NEWS - September 8, 2024
Amstel Fifty Four has closed, 60 years after the opening of Amstel Taveerne
In mid-August, café Amstel Fifty Four was closed. This place was the successor to the famous Amstel Taveerne, which was opened exactly 60 years earlier and was the center of the typical Amsterdam gay scene alongside the Amstel river.
The Amstel Taveerne was opened on August 27, 1964 by Adje van Besouw and his mother, both from Breda. Under Adje, the place with its old Dutch inn interior became a gay café with Dutch schlagers and Amsterdam songs from the Jordaan.
From the start, the cheerful atmosphere and sing-along music also attracted many straight visitors, with which the Amstel Taveerne contributed to the acceptance and integration of homosexuals in a natural and accessible way.
Adje van Besouw died unexpectedly in 1987, after which the place was taken over by his employee Frans Meulenberg. During Queen's Day and Pride Amsterdam Meulenberg organized large street parties along the Amstel, a tradition that ended in 2017.
In the autumn of 2007, shortly before the death of Frans Meulenberg, the Amstel Taveerne was completely modernized by his partner Valy Pintiuc and renamed Amstel Fifty Four, referring to both the house number and the legendary nightclub Studio 54 in New York.
In 2014, the café's golden anniversary was celebrated, but after that it slowly went downhill. From 2010 onwards, more and more gay places along the Amstel and in the Halvemaansteeg disappeared, as a result of which Amstel Fifty Four also gradually lost its gay audience.
The place was eventually sold, after which the new owner closed the doors in mid-August, just before the 60th anniversary could have been celebrated. At the beginning of September, it reopened as a normal café under the name Café aan de Amstel.
This was not only the definitive end to one of Amsterdam's best-known gay cafés, but also that of the once extensive gay scene along the Amstel.
> See also the full and illustrated history of Amstel Taveerne in Dutch.
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News about Reguliersdwarsstraat: Reguliers.net
Links
Useful links about gay nightlife in:
- Amsterdam
- The Netherlands
- The rest of the world
+ Various LGBT links
Gay nightlife in Amsterdam
Streets:
- Reguliersdwarsstraat
- Warmoesstraat
Guides:
- Gay Amsterdam
- Nighttours: Amsterdam
- Iamsterdam: LGBTQI+ bars and cafes
- Patroc: Amsterdam
- Queer Europe: Amsterdam
- Gay Cities: Amsterdam
- Pinksider: Amsterdam
- The Gay Passport: Amsterdam
- Queer In The World: Amsterdam
- Gay Out: Amsterdam
- Travel Gay: Amsterdam
- GayTravelr: Amsterdam
Calendars:
- Gay Amsterdam: Agenda
- Tom of Amsterdam
- Gay Parties Amsterdam
- GoGiGi
Prides:
- Pride Amsterdam
- Queer Amsterdam
- Leather & Fetish Pride
- Black Pride
Tickets:
- Gaygo Tickets
Tours:
- LGBT Gay Tours Amsterdam
Photos:
- LGBT nightlife in Amsterdam
- Gay Businesses 1983-2010
Memorabilia:
- Amsterdam Gay & Lesbian Nightlife
History:
- Graveyard of LGBTQI pubs & clubs
Gay nightlife in The Netherlands
Guides:
- Nighttours: Netherlands
- Queer In The World: Netherlands
- GayTravelr: Netherlands
- Saunas4men: Netherlands
Calendars:
- Nighttours: Netherlands
Photos:
- Wikimedia: LGBT Nightlife
Memorabilia:
- Dutch Gay & Lesbian Nightlife
- LGBTQI+ Buttons
History:
- LGBT history in the Netherlands
Gay nightlife in the rest
of the world
of the world
Cities:
- Queer Berlin
Streets & Villages:
- Canal Street, Manchester
- Le Marais, Paris
- Hell's Kitchen, New York City
- Church-Wellesley, Toronto
- Village, Montréal
Guides:
- GayBars.eu
- Gay Travel Guide Europe
- Queer Europe
- Spartacus Intern. Gay Guide
- Gay Cities
- Pinksider
- The Gay Passport
- Queer In The World
- Gay Out
- GayTravel
- Travel Gay
- GayTravelr
- Saunas4men
Calendars:
- Gay Events Belgium
- IGLTA: Pride Calendar
- Gay Pride Calendar
- GayPrides.com
- GoGiGi
Photos:
- Wikimedia: Gay bars
Buttons:
- LGBTQI+ Buttons
T-Shirts:
- Wearing Gay History
- Throwback Gay Bar T-Shirts
History:
- Wikipedia: Gay bar
- Brussels Almanack Dykes
- Molly Houses in London
- Lost LGBT Scene Project
- England: Pride of Place
- OUTgoing New York City
- San Francisco Gay History
- The Lesbian Bar Project
- GayBarchives
Various LGBT links
LGBT news:
- Gay News
- Queer.de · Schwulissimo
- PinkNews · Advocate
Podcast:
- Making Gay History
Museums:
- Schwules Museum, Berlin
- Queer Britain, London
- American LGBTQ+ Museum, NYC
- GLBT Historical Society, SF
Archives:
- IHLIA LGBT Heritage
- Fonds Suzan Daniel
- Centrum Schwule Geschichte
- ONE Gay & Lesbian Archives
Linkpartners:
- Amsterdam Masseur Homo/Hetero?