Amsterdam's Gay Street

In 1985 this street advertised itself as Amsterdam's Gay Street, with six bars, three hotels, a video shop and a sauna. Little of that shows in the quiet scene around you.

It started in 1951 at number 37, with Hotel Unique, the first hotel in the city aimed at homosexual guests. The West End joined it across the road, with the Cosmo Bar on the ground floor, and from the early sixties the cafés followed. At number 59, in front of you, sat the Incognito, where well-known Dutch faces came for a discreet night out. Further along you could dance at the Bonaparte and at the lesbian disco Homolulu at number 23, and at number 60 stood the night sauna Thermos.

The position explains a lot. The Kerkstraat runs halfway between the DOK on the Singel and De Schakel near the Leidseplein, crossing the Leidsestraat along which everyone walked between the two. In the early eighties the Reguliersdwarsstraat took over the title, though it stayed busy here. Club Church now occupies the building of the former Bonaparte, and at number 4 the Spijker has held on since 1978.

At the end of the street we turn into the Leidsestraat, left as far as the Prinsengracht, and then right until we stand in front of the large building at number 436.