Dutch king visits renewed Anne Frank House museum
Posted November 22, 2018 6:00 am
AMSTERDAM (AP) - Dutch King Willem-Alexander has visited the Anne Frank House museum after a two-year reboot gave the building a new entrance hall, redesigned exhibition spaces and a new way of telling the story of the teenage Jewish diarist.
Executive director Ronald Leopold says the aim of renewing the landmark museum was to "provide more information about the historical context and background of the story we represent, which is the story of Anne Frank."
What hasn't changed is the museum's moving centerpiece: the Spartan secret annex, reached via a door concealed behind a bookcase, where Anne wrote her world-famous diary as she, her family and four other Jews hid for two years from Nazis during World War II until they were arrested and deported to concentration camps.
Journalists take images of the renovated Anne Frank House Museum in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Wednesday, Nov. 21, 2018. The museum is built around the secret annex hidden in an Amsterdam canal-side house where teenage Jewish diarist Anne Frank hid from Nazi occupiers during World War II is expanding to better tell Anne's tragic story to the growing number of visitors. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
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A picture of Anne Frank accompanies visitors as they leave the renovated Anne Frank House Museum in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Wednesday, Nov. 21, 2018. The museum is built around the secret annex hidden in an Amsterdam canal-side house where teenage Jewish diarist Anne Frank hid from Nazi occupiers during World War II is expanding to better tell Anne's tragic story to the growing number of visitors. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
The Associated Press
Dutch King Willem-Alexander, right, looks at Anne Frank's diary, foreground, displayed in the new Diary Room at the renovated Anne Frank House Museum in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Thursday, Nov. 22, 2018. The museum is built around the secret annex hidden in an Amsterdam canal-side house where teenage Jewish diarist Anne Frank hid from Nazi occupiers during World War II is expanding to better tell Anne's tragic story to the growing number of visitors. (Patrick van Katwijk, pool photo via AP)
The Associated Press
Dutch King Willem-Alexander, right, looks at Anne Frank's diary, displayed in the new Diary Room at the renovated Anne Frank House Museum in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Thursday, Nov. 22, 2018. The museum is built around the secret annex hidden in an Amsterdam canal-side house where teenage Jewish diarist Anne Frank hid from Nazi occupiers during World War II is expanding to better tell Anne's tragic story to the growing number of visitors. (Patrick van Katwijk, pool photo via AP)
The Associated Press
Dutch King Willem-Alexander looks at Anne Frank's diary, foreground, displayed in the new Diary Room at the renovated Anne Frank House Museum in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Thursday, Nov. 22, 2018. The museum is built around the secret annex hidden in an Amsterdam canal-side house where teenage Jewish diarist Anne Frank hid from Nazi occupiers during World War II is expanding to better tell Anne's tragic story to the growing number of visitors. (Patrick van Katwijk, pool photo via AP)
The Associated Press
View of the secret annex with it's blacked out windows at the renovated Anne Frank House Museum in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Wednesday, Nov. 21, 2018. The museum is built around the secret annex hidden in an Amsterdam canal-side house where teenage Jewish diarist Anne Frank hid from Nazi occupiers during World War II is expanding to better tell Anne's tragic story to the growing number of visitors. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
The Associated Press
View of the secret annex with it's blacked out windows at the renovated Anne Frank House Museum in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Wednesday, Nov. 21, 2018. The museum is built around the secret annex hidden in an Amsterdam canal-side house where teenage Jewish diarist Anne Frank hid from Nazi occupiers during World War II is expanding to better tell Anne's tragic story to the growing number of visitors. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
The Associated Press
View of the secret annex with it's blacked out windows at the renovated Anne Frank House Museum in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Wednesday, Nov. 21, 2018. The museum is built around the secret annex hidden in an Amsterdam canal-side house where teenage Jewish diarist Anne Frank hid from Nazi occupiers during World War II is expanding to better tell Anne's tragic story to the growing number of visitors. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
The Associated Press
A museum employee emerges from the secret annex at the renovated Anne Frank House Museum in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Wednesday, Nov. 21, 2018. The museum is built around the secret annex hidden in an Amsterdam canal-side house where teenage Jewish diarist Anne Frank hid from Nazi occupiers during World War II is expanding to better tell Anne's tragic story to the growing number of visitors. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
The Associated Press
A photographer, rear left, takes pictures of a room where images of Anne Frank are projected, as a statue of Anne Frank is seen, right, at the renovated Anne Frank House Museum in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Wednesday, Nov. 21, 2018. The museum is built around the secret annex hidden in an Amsterdam canal-side house where teenage Jewish diarist Anne Frank hid from Nazi occupiers during World War II is expanding to better tell Anne's tragic story to the growing number of visitors. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
The Associated Press
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