10 Interesting Facts About the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam

Since the land along the Amsterdam canals was in high demand, houses were narrow and long. 'Annexes' were built in the backyards of existing houses to create more living or working space. Both the main house and the annexes were connected by a corridor and separated by a courtyard to allow daylight into both.

In 1739, more than a hundred years after the construction of Prinsengracht 263, the previous annex had been demolished to be replaced by a new, larger annex. Later, the basement was replaced by a room at street level. After Otto rented the house in 1940, a staircase was constructed between the main house’s first and second floors. This is the staircase that leads to the landing where a bookcase is placed in front of the entrance to the Secret Annex.

The Pieron family, the owners from whom Otto Frank rented the building, did not know people were hiding in the Secret Annex. In 1943, the family sold the property. Luckily, when the new owner arrived with an architect to look at the building, Mr Kleiman, Otto's friend who helped the Franks in hiding, lied about forgetting the key to the door behind the bookshelf. The owner never asked any questions nor came back to check.

After the Secret Annex and the people in hiding were discovered, the Secret Annex was almost demolished. Of those in hiding, Otto Frank was the sole survivor. However, as Anne's story reached more people after Otto published her diary, people resisted the demolition. Shortly after the demolition was prevented, the Anne Frank House Foundation was established and opened to the public.

According to her diary, Anne Frank was said to have gazed at a chestnut tree outside her house. While the Amsterdam Council wanted to cut down the tree in 2007, the court voted against it. However, a storm knocked the tree over 3 years later. A single nut from the tree was saved and put on eBay. Bids started at $700 and went up.

After Otto Frank returned from Auschwitz, he found the house no longer had any furnishings or furniture. When the museum opened, Otto wanted to display it as it was after the Nazis took everything from it. However, Anne's diary held information, photos, and films of the home and what was inside. You can still see these items when visiting the museum.

The Diary Room in the Anne Frank House displays the red checkered diary Anne received when she turned 13. After the family was forced into hiding, Anne made some of her diary notes on a scratchpad. When she heard that diaries would be collected after the war, she completely rewrote her diary to share her experiences during WWII. This modified version consisting of 215 pages is sometimes displayed for visitors to read.

In 1998, it was discovered that 5 pages were missing from the diary. These pages were removed by Otto because they contained information about Anne's relationship with her mother and what she thought of her parents and their marriage. In 2016, researchers also found 2 pages previously hidden by a brown paper revealing Anne's thoughts on sex. Every 10 years, researchers examine the diary and Anne's notebooks to learn more.

The first version (A) started in the red checked diary that Anne received for her 13th birthday and continued on at least 2 other notebooks. However, it is assumed that other volumes were lost because more than a year's worth of entries are missing. Anne rewrote her diary in 1944 when she heard on the radio that war-time diaries would be collected to document the suffering under Nazi occupation. In this version (B), she omits parts of A and adds new sections.

A theory argues that someone called the German Security Police to notify them that Jews were living at the premises of Opekta. A team concluded that in 2022, Arnold van den Bergh, a Jew, informed the Nazis so that he and his family could avoid being sent to a concentration camp but these claims were thrown out. Another theory suggests that the Nazis may have discovered the Secret Annex by accident when they were investigating reports of ration-coupon fraud and illegal employment at Opekta.