Amsterdam is home to lots of museums, including one unique concept: the world’s first and only museum focused on sex work.
Priced around $20 per person, Red Light Secrets: Museum of Prostitution, offers a walk-through of a former brothel in the city’s famous Red Light District. Along with interactive elements and lots to see, expect to form a deeper understanding of the experiences of Amsterdam’s sex workers.
It opened in 2013 and is set inside a former brothel that operated many years ago.
Inside the Museum
When first entering the museum, there’s an immediate sea of red and plush accents all around the box office counter. The decor is just what many people envision when they think of an early brothel. Guests are greeted by the staff, a large screen featuring an almost-but-not-totally naked woman, and instructions on what to expect: real-life stories, some nudity, and lots of facts.
The staff gives each visitor a listening device to aid them on the walkthrough and ushers them into the next room, where the experience begins. A few pews, similar to those found in a church, can sit and watch an introductory video. The video shared clips from a day in the Red Light District, a large area comprising several blocks that’s highly concentrated on adult entertainment and sex work. There are shops, hotels, restaurants, residences, adult theaters and more. It also includes the well-known sex workers, in the windows, surrounded by red lights.
Truth, Taxes, and Secrets
Once the short introduction video is over, visitors then move through the former brothel, passing by an office area, through a few rooms where women previously engaged with customers. The women are no longer present, but the rooms are designed to feel like they’re still in use.
In one room, there’s a bed, dresser, jacuzzi-style bath tub, and things like bottles of lube, condoms, and even sex toys thrown about as a replica what it might have looked like during use.
After that, guests go through a series of rooms that share more about Amsterdam’s legal prostitution and sex work experience.
Narrated by a real-life sex worker, the voice on the listening device shared details about her career, including what a typical day would look like. She also shared how many customers she’s had in a single day, her prices, and, though legalized, the dangers of the work.
There are also facts along the way. There was a room dedicated to women who have been killed while working, how sex workers can write off items like condoms and room rentals on their taxes, and a list of ways the museum empowers the sex work industry.
At the end, visitors are welcome to share a “red light secret” of their own. They can do this by writing an anonymous note to post on the Wall of Secrets. Some secrets were sad; others were hilarious, and some were downright strange.
Overall, the museum is an interesting, though candid, attraction focused on what’s called “the world’s oldest profession.”
If you’re planning to visit Amsterdam and want to go beyond the surface, Red Light Secrets: Museum of Prostitution is worth a visit.
