Dam Square - a history of remembering and celebrating

Dam Square in Amsterdam is possibly the most famous square in the Netherlands. It has been the scene of many major national events. A book has just been published telling the square's unique history.

New York has Times Square, Beijing has Tiananmen Square, Moscow has Red Square and last year Cairo's Tahrir Square became the focus of world media attention. If any square represents the beating heart of the Dutch capital, surely it must be Dam Square.

The book chronicling history of Dam Square - which is to be presented on Friday 4 May - is a project initiated by Amsterdam's 4 and 5 May Committee, the body that organises the city's observance of the Netherlands' Remembrance Day on 4 May and the 5 May festivities that mark Liberation Day.

Canadian soldiers
For the book, the Committee made a selection of historic events that have taken place on Dam Square since 1945. Of course, images from past Remembrance Day ceremonies are included, as well as the Canadian soldiers who drove in their jeeps over a packed Dam Square on 8 May 1945, signalling the liberation of the city.

Since then Dam Square has been the setting for many other dramatic and euphoric moments: the celebrations when home team Ajax won the 1972 Intercontinental Cup, the demonstrations against nuclear weapons and South Africa's apartheid regime, the kiss of the newly-wed couple Prince Willem-Alexander and Máxima on the balcony of the Royal Palace and the celebrations after the release of Nelson Mandela.

Some of the iconic photos will be projected on a large screen at the Liberation Festival on the Dam Square on 5 May.

(hs/dd)