Multatuli Museum in Amsterdam

You're standing in the Korsjespoortsteeg, a narrow lane in the old centre of Amsterdam, at number 20. This is the Multatuli Museum. Look up at the façade. There's a cartouche, a decorative shield, marking the spot where Eduard Douwes Dekker was born. You might know him better as Multatuli, author of Max Havelaar. Funnily enough, until shortly before his death he believed he'd been born on the Haarlemmerdijk. His birth certificate says otherwise: right here.