General

The influence of the VOC can still be felt today. In Amsterdam some of the old warehouses and buildings carrying the VOC logo still exist.
It is also interesting to know that at the other end of the world, in South Africa, Dutch is spoken because the ships used to call in at the Cape for many years.
Indonesia used to be a Dutch colony and especially older people in that country still speak Dutch.
Many products such as tea and spices are still imported from the east and for many people it is impossible to imagine their life today without their cup of tea.

Very important of course is that the expeditions taught us a lot about sea routes, navigation and the secrets of the seven seas.

Maritime Museum

The Dutch Maritime Museum in Amsterdam has a permanent exhibition presenting a survey of Dutch shipping through the centuries. The Company Room holds the history of the VOC, focussing on the naval aspects. Outside the museum a replica of the East Indiaman Amsterdam is moored, the building of which was finished in 1991, allowing the public to see the history of the world's largest trading and shipping company in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Replicas - Amsterdam - Halve Maen

A number of famous VOC vessels have been rebuilt, e.g the Amsterdam at Amsterdam and the Batavia at Lelystad. The Halve Maen can be seen in the United States.
In building these ships the original materials were used as much as possible. The ships were actually launched, but there was a problem: nobody really knew how to sail a VOC ship. This had to be rediscovered, since there was no-one left who knew the answer to that question...
Between December1, 1999 and January 1, 2000 the Batavia will sail to Australia as part of the activities of the Sydney Olympic Games.