
The Beurs van Hendrick de Keyser (Exchange of Hendrik de Keyser) was the first municipal Merchants Exchange in Amsterdam. The exchange building opened in 1611 after the city council concluded that having the exchange take place on the streets and in church buildings (see 1-4) was no longer appropriate for a world trade centre in the making. After the opening, the exchange’s floor was soon crowded with local merchants as well as foreign visitors.
The rectangular red-brick building was built on the south side of the Dam Square over the water of Rokin. The 'service entrance' was located on the Dam side. The main entrance and the tower, as can be seen in the picture, was the view of the exchange visitors when they entered the exchange building from the direction of the Munttoren (Mint Tower).
The building was still mainly used for the trading of goods. Each type of commodity had its own place, recognisable by numbered pillars around the inner courtyard. The trade in stocks took place just behind the main entrance on the Rokin side, and was granted extra space in 1668 after the bridge in the foreground was added to the building.
Initially, it was possible to sail under the building with the mast down. However, after the Spaniards tried to blow up the Beurs van Hendrick de Keyser in
1622 using a boat loaded with gunpowder, the canal was closed off.
However, the fact that the Merchants Exchange was built across the water continued to be a problem for the building. Due to persistent subsidence, the exchange traders regularly had to move to the Dam Square and the Nieuwe Kerk (see 7). Eventually, this situation proved fatal for the Beurs van Hendrick de Keyser. In 1835, it was decided to close the building and it was demolished two years later. Due, in part, to the poor economic situation, the traders had to make do with a makeshift building on the Dam Square for the almost ten years that followed (see 8). In today’s streetscape, apart from the Beurspoortje (see 6), nothing reminds us of this first illustrious exchange building in Amsterdam.