Mahler Festival Amsterdam 2025 Blog by Amsterdam’s well-informed circles.
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Gustav and Alma in The Netherlands
- Gustav Mahler and the Netherlands (list)
- Gustav Mahler himself in the Netherlands (1903, 1904, 1906, 1909 and 1910)
- Gustav Mahler and Amsterdam
- Alma Mahler herself in the Netherlands (1912, 1920 and 1938)
Societies
- Mahler Foundation (MF)
- Mahler Stichting Nederland (Dutch Mahler Society, GMSN)
- Mahler by funkystuff.org (posts)
Concertgebouw
- Royal Concertgebouw Festival page (official)
- Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (RCO)
From 9 to 18 May 2025, the Royal Concertgebouw will host the third Mahler Festival in its history. As a grand tribute to the composer, orchestras from around the world will come together in Amsterdam 105 years after the first Mahler Festival.
Amsterdam
Amsterdam was founded around 1250 with the building of the Dam that gave it its name. ‘Aeme Stelle Redamme’ is Medieval Dutch for: ‘Dam in a Watery Area’.
The Dam is still there as the heart of the city. But today this former barrier between the River Amstel and the “Southern Sea” is one of the few places in the center of town that you cannot sail a boat to. With the last part of the river leading to the dam fell victim to land-traffic in 1922. A street that came in its place is still called ‘Damrak’, which is Dutch for: “Last section of the river, leading to the Dam.”
Canals
Canals were dug for water management and defence. As the city expanded in the Middle Ages, successive defence moats ended up inside the walls and lost their function. But they acquired an important new one: local transport of merchandise. The warehouses along the old moats could store enormous quantities of trading goods that could be`pipelined through those moat-canals to a harbour full of ships that sailed all over the world that was known in those days.
Trade
Trade exploded in the 17th century, Amsterdam’s Golden Age. In one very ambitious expansion project that took 50 years, the 3 main canals of the city were dug and the houses around them were built. Completed around 1660, it made the city grow to 4 times its size and gave it the most intricate and efficient system of navigable waterways in the world. A maze of connecting canals brought merchandise from all over the world to the doorstep of every canalside merchant.
Thousands of small barges carried the goods from the big ships in the harbor to every corner of the city. More than a thousand warehouses on the canal-sides were supplied by these man-powered barges. On top of that, 9 specialized floating markets catered to the daily needs of 17th century Amsterdammers.
Bikes
More goods were moved on barges in the canals by human power, than would even be possible today with trucks along the canalsides.ter, and there are numerous biking paths and lanes spread throughout the entire city.