Anne Frank Foundation buys Anne’s other home, now a refuge for writers

Dutchnews, November 17, 2017

Photo: Maksim via Wikimedia Commons

Amsterdam’s Anne Frank Foundation has bought the flat where Anne and her family lived prior to going into hiding during World War II. 

The second floor flat at 37 Merwedeplein was home to the Franks from 1933 until July 1942, when they moved to the secret annex on Amsterdam’s Prinsengracht. 

Anne began writing her famous diary at the flat in the south of the city after she received it on her 13th birthday. 

The foundation has bought the property from housing corporation Ymere which bought it in 2004 and restored it to its original style. It has been rented to the Dutch Foundation for Literature since 2005 and lived in by writers who are not free to pursue their craft in their own countries. 

Anne Frank foundation director Ronald Leopold said in a statement that the foundation plans to retain the flat’s use as a refuge for foreign writers. 

‘We would like to see how we can do greater justice to the general historical importance of the home without detracting from its current use as a residence for overseas writers,’ Leopold said.