donderdag 4 februari 2016

Victoria Hotel

Sometimes you hear a story so incredible,  it is hard to believe I never knew. This hotel  situated opposite the Central Station in Amsterdam is one of the first things you see when entering the city. I must have passed here a thousand times without noticing the strange addition of a little old house in the facade.

Dutch writer Thomas Rosenboom wrote a book about the history of this house and now a movie has been made about the story.


I watched the movie and I tell you the story.

In 1888 plans are being made to build a large hotel opposite Central Station. All inhabitants of the location where the hotel should be are offered money to leave. The occupant of number 46, violin maker Walter Vedder doesn't agree with the money, he wants more and refuses to leave his workshop and home. Together with his cousin a pharmasist at the other side of the country who is in trouble by acting unlawfully medical proceedings,  they devise a plan to reach a solution with more money. The builder in the mean time loses his temper and starts to build the hotel anyway around the house.
The movie shows this very hilarious with all the building activities and noises around the house.
The hotel is finished in the end with the old house encapsulated into the hotel building. The plans of the violinmaker end tragic with his death. In his workshop they found a Stradivarius violin,  offered him by a Jewish family who were fleeing to America,  which was worth a fortune.

The house is now in  use as a souvenirshop.

17 opmerkingen:

  1. Um antigo e belo edifício.
    Um abraço e continuação de uma boa semana.

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  2. Nice little shop. I know the feeling of not noticing change.

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  3. Wat bijzonder, je moet ook echt goed kijken om te zien dat het een apart pand is. Leuk dat er een film over gemaakt is.

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  4. I actually noticed that little house within the hotel when we visited last March. It's lovely to get to know the story behind now. Thanks Marianne.

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  5. Loved the story; I find these holdouts against the government to be very interesting people. Wish that he had found the original owners of the violin, though.

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  6. I like the sudden twist at the end of the story. When we visited Victoria, British Columbia a similar situation was pointed out to us where the owner refused to sell and the complex was built around the house where it still stood to that day.

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  7. Victoria hotel is really wonderful, but the small house in middle is so cute.

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  8. Ik had er inderdaad ook al eens over gehoord. Bijzonder verhaal.

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  9. How interesting! It seems that progress always squeezes out the little people whether they want to go or not. This guy is the exception -- he got to stay.

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  10. Wonder if it's available with subtitles. :-)

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  11. Interesting story of how a disagreement ends and the results continue for years.

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  12. Now that is an interesting story!

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  13. That is a great story. I have seen the hotel many times too...and never noticed the little house!

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  14. This is a very interest post and great story. I have seen this hotel before and never noticed the little house. I guess I did see it, but not see it. I thought it was just part of the hotel.

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  15. How wonderful Marianne, it's amazing how we can pass things everyday and not notice them. What a wonderful story, I am glad they didn't pull the old home down when the old man passed away. I bet it's popular with tourists!

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