Visitors
Anne Frank House is often a busy place. This is especially true in the summer months, when long queues of visitors stretch around the block. Public interest in Anne Frank House has grown steadily since its inception in 1960. From just a few thousand visitors in the first years after opening, the annual number of museum goers has reached nearly a million today.
Number of visitors
at the Anne Frank House since 1960
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In 1967, Anne Frank House received a record 100,000 visitors. This total climbed to 250,000 in 1975. Just ten years later, the museum opened its doors to a half a million people. By 2007, it had reached the million mark.
But, who are these visitors?
The overwhelming majority of visitors, around 90%, are foreign tourists. Many people visiting Amsterdam consider Anne Frank House as a must-see stop on their itinerary. The reason for this is the diary’s worldwide renown. Children the world over hear about Anne's story, her diary and her time in hiding in the Secret Annexe while at school. The diary is often used to teach about the Holocaust and the Second World War.
This is reflected in the age of the average visitor to Anne Frank House, which is considerably younger than many other Amsterdam museums. Nearly two-thirds of the museum’s visitors are under the age of thirty (2008 statistic).
Girls in front of Anne's picture wall inside her attic room.
For many, a visit to Anne Frank House proves to be an educational or formative experience. It is a history lesson on the Second World War and the Holocaust learned neither in the classroom nor from books, but in the place where it happened, bringing history to life.
Pupils from a school in Amsterdam in front of Anne Frank House.
Included among the museum’s visitors are frequent school trips from Germany. The Group Visits Department hosts educational tours in many different languages.
Although surveys show that the average visitor to Anne Frank House is young, western and unmarried with no children, the pictures below illustrate that there are still plenty of visitors who do not fit the mould.
1. Group of Japanese seniors in front of Anne Frank House; 2. Group of Kenyans in front of Anne Frank House; 3. Indian family in front of Anne Frank House; 4. Orthodox Jewish family in front of Anne Frank House.