Compass of Amsterdam (Kompas van Amsterdam) presents the city at a decisive moment in 1940, distilled to a navigable clarity at the first-edition scale of 1:11,500. Issued by the Kompas publishing house of J. Smulders & Co. in The Hague, it exemplifies mid-century Dutch cartographic precision: districts neatly distinguished by color, major transport routes crisply threaded through the urban fabric, and landmarks keyed with purposeful restraint. As a city map, it is compelling not only for its legibility but for its timing—capturing Amsterdam’s complete pre-war street plan and waterfronts before the dislocations of the Second World War. Canals and district boundaries are set out with calm authority, turning the maze-like center into a lucid portrait that lets the reader stroll from the Amstel to the IJ by eye alone.

At the core, the map celebrates the Grachtengordel, rendering Herengracht, Keizersgracht, Prinsengracht, and the Singel as a concentric armature around the historic city. Fine cross‑links—Reguliersgracht and Lijnbaansgracht—knit the ring to the lively arteries of Herenstraat and Vijzelgracht. The medieval heart is charted with telling directness: Damstraat radiates from Dam Square, Spuistraat parallels Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal, and Zeedijk points toward the old waterfront. Westward, Haarlemmerstraat runs toward the docks, with Westerdok and the working streets of Spaarndammerstraat signaling the maritime economy. The map’s balanced emphasis on canals and streets explains Amsterdam’s unique logic: water shapes the ground plan, while narrow radial lanes pulse toward markets, churches, and civic buildings anchoring each neighborhood.

Equally persuasive is the cartographic attention to circulation. Stadhouderskade, Weteringschans, and Vijzelgracht define an inner ring that eases movement around the center, while Wibautstraat and Mauritskade guide traffic along the eastern flank. To the south, Van Woustraat spines De Pijp, bridging into the twentieth‑century extensions that culminate at the Amstel and the Utrechtsebrug. Vrijheidslaan appears as a broad axial statement of modern planning, tying the new quarters back to the river. Amstelstraat threads from the river into the old core, negotiating the seam between mercantile Amsterdam and its expanding residential belts. Together, these routes—rendered with unfussy, functional clarity—show a city reconciling medieval fabric and modern mobility on the eve of upheaval.

Parks and cultural landmarks are deliberately foregrounded, revealing the civic landscape as much as its streets. Vondelpark unfurls beside Willemsparkweg and Zandpad; Museumplein and Van Baerlestraat align the Rijksmuseum and Concertgebouw in a grand cultural axis; Tweede Weteringplantsoen nestles along Weteringschans as a green pause within dense blocks. Eastward, Oosterpark flanks Mauritskade, while the Plantage with Artis Zoo sits just beyond, emphasizing Amsterdam’s habit of weaving gardens into urban life. Canal-side churches—Westerkerk along Prinsengracht and the Oude Kerk near Zeedijk—anchor familiar silhouettes. By marking green spaces alongside thoroughfares like Vijzelgracht and Singel, the map situates leisure and culture as integral to the city’s daily rhythm, not merely decorative margins.

Behind this composure is J. Smulders & Co., a house renowned for travel maps and guides that privilege lucid design and practical detail. The Kompas imprint’s color-differentiated districts, clearly traced transport corridors, and exact street labeling make research and exploration equally intuitive. Yet the greater value is documentary: this sheet freezes Amsterdam just before wartime alterations, preserving alignments from Willemspark to Spaarndammerstraat, from Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal to Van Woustraat. It chronicles a maritime city modernizing in place—canal geometry intact, civic greens established, new boulevards like Vrijheidslaan asserting scale—offering scholars, collectors, and flâneurs a precise, time-stamped key to the streets and structures that defined the capital at a turning point.

Streets and roads on this map

• Amstelstraat
• Damstraat
• Grootzijdse Zand
• Haarlemmerstraat
• Herengracht
• Herenstraat
• Keizersgracht
• Lijnbaansgracht
• Mauritskade
• Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal
• Prinsengracht
• Reguliersgracht
• Singel
• Spaarndammerstraat
• Spuistraat
• Stadsgracht
• Stadhouderskade
• Utrechtsebrug
• Van Baerlestraat
• Van Woustraat
• Vijzelgracht
• Weteringschans
• Wibautstraat
• Willemsparkweg
• Zandpad
• Zeedijk
• Tweede Weteringplantsoen
• Vrijheidslaan
• Westerdok
• Willemspark

Notable Features & Landmarks

• Canals
• District boundaries
• Parks and green spaces
• Major Transport routes
• Notable landmarks

Historical and design context

• 1940: created during a transitional period before WWII, capturing Amsterdam prior to significant wartime changes.
• First edition published at a scale of 1:11,500.
• Released by the Kompas publishing house of J. Smulders & Co. in The Hague, known for travel maps and guides in the Netherlands.
• Design/style: color scheme highlighting districts and transportation routes; clean, functional, mid-20th-century layout for easy navigation.
• Focus: city street layout, transportation routes, and landmarks within Amsterdam; serves as a historical record of streets and structures from this time.

Please double check the images to make sure that a specific town or place is shown on this map. You can also get in touch and ask us to check the map for you.

This is a very large map that must be ordered at a large size, so that you can easily make out all of the details.

This map looks amazing at sizes all the way up to 70in (180cm). If you are looking for a larger map, please get in touch.

The model in the listing images is holding the 16x16in (40x40cm) version of this map.

The fifth listing image shows an example of my map personalisation service.

If you’re looking for something slightly different, check out my collection of the best old maps to see if something else catches your eye.

Please contact me to check if a certain location, landmark or feature is shown on this map.

This would make a wonderful birthday, Christmas, Father's Day, work leaving, anniversary or housewarming gift for someone from the areas covered by this map.

This map is available as a giclée print on acid free archival matte paper, or you can buy it framed. The frame is a nice, simple black frame that suits most aesthetics. Please get in touch if you'd like a different frame colour or material. My frames are glazed with super-clear museum-grade acrylic (perspex/acrylite), which is significantly less reflective than glass, safer, and will always arrive in perfect condition.

This map is also available as a float framed canvas, sometimes known as a shadow gap framed canvas or canvas floater. The map is printed on artist's cotton canvas and then stretched over a handmade box frame. We then "float" the canvas inside a wooden frame, which is available in a range of colours (black, dark brown, oak, antique gold and white). This is a wonderful way to present a map without glazing in front. See some examples of float framed canvas maps and explore the differences between my different finishes.

For something truly unique, this map is also available in "Unique 3D", our trademarked process that dramatically transforms the map so that it has a wonderful sense of depth. We combine the original map with detailed topography and elevation data, so that mountains and the terrain really "pop". For more info and examples of 3D maps, check my Unique 3D page.