The Beurs van Berlage has been a prominent feature of Amsterdam's city centre for over one hundred years. Its history actually goes back somewhat further, there having been a gap of twenty years between the city council announcing a design competition for the building and its official opening in 1903.

The delay was largely due to dithering on the part of the politicians. They could agree on very little other than the fact that 'something had to be done'. The existing Exchange building, designed by architect J.D. Zocher, was in the style of a Greek temple - open and very cold.
In 1884, the city council called for designs for a new Exchange. Hendrik Petrus Berlage was one of the contenders. None of the proposed designs was accepted immediately but five architects, including Berlage, were asked to expand upon their ideas. This proved a rather fruitless exercise, since the council was still unable to make a decision and the plans for a new building were abandoned. Instead, the existing Exchange would be modified. Even this solution proved to be unworkable and eventually it was decided that a complete new building was indeed required.

The Alderman for Public Works of the day, one Wim Treub, awarded the contract to Berlage. Between 1898 and 1903, the new 'Koopmansbeurs' (Mercantile Exchange) began to take shape. It was to be a collaborative effort - a 'Gesamtkunstwerk' - involving architect, poet, artists and engineers. The official opening ceremony took place on 27 May 1903, in the presence of Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands.

Berlage's Exchange was different to anything that had gone before, and not at all what had been expected. In Berlage's day, it was seen as appropriate for an Exchange building to be grand and imposing, decorated with all manner of frills and classical curlicues. His building did not fit that concept at all. It was sober, restrained, uncluttered. The few decorations that had been incorporated were almost 'socialist' in character. The people of Amsterdam were divided, not altogether sure whether they liked the new building which was described variously as a 'lumbering megalosaurus', and a building 'rustic in style, noble in construction'.
There were further misgivings based on reasons other than the aesthetic. The Beurs van Berlage soon proved too small for its intended purpose. Moreover, there were signs of serious subsidence which almost led to its complete demolition in 1960.

Today, no one would dare suggest demolishing the Beurs van Berlage! It is the Netherlands most famous twentieth-century architectural monument. Recently, the building's foundations were strengthened, involving the addition of over seven hundred support piles. The Beurs van Berlage is now a 'cultural palace' par excellence, the venue for countless conferences, lectures, workshops, meetings, concerts and exhibitions.