De Pijp (; English: The Pipe) is a neighbourhood of

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. It is located directly south of Amsterdam's

city centre A city centre, also known as an urban core, is the Commerce, commercial, Culture, cultural and often the historical, Politics, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely e ...

and it is part of the borough

Amsterdam-Zuid Amsterdam-Zuid (; Amsterdam South) is a Boroughs of Amsterdam, borough (''stadsdeel'') of Amsterdam, Netherlands. The borough was formed in 2010 as a merger of the former boroughs Amsterdam Oud-Zuid, Oud-Zuid and Zuideramstel. The borough has almo ...

, in a part of the city known as the Old South ( ''Oud Zuid''). It is served by De Pijp metro station. Most streets in De Pijp are named after Dutch painters, like

Jan Steen Jan Havickszoon Steen ( – buried 3 February 1679) was a Dutch Golden Age painter, one of the leading genre painters of the 17th century. His works are known for their psychological insight, sense of humour and abundance of colour. Life ...

Frans Hals Frans Hals the Elder (, ; ; – 26 August 1666) was a Dutch Golden Age painter. He lived and worked in Haarlem, a city in which the local authority of the day frowned on religious painting in places of worship but citizens liked to decorate thei ...

, Ruysdael and

Vincent van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In just over a decade, he created approximately 2,100 artworks ...

. The three districts composing the area are

Oude Pijp Oude Pijp ( Dutch for "Old Pipe"), also known as Noord-Pijp (Dutch for "North-Pipe") is a neighbourhood of Amsterdam, Netherlands located in an urbanised part of the Zuid borough. It had a population of 14,102 in 2011 and an area of 68 hectares. ...

Nieuwe Pijp Nieuwe Pijp ( English: New Pipe) is a neighbourhood in Amsterdam, Netherlands. It is part of the borough of Amsterdam-Zuid. The Nieuwe Pijp is bordered by Ceintuurbaan and Sarphatipark in the north, Van Woustraat in the east, Amstel Canal in the so ...

and Diamantbuurt.

Location and transportation

De Pijp is located south of the city centre and the

Singelgracht The Singelgracht () is a semi-circular waterway that borders the entire city centre of Amsterdam, Netherlands. The canal runs along the , and streets. Formerly part of the ramparts, it formed the outer defenses of the city. Name The name is r ...

canal, between Boerenwetering in the west and the river

Amstel The Amstel () is a river in the province of North Holland in the Netherlands. It flows from the Aarkanaal and Drecht in Nieuwveen northwards, passing Uithoorn, Amstelveen, and Ouderkerk aan de Amstel, to the IJ in Amsterdam, to which the rive ...

in the east. Its main roads are Stadhouderskade and Ceintuurbaan, running from east to west, and Ferdinand Bolstraat, Van Woustraat and Amsteldijk running from north to south. The neighbourhood is served by tram lines 3, 4, 12, 16, 24 and 25. In 2003 the city commenced the construction of the underground metro ''Noord/Zuidlijn'', connecting the northern part of the city to the

Zuidas The Zuidas (literally ''South Axis'' in Dutch) is a rapidly developing business district in the city of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. The Zuidas is also known as the 'Financial Mile'. It lies between the rivers Amstel and ''Schinkel'' along the ...

in its southern borough. The metro line and an underground station at Ferdinand Bolstraat called De Pijp, was completed and began service in July 2018.

History

The older section of De Pijp (nowadays called

) was built cheaply in the 19th century to accommodate a rapidly expanding population. The original plan was idealistic. In the spirit of Sarphati the young city engineer Van Niftrik submitted plans in 1866 for a full-scale expansion belt in the polder area along the edge of Amsterdam, where De Pijp (then called Neighborhood YY), a beautiful new centre, would be built. The plan included the construction of the

Amsterdam Centraal station Amsterdam Centraal station ( ; Railway stations in the Netherlands, abbreviation: Asd) is the largest railway station in Amsterdam, North Holland, the Netherlands. A major international Rail transport, railway hub, it is used by 192,000 passeng ...

in the middle of De Pijp, on the current location of the Sarphatipark, with a modern railway along the Ceintuurbaan. North of the track there would be large apartment blocks and wide streets, and in the south, an area of villas with green, wide avenues in a star pattern. Plan YY had a grandeur that would equal that of the new districts of

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

and

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

. However, the council rejected the plan. A new plan was drafted by Jan Kalff, Director of the Public Works Department (''Plan Kalff'' of 1876, also known as the ''19e-eeuwse-gordel''). The only thing he retained from the old plan was the raising of the polder area with about five feet for the drainage and sewage. He refrained from regrouping so that the street pattern was a copy of the old polder lock pattern. It was all built as quickly as possible, using the cheapest materials (jerry-building). No villas were built. De Pijp became an area of long streets with a typical street wall image: generally four stories with a canopy, the height staggered between the plots, each piece topped with a white roof with a cap and lifting bar, and most houses are two windows wide. The southern part of De Pijp, including the Diamantbuurt (literal translation: Diamond neighbourhood), was built some years later, around 1925. This area was designed according to the

Amsterdam School The Amsterdam School (Dutch: ''Amsterdamse School'') is a style of architecture that arose from 1910 through about 1930 in the Netherlands. The Amsterdam School movement is part of international Expressionist architecture, sometimes linked ...

style of architecture.

Description

De Pijp is densely populated and has a diverse population, with a relatively high percentage of highly educated people and people living alone. Notable people that lived in De Pijp include painters

Piet Mondrian Pieter Cornelis Mondriaan (; 7 March 1872 – 1 February 1944), known after 1911 as Piet Mondrian (, , ), was a Dutch Painting, painter and Theory of art, art theoretician who is regarded as one of the greatest artists of the 20th century. He w ...

and Carel Willink, writers Willem Kloos,

Frederik van Eeden Frederik Willem van Eeden (3 April 1860, Haarlem – 16 June 1932, Bussum) was a late 19th-century and early 20th-century Dutch writer and psychiatrist. He was a leading member of the Tachtigers and the Significs Group, and had top billing amo ...

and Gerard Reve, folk singer

André Hazes André Gerardus Hazes (30 June 1951 – 23 September 2004) was a Dutch singer and actor. As an accomplished levenslied singer, Hazes recorded 36 studio and live albums, and 55 singles prior to his death in 2004. His music is still well-known in ...

, as well as actress Carice van Houten. In 2013, Mano Bouzamour published a much-disputed novel about growing up as an immigrant in this neighbourhood. The busiest street market of the Netherlands, the Albert Cuyp Market, is located in De Pijp. It is open six days a week and attracts local shoppers and tourists alike. The former

Heineken Heineken Lager Beer (), or simply Heineken (), is a Dutch pale lager beer with 5% alcohol by volume produced by the Dutch brewing company Heineken N.V. Heineken beer is sold in a green bottle with a red star. History On 15 February 1864, ...

brewery in De Pijp is a major tourist attraction. Adjacent to the former brewery is the Marie Heinekenplein, which has a number of bars and cafes. Other lively streets and squares are Frans Halsstraat, Ferdinand Bolstraat, Gerard Douplein, Van Woustraat and Ceintuurbaan. Along the canal Ruysdaelkade there is a small red-light district. The former town hall of Nieuwer-Amstel is one of De Pijp's notable monuments.

References

External links

Geschiedenis: oude buurtindelingen van Amsterdam
{{coord, 52, 21, 11, N, 4, 53, 46, E, region:NL_source:kolossus-nlwiki, display=title Neighbourhoods of Amsterdam Former boroughs of Amsterdam Amsterdam-Zuid Red-light districts in the Netherlands