Homomonument
The Homomonument is a memorial of three pink granite triangles beside the Westerkerk, designed by Karin Daan and unveiled in 1987. It commemorates people persecuted for their homosexuality, and was the first monument of its kind in the world.
Most people walk across this monument without noticing it. It is under your feet: three pink triangles, each ten metres a side, set flat into the square.
In the Nazi concentration camps, men imprisoned for homosexuality were made to wear a pink triangle. After the war they were left out of the official remembrance. In 1970 a group of gay activists tried to lay a wreath at the National Monument on the Dam and were arrested, and the wreath was removed.
The idea for a monument of their own came out of that. It took until 1987 to build. The designer, Karin Daan, took the badge that had been used to mark people out and made it the plan of the whole thing: three triangles of pink granite, joined by a thin line of the same stone into one large triangle.
Each of the three has its own meaning. The one that steps down into the canal points towards the National Monument on the Dam, and it is where people leave flowers. The one level with the pavement points towards the Anne Frank House, and carries a line by the poet Jacob Israël de Haan: “Such an endless longing for friendship.” The raised one points towards the offices of the COC, the Dutch gay rights organisation, founded in 1946.
It was the first monument in the world to commemorate gay men and lesbians persecuted for who they were.
What to look for
The triangle in the water
Go down the steps at the canal. This is the part of the monument people use: there are usually flowers on it.
The line of poetry
The text is cut into the triangle that lies level with the paving. In Dutch it reads “Naar vriendschap zulk een mateloos verlangen.”
The size of it
Find all three corners. The whole monument is much larger than it looks from any one of them.
Key facts
- Unveiled
- 5 September 1987
- Designer
- Karin Daan
- Material
- Pink granite
- Form
- Three triangles that together make one larger triangle
- Address
- Westermarkt, Amsterdam Directions
Close by
The bigger picture
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The dates, names and figures on this page were checked against published references. These are the records for this place. The story is Lookstory’s own telling of them. Last updated October 2026.