Business on De Omval
Together with a few other (office) buildings, the Rembrandttoren forms a sort of proto-Zuidas (the city's later business district) along the Amstel. In the original plan there were to be three towers straight away, but the Rembrandttoren only got company after the turn of the century, from the Mondriaantoren and the Breitnertoren. The buildings rose on the Omval, a spit of land on the eastern bank along the Weesperzijde, right next to Amsterdam Amstel station. An ideal location, then, for big companies to set up shop. And they did come, in the end: Delta Lloyd, Philips, Nationale Nederlanden and the Postbank, among others, have all been based there. The Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences also opened a campus in the area.
Philips moves house
One of the tower's original occupants moved to the neighbouring Breitnertoren in mid-2001. It was Philips, which gained more space in the brand-new building after the move. News of Philips's new home had not yet reached a 59-year-old man from Uithoorn who walked into the tower armed with weapons on 11 March 2002. This John R. wanted a conversation with a top executive of the company about the switch to widescreen televisions, and to add weight to his demand he took 18 people hostage. R. is soon made aware that he is in the wrong place, but that does not stop him from keeping his hostage-taking going for a good 7 hours more. Despite intensive negotiations, R. takes his own life in the toilet. A film was made about the hostage-taking in 2005, oh yes: and we wrote about it too! ;)
