Gouden Bocht (Golden Bend)

A canal with more room

The Golden Bend is the stretch of the Herengracht between Leidsestraat and Vijzelstraat. It is the most prestigious part of the canal, and you can see why as soon as you start walking. The houses are wider than almost anywhere else in the canal ring. The lots behind them run deeper. The street feels a little more open.

Nothing here is a single sight. The pleasure is the walk itself, slowly, with your head tilted up at the facades. It is open air, free, and there at any hour.

How the rich got their space

Until 1663 the Herengracht stopped at the present Leidsegracht. That year Amsterdam expanded its fortifications, and the Herengracht, Keizersgracht and Prinsengracht were all dug further out, ending at the river Amstel a few years later. In this new section the three canals were laid out a little further apart than before. That left room for deeper plots.

Buyers on the Herengracht were encouraged to take two lots and build double-wide mansions. Many did. They put up city palaces with classical facades, stuccoed ceilings and proper gardens behind. The richest citizens of Amsterdam lived around the curve by the Nieuwe Spiegelstraat, and the name Golden Bend came later, in more recent history.

The money has a darker side too. Several early residents along this stretch were founding directors of the West-Indische Compagnie, founded in 1621. The city archive has pointed out that profits from slavery were an important part of Amsterdam's economy in the 17th and 18th centuries, and some of those profits built these houses.

What to look for

Start with number 446, the Huis van der Graeff, built in 1672 by burgomaster Andries de Graeff. Since 2008 it has belonged to the fashion designers Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren, who work as Viktor & Rolf.

Then find numbers 475 and 476, the house of the De Neufville family, dated 1731. It is often named as having the prettiest facades on the whole bend. Take a moment to look at how the two halves work as one front.

On the corner of the Nieuwe Spiegelstraat, number 466 was designed by Philip Vingboons. From 1858 until 1926 it was the office of the Dutch Trade-Society. The house on the opposite corner, number 464, was long the office of the lawyer Bram Moszkowicz.

Most of the street now belongs to banks and financial firms, with a few cultural institutions among them. The Goethe Institut is one. At number 497 you will also find the small private Kattenkabinet, a museum devoted to cats. The old homes of the merchants have become offices, but the facades are still there for you to read.

If you want to see how a house like these looks inside, Museum Van Loon is a short walk away. It is a canal house still owned by the Van Loon family.

Standing on the bend

Stop at the curve and look both ways along the water. The line of gables is long and steady, and the canal is broad enough that you can see the whole row without craning. Stone steps, tall windows and decorated gables repeat with small differences from house to house. That is part of the fun. Each owner wanted to be a little grander than the neighbour.

Come in the early morning if you can. The light is soft, the street is quiet, and you hear water more than traffic.