8 Interesting Facts About the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam

The Rijksmuseum is the only museum in the world with a road through it. While the road was open to motorized vehicles until 1931, cars were later banned, and the road is now open to only cyclists and pedestrians.

Since Amsterdam is below sea level and the soil is swampy, most of the major buildings are built on wooden platforms. The Rijksmuseum is supported by over 8000 wooden piles underneath the building even today.

The Rijksmuseum is home to over 1,000,000 artworks and historical artifacts. However, only 8000 of these are on display, spread over 80 galleries.

The Rijksmuseum is the largest museum in the Netherlands. The Cuypers Library is also the largest and most extensive art library in the country.

The museum director of the Rijksmuseum in the 1960s found the wall paintings too distracting and had them white-washed. Luckily, they were preserved underneath and the paintings were restored in 2013.

The original Night Watch painting by Rembrandt was much larger than what is on display today. Before the Rijksmuseum, the Night Watch was on display at the Royal Palace on Dam Square. However, it was too big to fit the wall, and the sides were significantly cut to fit.

The armor with the missing leg in the Rijksmuseum is not a damaged artifact. The armor represents Admiral Jacob van Heemskerk who lost his leg in Gibraltar in 1607, and ultimately, his life.

The National Art Gallery was originally built in The Hague in 1800. It was later relocated under Emperor Napoleon and King Willem I and christened the 'Rijks Museum' before being constructed in its current location.