
NAP-Level in Amsterdam City Hall
'Normaal Amsterdams Peil (NAP)' or 'Amsterdam Ordnance Datum' is a vertical
datum in use in large parts of Western Europe. Originally created for use in The Netherlands, it was adopted by
Prussia in 1879 under the name
Normalnull, and in 1955 by other European countries.
Originally the zero level of NAP was the average summer flood water level (''not'' mean
sea level) in the
IJ in the centre of Amsterdam, then still connected with the open sea, in 1684. Currently it is physically realized by a bench mark in brass in the centre of Amsterdam, which is a popular tourist attraction.
Currently NAP is close to mean sea level at the Dutch coast.
External links
★
[1] (In
Dutch)