Talk:Dam Square

Of note?
I removed the following paragraph from the article Indonesian War of Independence. Although interesting it seemed a little irrelevant to an article on the indpendence history of a nation now numbering 1/4 billion people. Maybe some of it has a place here. ''Behind the monument on the Dam Square in Amsterdam, commemorating the Netherlands' liberation from Nazi occupation, were placed twelve large potted plants, eleven of which were in soil brought from each of the eleven Dutch provinces while the twelfth was in soil brought from Indonesia. These plants, and the plaque explaining the origin of the soil and implying that Indonesia was a Dutch province, remained on the square well into the 1980's. When the monument was renovated the plants and plaque were inconspicuosly removed by the Dutch governemnt.'' Merbabu 10:14, 29 December 2006 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified 1 one external link on Dam Square. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20111001201729/http://stadsarchief.amsterdam.nl/presentaties/amsterdamse_schatten/tweede_wereldoorlog/doden_op_7_mei_1945/index.nl.html to http://stadsarchief.amsterdam.nl/presentaties/amsterdamse_schatten/tweede_wereldoorlog/doden_op_7_mei_1945/index.nl.html

When you have finished reviewing my changes, please set the checked parameter below to true or failed to let others know (documentation at ).

Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot  (Report bug) 12:36, 5 December 2016 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified one external link on Dam Square. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20051217225058/http://www.panoramsterdam.com/panos/dam.html to http://www.panoramsterdam.com/panos/dam.html

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot  (Report bug) 03:00, 30 November 2017 (UTC)

Purpose
What was the purpose of the original dam at the site? Were the tides really that much of an issue that it made sense to keep a certain water level behind through the center of town? Criticalthinker (talk) 15:09, 10 January 2023 (UTC)


 * Eh, mostly found the answers to this and added some info to the article for further detail on the early history of the area. I guess the IJ was, indeed, more tidal than I'd imagined, so the dam was necessary to control water levels in the Amstel. It also appears that soon after its construction the dam was reconstructed with a lock to allow navigation between the future Damrak and Rokin. It appears the lock was closed for good sometimes after the construction of the Beurs van Hendrick de Keyser, which was built over it and which had started to subside. Since the square is literally damed after a former function of the place upon which it is located, the history of said function shouldn't be given short shrift. --Criticalthinker (talk) 01:49, 22 January 2023 (UTC)