It’s been a time-honoured tradition for passengers travelling in KLM Business Class to receive a Delft Blue miniature house at the end of their flight. Each house is a replica of a Dutch building and most of the original houses are located in Amsterdam. A KLM flight attendant has created a unique walking tour to view some of these monumental buildings in real life
The Delft Blue miniature houses presented by KLM to each Business Class passenger have been sought-after collector items for more than 60 years. Every year on the date of KLM’s anniversary, 7 October, a new house is added to the collection. So far there are 97 models.
Valerie Musson, a KLM flight attendant, has recently come up with the idea to include some of the houses in a wonderful walking tour through Amsterdam’s historic city centre. We show you some of the highlights.
Curious about the rest of the walking tour? Click here
One of the first museums on the KLM miniature houses walking tour is Rembrandt’s House. From 1639 to 1658, this monumental building was the home and studio of world-famous painter Rembrandt van Rijn, whose most renowned painting ‘The Night Watch’ is on display at the Rijksmuseum.
Furnished with 17th-century furniture and art, Rembrandt’s House is a wonderful trip back in time. The museum boasts an almost complete collection of the master painter’s etchings and holds regular exhibits about the artist himself, his contemporaries and his apprentices.
Stop by the Museum Van Loon on the elegant Keizersgracht to take a peek inside one of the most beautiful canal houses in Amsterdam. The building was once home to the regent family Van Loon. In 1602, Willem van Loon was a founding member of the Dutch East India Company (VOC), one of the most important Dutch trading companies of the time. The house provides a wonderful glimpse into 17th-century life. Don’t forget to take a stroll through the magnificent garden.
The complete route includes 37 houses along the most beautiful canals of Amsterdam. And you can view some other highlights along the way.
… that since the 1980s, the KLM miniature houses have been filled with Dutch gin by Bols? Prior to that, they were filled with liqueur from Dutch distilleries Rynbende and Henkes.
… that in addition to the numbered houses, the collection also includes miniatures without a number? For example, the Royal Palace on Dam Square and the Goudse Waag in Gouda. Traditionally these houses were presented to newlyweds flying KLM on their honeymoon.
… that miniature house 85 is actually not in the Netherlands but in a Dutch territory? It depicts the Penha Building on Curaçao in the Netherlands Antilles.
