The Solo Scale:

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If you’re going to Amsterdam, one of the most famous museums is the Anne Frank House. Located in the centre of town, right off the canal, this isn’t technically a house at all. It’s a warehouse where Otto Frank worked. During the war, it became the home of the Frank family alongside the Van Pels family and Fritz Pfeffer.

If you do want to visit, you have to prepare. Tickets for the Anne Frank House release six weeks in advance at the beginning of the week. They will go extremely quickly. If you have a specific date in mind for your visit, bookmark that date in your calendar to buy tickets.

You can’t take photos in the house. However, there is a really thorough audio tour to give you information. When you arrive, you can pick up an audioguide tour that uses RFID technology to begin a new section when you approach little placards on the wall.

The secret annex, located behind a bookshelf, is a place you’ll wind toward, but first, you learn the history in a chronological way that takes you from before the war began and the period that leads up to it as you get closer to the bookshelf and the secret annex.

On the day I visited, the mood was fairly dissonant between outside and in. I happened to visit Amsterdam during the Pride parade, which meant that right outside the Anne Frank House, floats were constantly passing by and blasting loud music while people celebrated. Some might feel that it would take away from the sombre visit, but I actually felt that it only highlighted it more. After all, in the 1940’s, this lifestyle in Europe, was denigrated and persecuted. And yet, here, outside an echo of hatred forcing people into hiding in another time, people were free to celebrate. It’s a good reminder that things can change so quickly, but to be able to celebrate Pride like this, in the shadow of history like Anne Frank’s is a privilege.

As you head into the annex, the reality of where you are really settles in. The one room that impacted me the most was the girls’ room. Seeing the pictures and items that they stuck on the wall was a harrowing gut punch. Magazine photos of their idols and random trinkets they found pretty were just little pieces of their lives. They just wanted to live and they weren’t permitted that simple existence.

The visit winds its way to the bitter end. The discovery leads to the fate of the Frank, Van Pels, and of Fritz Pfeffer. Beyond that, the story shifts to that of Anne’s diary and the winding road it took. You can even see some of the books at the end of the tour before you hand off your audio device and head into the gift shop (naturally).

For more details on the Anne Frank House, visit the website here. It’s extra critical to have this site bookmarked if you want to go, as tickets can be hard to come by.

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