Embassy of the Free Mind

Looking for a charming historical location by the water, in the heart of Amsterdam? Then come to the Embassy of the Free Mind, located in the famous House with the Heads on the Keizersgracht, within walking distance of Central Station.

You can make use of the beautiful, authentic ‘Grote Sael’, the former reception room of the De Geer family, where the coat of arms of Louis de Geer still adorns the monumental mantelpiece, or the more compact Jung room on the second floor. The large garden behind the house offers an ideal place to relax in nice weather.

The House with the Heads was built in 1622 for the wealthy merchant Nicolaas Sohier, designed by city architect Henrick de Keyser, and is considered one of the most beautiful city palaces in Amsterdam (Top 100 of the Cultural Heritage Agency). The interior still contains many original 17th-century details, such as the monumental door portals in the entrance hall.
The house owes its name to the six distinctive heads on the facade, busts of six Roman gods and goddesses, which are exceptionally large by Dutch standards. The art lover Sohier, who was a big fan of Rubens and had works of the painter hanging in the house, was likely inspired by the home and studio of the Flemish master in Antwerp.

You will also see a plaque of Jan Amos Comenius, the great philosopher who is referred to as the ‘spiritual ancestor’ of Unesco. In the 17th century, thinkers and reformers like Comenius, who had to flee because of their ideas, found refuge in the Netherlands, where there was more freedom of speech and religion. The second owner of the House with the Heads, Louis de Geer, was not only a merchant but also an important patron of dissident writers like Comenius.

The spirit of free thinking still lingers in the house, as it now houses the museum Embassy of the Free Mind (EFM). The heart of the museum is formed by the famous Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica, a collection of old and rare books from the 15th to the 19th century, written by people who wanted to think independently, without imposed ideas or dogmas, about the world and the place of humanity within it. Many authors on the library's shelves came into conflict with the church or the authorities because of their ideas. In 2022, the library was included as important cultural heritage in the UNESCO Dutch Memory of the World register.