National Monument on Dam Square

The Nationaal Monument on Dam Square in central Amsterdam is the Netherlands' principal memorial to those who fell in World War II and in conflicts since. The 22-metre concrete-and-travertine obelisk was designed by architect J.J.P. Oud and unveiled in 1956; sculptor John Raedecker and his sons carved the reliefs and figures. Four male figures represent resistance, clergy, science and labour at the feet of a woman holding a child as a symbol of victory. Embedded in the back are eleven urns containing soil from each Dutch province and the former Dutch East Indies. Every year on 4 May at 8pm the national remembrance ceremony takes place here with two minutes of silence, attended by the king in person. The rest of the year the plinth is a busy meeting point on the Dam, opposite the Royal Palace and Nieuwe Kerk.