Rembrandt Hotspots in Amsterdam

Bringing to life the Amsterdam as Rembrandt knew it.

This App is designed as a Tour of 8 important Rembrandt places, referred to as hotspots offering a clue to Rembrandts Amsterdam. On the Map these points have a red pin. Additional points of Rembrandt interest are treated in the "Other Places" hotspot and have a purple pin on the map.

Each hotspot also features a gallery with relevant illustrations and an occasional historical map.
The Map at the bottom menu (Map) shows the hotspots enabling you to find your way to the desired stop. Clicking on the maps pins is another entrance to the hotspot information.

Even without going to Amsterdam you may learn a lot from this App, but it is actually intended as a guided tour. Therefore the hotspots are ordered in such a way that you can follow the red pins as a route through the centre of Amsterdam (starting at the Rembrandthuis and finishing at Westerkerk).

The entire tour (red pins) will take you approximately 2.5 hours to complete. Of course it is up to you to break up the tour into smaller units and / or to combine with the other Rembrandt hotspots (purple pins). For a thorough understanding you should combine your Rembrandt route with visits to the Rijksmuseum and the Rembrandthuis but also a stop at the Amsterdam Museum with its 17th century courtyards is an inspiring experience.

The tremendous building activities in the years from 1580 till 1650 have replaced and expanded the medieval city and have given the centre of Amsterdam a still prevailing coherent 17th century character. This phenomenon will greatly help you in imagining the Amsterdam of Rembrandt.

The 40 years period that Rembrandt lived in Amsterdam is the period that the city reaches its economic and cultural heights. Starting in the 16th century as a small medieval city it has developped into an international centre of trade and civilization. The economical opportunities and the religious tolerance have caused immigrants from all over Europe to settle there and many languages could be heard in the streets. The new Republic of the Netherlands has proudly detached from Spain in a long war and looks with great confidence into the future. It is in this optimistic spirit that Rembrandt lives and in many ways Rembrandts character resembles the proud, autonomous and talented temperament of the Republic and its principal city Amsterdam.

Amsterdam in the 17th century is a very lively city, always too small, ever expanding its boundaries. Life in those days comes unmixed and is in many shapes present on the streets: abundant markets - specializing in meat, vegatables and fish - , all kinds of noisy or smelly industries, handbarrows being pushed around with merchandise, public executions, people going to church, children playing and dogs poking around everywhere. Completing the picture are the countless ships in all sizes, sailing or anchored, loading or unloading, with their colourful crews from the corners of the world.

Dont make the mistake to idealize this world, one could make his fortune here but loose it just as well. Many plague epidemies were going around those years and markets were whimsical. The life of Rembrandt is a good example of this fluctuating fate. It is Rembrandts merit that he could deal with this changing fortune and also in lesser times managed to stay true to his talents and passions.

We invite you to make this tour and discover the hotspots that lie behind the painter and his paintings.

Pay attention: this is an offline app, so you will not have any roaming costs! All texts and images are built in the app. The app has a download size of about 13Mb. It is possible to download on 3G, WIFI is the recommended way.

The App is optimized for both iPhone and iPad. It has a flexible, responsive layout and will nicely scale according to your device.