(JTA) — The Anne Frank House added an audio tour and several new displays to its collection of exhibitions.
The new elements were unveiled Wednesday in Amsterdam in the presence of King Willem-Alexander. The new displays include information and pictures about the family of Anne Frank before they went into hiding at Prinsengracht 263, the hiding place that later became the Anne Frank House museum.
Anne Frank was a Jewish teenage diarist who wrote several diaries while hiding from the Nazis for approximately two years. They were discovered in 1944 and sent to concentration camps. Only Anne’s father, Otto, survived. He edited Anne’s diaries and published them in 1947. “The Diary of a Young Girl” became one of the world’s best-selling books.
The Anne Frank House attracts about 1.2 million visitors annually. In the renovations, a coatroom was added to the museum.
“In the museum we now give more information on events in the 1930s in Germany and during the Holocaust in the Netherlands,” the museum’s spokesperson wrote in a statement.
“The authentic character of the house remains intact; the primary focus is on the experience of the house and its significance.”
The additions cost more than $1 million provided by BankGiro Lottery and took 2 years to complete.
