Het Schip Museum Amsterdam: Amsterdam School, tickets, tours

Updated on October 2, 2026

Nicknamed "the Ship" for its long, narrow shape, Het Schip is a social housing complex built from 1917 to 1920 by the architect Michel de Klerk for the workers' housing association Eigen Haard, in the Spaarndammerbuurt, north of the Westerpark. It originally had 102 homes, a school and a post office, set around an inner courtyard dominated by a slender tower. Sculpted brickwork, windows of every shape, ironwork and sculptures make it the most accomplished example of the Amsterdam School, the expressionist architectural movement born of workers' housing. Since 2001, the Het Schip museum has occupied the former post office and the former school; it presents the movement and shows visitors a workers' flat furnished as it was in the 1920s. The building is a national monument.

Highlights

The former post office

The corner of the building, with its rounded turret, housed the neighbourhood post office, complete with a telephone service, a rare amenity in a working-class district at the time. Its original interior can be seen on the guided tour.

The courtyard and the tower

At the heart of the complex, a small courtyard enclosed by curved facades leads to the meeting hall, topped by the slender tower, which has no practical function: De Klerk intended it as a sign, visible from afar, of the neighbourhood's pride. The guided tour takes in the workers' house set up in the courtyard garden.

The museum flat

One of the building's homes has been refurnished as it was at the time. It shows the new comfort offered by this social housing, funded under the 1901 Housing Act: separate rooms, natural light, flushing toilets, at a time when many working-class families lived in slums.

The "Constructed Ideals" exhibition

The permanent exhibition traces the history of the Amsterdam School, its architects and its furniture, alongside temporary exhibitions. The museum also runs a second site, De Dageraad, a housing complex by Michel de Klerk and Piet Kramer in Plan Zuid, near De Pijp (Burgemeester Tellegenstraat 128), open Thursday to Sunday from 1 pm to 5 pm, at the same price.

Infos pratiques

Tips

Adult tickets cost €17.50, €8 for students, €10 for ages 12-18, €5 for ages 5-12, and are free for under-5s, with the Museumkaart and with the I amsterdam City Card (prices checked in October 2026). The ticket covers the exhibitions; the guided tour of the post office, the museum flat and the courtyard house leaves at 12 pm, 1 pm, 2 pm, 3 pm and 4 pm, the 3 pm tour in English, with a €2 supplement on a regular ticket, the Museumkaart or the City Card. A combined ticket with the Bartolotti House, on the Herengracht, costs €25. The museum is wheelchair accessible; the museum flat is partly accessible.

How to get there

Oostzaanstraat 45, 1013 WG Amsterdam. From Central Station, bus 22 (towards Station Sloterdijk) to the Spaarndammerstraat stop, then about 5 minutes on foot via the Hembrugstraat. Bus 18 or 21 to Haarlemmerplein, then about 15 minutes on foot; tram 3 to the Haarlemmerpoort stop, then about 10 minutes on foot. On foot, allow half an hour from Central Station via the Haarlemmerstraat and the Haarlemmerdijk. Paid parking throughout the neighbourhood, including on Sundays.