Amsterdam [antikvár]

The pufpose of this book is to illustrate the beauty of Amsterdam. This has often been attempted, in all sorts of ways. In recent years photography has developed more and more into a form of art which permits self-expression. One can use Amsterdam as richly variegated material to give shape to a vision, a mood, an atmosphere perceived. It is then that the photographs may teli as much about the man who made them as about the city they depict. First and foremost this book wants to be a true account, a lovingly assembled and portrayed inventory of a city that is dear to the heart of every Dutchman, and eagerly visited by every stranger. Anyone who has lived there for many years, as I have, and takes up his pen to write about Amsterdam, is assailed, as it were, by thousands of facts of the most diverse nature. Let us begin with a few cool figures and delay for a little the surge of lyricism. According to the last census the population of Amsterdam is 866,882 or 7.8 percent of the Dutch population. In 1958 the figure was 868,000 or eight percent. Many Amsterdam people are moving to suburbs like Amstelveen. However, this does not alleviate the acute housing shortage. It is practically impossible for young couples to find a reasonable home in the city. More than 151,000 Amsterdam people are employed in industry and 71,000 in trade. Amsterdam builds ships and aircraft. The world through the air begins at Schiphol. Ocean liners set out on their distant journeys from the large, excellently equipped port. The country's most important banks stand in Amsterdam and it is alsó there that the principal musea are housed. The capital swarms with artists. Excellent performances are staged there in the theatrical and operatic field, and it is the home of the world famous Concertgebouw Orchestra. Amsterdam is a 'city on and in the water'. About 3,000 barges take care of economic traffic on the canals, and 60 cruise boats annually steer nearly two millión visitors through the city. At least once a week a car drives into the water and is expertly fished up by the fire brigádé, an old hand at this job. The unfortunates who find themselves un-