The Amsterdam Time Machine

The Amsterdam Time Machine (ATM) is a research project that is coordinated by CREATE: a research programme and lab of the University of Amsterdam, dedicated to digital humanities. We are developing a digital time machine for the city of Amsterdam: an infrastructure that is navigable through space and time that consists of different sets of socio-cultural historical information. The team,  consisting of a project manager, researchers and research data engineers, connects various sets of historical data to get an image of Amsterdam’s past. We work together with heritage partners, like museums and public archives, as well as with societal partners, creative partners and local citizen communities. Users will ultimately be able to travel back in time and navigate the city on the levels of neighborhoods, streets and houses, learning how people lived in our city in past centuries.

This website is a research project website, displaying a range of pilot projects that have been carried out under the umbrella of the ATM since 2017.  With the various pilot projects, resulting in Proof of Concepts, historical researchers, heritage institutes and data scientist experiment on new techniques as Linked Open Data (connecting digital heritage information on the basis of time and location) and (when possible) visualization in 3D, to find out what this means for making digital heritage sources accessible, for research and for the general public. Every pilot project thus provides something new to the (digital) infrastructure to provide new information on the history of Amsterdam and its citizens.

Some pilots we are currently working on or recently have been working on: with the Netherlands 3D consortium (development of ATM Time slider), the Oude Kerk (Linked Open Data records of persons in the Open Archive), the Library of the University of Amsterdam/Allard Pierson Museum (maps & Linked Open Data), de City Archives of Amsterdam (Aan het juiste adres and Diaries Time Machine – public application). Several pilots and activities are on its way in connection with the celebration of the 750th birthday of the City of Amsterdam, in October 2025. And finally: we are currently developing a landing page for the Amsterdam Time Machine website to make all project results easily available with only a few mouse clicks through the map of Amsterdam. First results are expected in 2025. Keep an eye on this website and the blog section for more news on all these activities. 

ATM is based on a linked and open structure and works as much as possible with Open Standards, in line with the strategy of the Network Digital Heritage of the Netherlands. ATM collaborates closely with other Dutch Time Machines, and is a proud member of the Time Machine Organization. This ensures that the Amsterdam data is connected across the Netherlands and abroad. Just as the city itself has always been.