Then & Now Amsterdam

What did Amsterdam look like centuries ago? And who were the people living in the city?

Join me on a trip back into time and follow Then & Now Amsterdam on Instagram for a variety of before-and-after comparions of your favorite Amsterdam streets and neighborhoods.

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Comparison of a black and white historic street scene with bicycles and pedestrians to a modern colored view of a street with bicycles, plants, and a building in Amsterdam.

Latest photos

1926 & Now: in this photo you see Kromme Palmstraat, seen from Palmgracht and looking in the direction of Lijnbaansgracht. #thenandnowamsterdam
1930 & Now: we start this week with a post of Van Spilbergenstraat. The photo was taken at Postjesweg and looking in the direction of Willem Schoutenstraat. #thenandnowamsterdam
1932 & Now: in this photo you see Laurierstraat on the corner of Tweede Laurierdwarsstraat. The building at Laurierstraat 103-105 used to be home to the butcher shop of J. Vrees. A little further down the road, you see a larger complex that is si
1920 & Now: in this picture you see the houses at Palmgracht 46-36 (fltr) on the corner of Driehoekstraat, of which the entrance is partly visible on the left. At the time this 'then' photo was taken, the corner building at Palmgracht 46 was in u
1912 & Now: these lovely houses in today's photo were situated at Brouwersgracht 159-161 on the corner with Palmstraat 1-3, on the right. The corner building at Brouwersgracht 161 was home to a bakery. The adjacent building, at Palmstraat 1, was
1929 & Now: let's travel 96 years back in time and see what the Jordaan used to look like back in the day. In this specific photo you see Eerste Rozendwarsstraat on the corner with Rozenstraat. The corner building at Eerste Rozendwarsstraat 22 wa
1915 & Now: did you ever visit the Noorderkerk? The church, visible in this photo, is situated at Noordermarkt 44-48. The Noorderkerk was built in 1620-1623 based on a design of Hendrick de Keyser. The building is still in use as a church today a
1898 & Now: we start this week with a photo of Rozengracht. The picture was taken close to house number 93 and the entrance to Eerste Rozendwarsstraat on the right. The houses on the left are those of Rozengracht 77-91 (fltr). In the foreground,
1923 & Now: isn't this a lovely photo? It was taken 102 years ago in Kanaalstraat. At number 21 to be precise. At the time this older photo was taken, the building was home to the dairy store of A.M. Vodde. They stayed at this address for another
c. 1905 & Now: we start this day with a post of the Pesthuysbrug (bridge 181) at Jacob van Lennepkade, connecting Eerste Constantijn Huygensstraat to Bilderdijkstraat. The photo was taken next to the current hotel at Eerste Constantijn Huygensstr
c. 1920 & Now: in this photo you see Jacob Van Lennepkade 311-309. At the time this 'then' photo was take, you were able to find the ‘Cooperatieve Inkoop-Verkoop Amsterdam Melkslijters’ at this address - an organisation responsible fo
1946 & Now: if you've been following this account for a while now or got a copy of my book, you've seen a photo of the bunkers at the Mueumplein before. Bunkers? Yes. during WWII there were four bunkers in total situated at Museumplein. During th
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Photo locations

Find here all the photo locations of any photo ever posted on Instagram.

Click on one of the pins and find a:

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Media

  • As of January 2021, Then & Now Amsterdam photos were featured in several different editions of the Uitkrant Amsterdam.

    → See features

  • In celebration of Amsterdam's 750th birthday, I joined FC Centrum on a walk through the city center, visiting buildings that are not there anymore and sharing their amazing history.

    → Watch videos

  • Then & Now Amsterdam was featured on several different websites, social media platforms and in magazines.

    → See publications

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Then & Now Amsterdam
Sharon Hansma
€29,99

Then & Now Amsterdam shows the present and the past at a glance and invites you to search for differences.

✓ bilingual edition

Cover of a book or magazine titled 'Amsterdam Then & Now' with a split image of street scenes in Amsterdam, showing both historical and modern views.
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About

The Instagram account

What did Amsterdam look like centuries ago? Did the streets look the same?

Then & Now Amsterdam is an Instagram account that tries to answer these questions by showing 'before and after' photos of  different neighborhoods in Amsterdam. 

In order to make an accurate comparison between the past and the present, the newer photos are taken at the exact same location as the older ones, decades ago.

The creator

That is me - Sharon - a marketeer by day and a photo and story fanatic by, well, any other moment of the day.

I don't consider myself to be a history buff at all, but I always had a somewhat weird fascination with old buildings, photos, family trees and the stories behind them. Learning more about the city's history and looking at decades-old photos, definitely make me appreciate my life in this beautiful city even more. I hope that Then & Now Amsterdam can do the same for you.

A woman with long, wavy brown hair and blue eyes sitting in a room, wearing a floral top and layered necklaces.
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Contact & Photo request

Interested in working together? Do you have a photo request of a specific location? Or do you have a question about the Then & Now Amsterdam account?

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