Damstraat Amsterdam Netherlands

Originally, this was the Halsteeg, named after a meat and fish hall on the east side of Dam Square. In the Middle Ages, this Halsteeg formed part of Amsterdam's main east-west axis, running from Dam Square to Sint Antoniesdijk, then the city's eastern border.

In a "keurboek" from 1413, one of the oldest documents mentioning anything about prostitution in Amsterdam, there is an edict stating that prostitutes were allowed to work in Halsteeg and the parallel Pijlsteeg.

Halsteeg was named Damstraat after it was widened in 1868. This was a first step towards a planned wide east-west connection. In the process, part of the buildings were demolished, including the first Hajenius cigar warehouse opened in 1826.

The Salvation Army had had its headquarters on Damstraat since 1952. The building was bought by Hotel Krasnapolsky in the 1990s and replaced by new construction.

During the Coronation Riot, the riots at the inauguration of Queen Beatrix on 30 April 1980, the street was the scene of serious disturbances between protesters and the Mobile Unit.

On 20 August 1983, a 15-year-old Antillean boy, Kerwin Duinmeijer, was stabbed to death in Damstraat. The murder is commemorated annually.