De Wallen Art: Top 5 Cultural Gems in Amsterdam’s Red Light District

When you think about Amsterdam’s Red Light District, right, what springs to mind, so? Well, many people picture late-night activities and maybe vibrant storefronts, yet De Wallen is, actually, also home to a very surprising concentration of art and culture. Actually, stepping away from the main drags uncovers, too, a set of museums, galleries, and historical spots that provide some perspective on the area. We are, in fact, going to have a look at five spots where you can experience something more than maybe meets the eye. A place to take in pieces of work that really make you think, soaking up some very special pieces of Dutch history as you do so, more or less. As I was saying, get your walking shoes on and let’s have a little peek behind all of the velvet curtains to see what we find on offer in De Wallen, okay?

1. Museum Our Lord in the Attic: A Secret Sanctuary

Museum Our Lord in the Attic is a super surprising church that hides in plain sight inside a regular canal house! Just picture that. Constructed in the 1660s, that building provided, then, a place of worship for Catholics when their religion was, kind of, banned from being practiced out in public during the Protestant Reformation. The story that it tells, anyway, is something pretty special. You enter through what looks like just a house front before creeping up the narrow staircase into a series of parlors and up into the attic where you’ll see a whole church right there. Seriously. Just take your time to enjoy the organ that still works to this day! In a way, stepping into Our Lord in the Attic is truly like traveling back to some very significant parts of Amsterdam’s heritage and you come out the other side viewing religious freedom in, like your, area in an entirely different light. This cultural highlight stands as a very quiet but extremely intense place to experience, actually. That is, by the way, what you get when history meets pure innovation, seemingly.

2. Oude Kerk: Amsterdam’s Oldest Parish Church

So, you have heard of some statement pieces, yet how about one with prostitutes literally surrounding it on a very day-to-day basis, alright? Okay, joking aside, in all seriousness, right, Oude Kerk, which, like your, translation from Dutch means Old Church, is just that, a bit, the oldest building still around in Amsterdam. Anyway, it dates all the way back to 1306. The gorgeous wooden ceiling, the intricate stained-glass windows, and the graves of well-known Dutch figures is, actually, what this area has to give. The best way to visit here is just to wander around so that you can appreciate its architecture. You will feel a million miles from any kind of modern chaos that can be, literally, found just outside the building’s main entrance, right. That church does actually do a really good program of art displays throughout the whole of the year so it is definitely worth keeping a close watch on what’s on if that, too it’s almost, is your type of scene, okay?

3. The Bulldog The First Coffeeshop: A Slice of Counterculture

You may know The Bulldog as a chain, anyway, yet it is worth going back to the very first coffeeshop in this world and you’ll find that, actually, in De Wallen. While not necessarily an “art” display in the more old-school way, right, The Bulldog The First coffeeshop does serve up something a bit more unconventional! I mean, you will get to absorb what is very historically an important component of Amsterdam culture, to be fair. Just from pretty humble beginnings in the 1970s, so, its presence came about as a social rebellion, giving safe locations for everyone to meet and smoke safely! Okay, so times are extremely different now, yet visiting The Bulldog and witnessing how that thing all just kicked off in such an area is definitely an experience in itself, alright? Why not grab a coffee, watch the passing world go by and simply consider its position in Amsterdam’s cultural heritage? That might be quite something, seemingly.

4. Condomerie: More Than Just a Store

Just imagine, like, a store devoted entirely to condoms yet displayed with something of an arty and creative style, right? Well, Condomerie is definitely not a museum in your normal sense, basically, yet it most certainly does house something pretty unconventional! I mean, a collection of condoms of every variety from all across the planet! Right, the store prides itself on sex positivity. The display does something of a very good job to destigmatize using protection and promotes sex positivity by using art, right. It is a store, yes, yet more importantly it serves up, actually, something like a statement, and you are able to grab yourself a very cool souvenir to help get you through that next sexy night of yours too. That really is what makes Condomerie different, after all.

5. Hash, Marijuana & Hemp Museum: An Exploration of Cannabis Culture

So, let’s take things even more in a very unexpected way, and De Wallen isn’t all red lights! As a matter of fact, De Wallen has got culture right around every one of its street corners and even a very good hash museum. It showcases all of the cannabis story that, actually, you might well like. Showcasing antique smoking equipment plus also some gorgeous bits of hemp art from way back, the museum does a really fine job of telling the real deal surrounding this controversial plant, too it’s almost. Its role socially is something very interesting too. This might not be somewhere you think you would love to explore right, yet as you leave and you come away a bit more enlightened about this historical story, there’s plenty that it teaches you, alright?