Embassy of the Free Mind

The Embassy of the Free Mind occupies the House with the Heads, a seventeen century canal house distinguished by the six bronze busts of Roman emperors carved into its facade. Joost Ritman founded this institution to house his private collection of hermetic literature, alchemy, and philosophy texts. He spent decades gathering these rare manuscripts, including works by figures like Spinoza, who argued for the necessity of free thought. Visitors today wander through rooms where those ancient ideas shaped the intellectual history of Amsterdam.