Hotel Polen fire
Hotel Polen before it was destroyed by fire
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| Date | June 9, 1977 |
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| Venue | Hotel Polen |
| Location | Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| Coordinates | 52°22′20″N 4°53′34″E / 52.37211°N 4.89264°ECoordinates: 52°22′20″N 4°53′34″E / 52.37211°N 4.89264°E |
| Type | Fire |
| Deaths | 33 |
| Non-fatal injuries | 21 |
The Hotel Polen fire occurred on 9 May 1977 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The conflagration destroyed the Hotel Polen (Hotel Poland), a five story hotel in the centre of the city which had been built in 1891, as well as the furniture store on the ground level and a nearby bookstore. Many of the tourists who stayed at the hotel (of whom the majority were Swedes) jumped to their deaths trying to escape the flames. Upon their arrival, the fire department used a life net to help people escape, but not everyone could be saved. The incident resulted in 33 deaths and 21 severe injuries. The cause of the fire is unknown.
The hotel was located between the Kalverstraat (no. 15-17) and the Rokin (no. 14), near the present day Madame Tussauds. Its place is now occupied by the Rokin Plaza, which was originally an office building, today it houses several fashion shops. The Polish-born artist Ania Bien created a photographic installation based on the fire in 1986, which compared it to the Holocaust.
In the beginning of the 16th century, there was an inn on the site where the Hotel Polen was later located. At the end of the 18th century, the "Poolsche Koffiehuis" (Polish Coffee House) was established, which began offering guest accommodation in 1857. In 1891, the Hotel Polen was established by the "Maatschappij tot Exploitatie van het Poolsche Koffiehuis" (Polish Coffee House Society), after the adjacent space on the Rokin was bought, and a building was constructed there which was possibly designed by the architect Pierre Cuypers, who also designed the Amsterdam Central Station and the Rijksmuseum. Another source lists Eduard Cuypers as the architect. The hotel was five stories high and on the ground level of the building a café-restaurant was opened.
The Hotel Polen was once known as a fashionable place to stay. The café-restaurant was closed at the end of 1974 and its location was subsequently rented to the furniture store Inden. The hotel remained open as a part of the Krasnapolsky Concern.
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Wikipedia