toren

The Westerkerk tower — the Westertoren — is Amsterdam's most beloved landmark. At 85 metres, it's the tallest church tower in the city, topped with the imperial crown of Maximilian I of Austria, who granted Amsterdam the right to use it in 1489.

But the Westertoren is famous for something more intimate. Anne Frank, hiding in the annex at Prinsengracht 263, could hear the bells from her window. She wrote about them in her diary: the chiming of the quarter hours, the marker of days passing in confinement.

Rembrandt was buried in an unmarked grave in the Westerkerk in 1669 — the exact location has never been found. The tower has watched over the Jordaan for nearly 400 years, through Golden Age prosperity, wartime darkness, and the vibrant neighbourhood it is today.