. One of her pictures is memorialized by the artist Patricia Kaer Senhout. Another artwork memorializes Anton de Kom and his resistance to colonialism and injustice. Born in Suriname at the end of the nineteenth century, de Kom came to the Netherlands to study and became a leading figure in the Surinamese resistance movement against colonialism. After the occupation of the Netherlands by Germany in 1940, he contributed to the resistance against National Socialism and Fascism. In 1944, he was captured by the Gestapo and transported to a concentration camp, where he eventually died. His publication “Wir Sklaven van Suriname” was only recently, in 2021, translated and published in German. Together these two paintings inspire the viewer to reflect on how the stories of two people from different times and contexts nevertheless remain intertwined through places like Suriname, Amsterdam, and Germany. It makes me wonder how national history and historiography are getting in the way of telling these entangled stories of people, but also the complexities of slavery, dependency, and resistance.

The National Maritime Museum

Figure 3: The ceiling in the courtyard of the Maritime Museum, picture taken by the author.

The National Maritime Museum offers an important perspective on Amsterdam’s maritime and colonial history. Housed in a former naval storehouse built in 1656, the museum features a replica of a Dutch East India Company ship, which visitors can explore. I visited the museum together with colleagues from the global slavery projects of the IISH.

Figure 4: Picture of the VOC ship replica at the Maritime Museum, taken by the author.

A highlight of our visit was the exhibition “Shadows on the Atlantic”, which shows the history of the transatlantic slave trade and Dutch involvement as well as artistic reflections on it. Through personal stories and artifacts, the exhibition vividly illustrates the human cost of Dutch maritime power and explores the stories of the victims of this trade. The museum also houses an extensive library with historical maps, providing invaluable resources for researchers, including research fellowships.

Figure 5: Lisandro Suriel: “Herald of the sea: Ajé Soualiga,” 2019. Picture from the “Shadows of the Atlantic” exhibition, taken by the author.

The replica of the VOC ship and the exhibition on slavery represent different phases and ways of remembering and representing Dutch history. The replica ship represents a very playful, some would say glorifying, approach to the so-called Golden Age of the Netherlands. In contrast, the new exhibition on slavery highlights the darker side of this Golden Age and shows that the wealth of the Netherlands was accompanied by the exploitation of people in the colonies. I find the possibility to explore both historical traditions of remembrance in one museum very appealing. It makes tensions and ruptures visible for the visitors and allows them to reflect on different perspectives and approaches to the past.

The Rijksmuseum

For another day, I recommend visiting the Rijksmuseum, which has dedicated space to the history of colonialism. For example, it explores the Dutch colonial enterprises in Indonesia, Brazil, Suriname, and beyond, highlighting the impact of slavery on both the enslaved and their descendants, as well as the colonizers and their society.

Figure 6: Picture of two Indonesian kris exhibited at the Rijksmuseum, taken by the author.

A personal highlight was encountering a kris (keris: Malay dagger) in the Rijksmuseum’s collection. These daggers are often mentioned in the Dutch East India Company criminal records from the Cape of Good Hope that I read on a research trip to the archives in South Africa. It was eye-opening to see these objects with their cultural and spiritual significance in the museum. In the context of my research, they symbolize resistance and cultural identity of the enslaved people who were forcefully migrated from, in these cases, Southeast Asia to South Africa. What I also learned during my trip is that the kris is recognized by UNESCO as part of the “Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity,” underscoring its significance as material culture. I am excited to include these objects of cultural heritage into my research on slavery at the Cape colony and think further on how to integrate material objects into my analysis of written documents.

The Stedelijk Museum

Other art and history museums in Amsterdam also document and exhibit artefacts and themes interesting for scholars of slavery and dependency studies. The Stedelijk Museum integrates critical perspectives on colonialism and postcolonial voices into its modern art exhibitions. One particularly striking installation was Danielle Dean’s “True Red Ruin”, which examines the history of Elmina Castle in present-day Ghana. Elmina was a major site in the transatlantic slave trade, where West Africans were held captive before being transported across the Atlantic. Dean’s work uses art to interrogate the lingering effects of colonial violence but also shows creative ways of remembering and making use of the heritage sites.

Figure 7: Picture of the Video installation “True Red Ruin” by Danielle Deans in the Stedelijk Museum, taken by the author.

Reflecting on Amsterdam’s Layered History

Let me continue with another poignant experience during my time in Amsterdam, visiting the Dutch Holocaust Memorial of Names. This memorial honors the victims of the Holocaust. Jewish people from the Netherlands were transported to labor and concentration camps in Germany and Eastern Europe. A lot of them died there and were murdered. Their names are part of the memorial. Even though the memorial of names is different from the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin, it had a similar contemplative and saddening effect on me. But it also serves as a stark reminder of Jewish history in Amsterdam and its resilience. Nearby, the Jewish Museum and the Sephardic Synagogue provide further opportunities for reflection on identity, faith, and survival.

Figure 8: Pictures of the Holocaust Memorial of Names taken by the author.

My time in Amsterdam has profoundly shaped my research and perspective. I now have a deeper appreciation for historical art (kris) and see the necessity of incorporating material culture into my research. I have also been inspired by contemporary artistic reflections (memorials, paintings, and installations) on challenging violent pasts. Additionally, I am curious to explore the entanglements between German and Dutch history in relation to slavery and dependency, and the question of how to overcome the national framework of these intertwined stories.

The Netherlands is currently undergoing a critical reassessment of its colonial history, with ongoing discussions about reparations and historical responsibility. In 2023, King Willem-Alexander issued an official apology for the Dutch state’s role in slavery and its lasting effects, reflecting a broader shift in public discourse. The planned National Slavery Museum, set to open in Amsterdam in 2030, will serve as a focal point for this reckoning, providing a dedicated space for research, education, and remembrance. These developments highlight the crucial role of historical scholarship and cultural institutions in fostering a deeper understanding of the legacy of slavery and systematic violence, both within academia and in society at large.

Recommendation if you want to explore Amsterdam’s slavery heritage on foot: Dienke Hondius, Nancy Jouwe, Dineke Stam, Jennifer Tosch, Annemarie de Wildt: Gids Slavernijverleden / Amsterdam Slavery Heritage Guide. LM Publisher, Volendam 2018.