The Anne Frank House is a museum with a story. As a visitor, you experience this story through quotes, photos, videos, and original items. The atmosphere in the museum is authentic and subdued.
The main house and the annex
On 6 July 1942, the Frank family went into hiding in the building at Prinsengracht 263. The building housed Otto Frank’s business. Later, they were joined by the Van Pels family and Fritz Pfeffer. The building consisted of two parts: the main house and the annex. The eight people hid on the top floors of the annex.
When Otto Frank was the only one to return from Auschwitz in June 1945, the annex was empty and barren. In 1960, the Anne Frank House opened its doors as a museum, but at Otto’s request, the annex stayed empty.
Anne Frank’s room
Anne had to share a room with Fritz Pfeffer, which led to frequent arguments. Not being able to go outside was hard for her. Her diary was a place to vent. To brighten up the room, Anne put pictures on the wall.
‘Thanks to Father, who had brought my whole collection of picture postcards and movie stars here beforehand, I have been able to treat the walls with a pot of glue and a brush and so turn the entire room into one big picture.’
Pen-and-Inklings
Anne Frank is best known for her diary. What many people don't know is that Anne also wrote short stories. She calls them ‘my Pen-and-Inklings’. The stories range from events from the Secret Annex to fairy tales about fairies and gnomes and memories of her school days. Anne Frank's short stories were illustrated for a special edition by 46 illustrators from all over the world. Their illustrations can now be seen in an exhibition at the museum.
Diary room
Here you can see the original red-checked diary Anne Frank received for her 13th birthday on 12 June 1942. A few weeks later, the Frank family had to go into hiding. Once in the Secret Annex, it was not long before Anne had filled her diary, and she continued writing in notebooks.
In March 1944, Anne learned that the government would be collecting diaries after the war and she decided to rewrite her entire diary. She dreamt of becoming a famous writer and journalist. The rewritten version consists of 215 loose sheets of paper, some of which are shown alternately in the museum.
The other two notebooks on display are the ‘Favourite Quotes Book’, in which Anne copied quotes she liked, and her ‘Tales Book’ with short stories she had thought up.
Must-sees
All through the museum, you can still see traces and personal objects of the people who hid here. Below, you can see photos of the items you should definitely see to prepare for your visit:
