Sailing into the sunset on Amsterdam's Oosterdok by Jeroen de Jongh Photography

The Oosterdok is a body of water in Amsterdam. It was created in 1832 when the construction of the Oosterdok dam separated this part from the IJ, thus eliminating the ebb and flow of the then still open water of the IJ. On the east side, this created the enclosed area of water now called Oosterdok. On the west side, the Westerdok was created in a similar way. The south bank of the IJ with the later Prins Hendrikkade came to lie behind the later station building due to the construction of the railway line in 1874. Before Central Station was built, an emergency Oosterdok station for the then-opened Oosterspoorweg to Hilversum arose on Oosterdok Island in 1874. In 1889, Central Station was opened. Since then, the railway has formed the northern boundary of Oosterdok. Oosterdok has seen many developments. In the 1960s, the IJtunnel was built, whose tunnel trough protrudes far into the Oosterdok. Oosterdok Island, which had previously been mainly a railway yard, was built on the south side in the 1960s with the new Main Post Office. In 1997, built on the foundations of the IJtunnel, the science centre NEMO was opened. Next to NEMO, the Oosterdok is also home to the complex of the Amsterdam Naval Establishment with the building of 's Lands Zeemagazijn, which has housed Het Scheepvaartmuseum since 1973.