West Indisch Huis

The long, rich history of this building, located in the centre of Amsterdam, starts in 1617. Until 1623 the ground floor was used as a meat market, with rooms above for ''De Schutterij'', the city militia that had to watch over the safety of Amsterdam. The House owes its name to the period between 1623 and 1647, when the ''Heren Negentien'' wielded the sceptre over the Dutch West-India Trading Company from here. In one of the rooms, the Compagnieszaal, the decision was made to build the fort ''Nieuw Amsterdam'' on the island Manhattan. Peter Stuyvesant, whose statue nowadays ornaments the courtyard of Het West-Indisch Huis, was appointed to governor-general of the fortress New Amsterdam, that through the ages developed to become the metropolis New York. The piracy on Spanish ships, executed by order of the West-Indische Compagnie, hauled in great loots in the same period. The biggest blow was the conquest of a fully loaded silver fleet by Admiral Piet Heijn. These treasures were stored in the basement of Het West-Indisch Huis, nowadays the ''Piet Heijn kelder''. In 1648 the war with the Spanish was ended and the piracy on Spanish ships came to an end.