Puppet show on Dam Square in Amsterdam given cultural heritage status

The Dutch Cultural Heritage Agency has granted the Dam Square puppet show in Amsterdam cultural heritage status. After 135 years in the Dutch capital, the popular attraction will be around for many more years to come.

Puppet show on Dam Square celebrates 135 years

There was a combined celebration in the city centre in August. As part of Amsterdam’s year-long celebration for its 750th birthday, a free puppet festival took place, kicking off with a reveal of a 4-metre-high puppet.

A puppet show featuring the famous Jan Klaassen and Katrijn characters from the Poppenkast op de Dam Amsterdam also took place. That’s not all, though; there was also an official ceremony to acknowledge the puppet show as a part of Dutch cultural heritage. 

The festival was also a celebration of the puppet show itself, which has been a fixture in the Dutch capital every Sunday from May to October for 135 years. 

Dam Square puppet show part of Dutch cultural heritage

To be recognised as a part of cultural heritage in the Netherlands, an attraction has to meet a number of requirements. For example, the puppet show had to ensure its continued existence by actively promoting the puppetry training program at the Jan Klaassen Academy.

The organisation must also have financial support, collaborate with other organisations, promote the puppet show at schools and to tourists. A certificate acknowledging the attraction’s cultural heritage status was presented by Amsterdam’s heritage alderman Alexander Scholtes to three generations of Dam Square puppeteers, Wim Kerkhove, Egon Adel and Jimi de Jongh.

Initially, the puppet show had all the documentation ready to get the status in 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic meant this was not possible. “Last year, we decided to coincide with Amsterdam 750, so that we could combine this wonderful occasion with a big party," current puppeteer Egon Adel told RTL Nieuws.