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History

The very hospitable character of this historical building dates back to the golden century, when the Netherlands led the four English wars. An era during which the Netherlands built up a reputation of being a nation of traders and sailors. "Het Rechthuis aan den Amstel" owes its name to this specific period.

It all started with Michiel Adriaanszoon de Ruyter, born in Vlissingen on 24th March 1607. He reluctantly boarded a weak Dutch fleet as vice commander of the naval forces. During the sea battles at Plymouth, Duins, Dungeness, Portland, Nieuwpoort and Ter-Heijde, De Ruyter made quite an impression as commanding officer and on 11th November 1653 he was personally appointed by Johan de Wit as vice-admiral at the Amsterdam Admiralty.

After de Ruyter had led various other sea battles, the second English war broke out in 1665. De Wit appointed de Ruyter as lieutenant-admiral and tasked him with supreme command. Cornelis Tromp, who had temporarily filled this position, was passed over for governmental reasons; Tromp was a fierce Oranje-man, whilst De Ruyter was relatively constitutional. When De Ruyter was forced to withdraw his fleet from the "Two Day Sea Battle", he blamed this defeat, not altogether correctly, on Tromp's unwillingness, who was demoted as a direct result of this.

Governor Willem III wanted to clear the air between Tromp and De Ruyter before the start of the third English war in 1672. He brought the admirals who had fallen out with each other together in "Het Rechthuis aan den Amstel", where peace was restored between the two commanding officers. The Netherlands lost the third war and lost its hegemony on world trade and its position as economic superpower. The third English war was given the name "The disastrous year" 1672 for good reason. The war which the Netherlands lost, with the exception of a number of sea battles won by Tromp and De Ruyter, ended with the "Vrede van Westminster" (Peace of Westminster) in 1672. Willem III's mediation in "Het Rechthuis aan den Amstel" made a lasting mark on the international balance of power in The Golden Century and beyond ...

Over three hundred and fifty years later, this unique atmosphere which "Het Rechthuis aan den Amstel" boasts still remains intact and nowadays it is a much loved location for dinners, meetings, weddings, parties and overnight stays.