Oosterdokseiland came into existence in the middle of 19th century, when, by erecting Oosterdoksdam, this part of the IJ was separated and, therefore, no longer experienced the ebbs and flows of the tides in what was then still an open connection to the bigger Zuiderzee. Just as this enclosed body of water to the east of the Damrak became known as the Oosterdock (East Dock), the Westerdok (West Dock) is located to its west.
The south bank of the IJ was destined as the territory where later on Prince Hendrikkade was built. Originally it ran behind the Central Station. When the latter was started being built, an emergency train station Oosterdok was opened on the Oosterdokseiland for the recently opened train route to Hilversum. In 1889, the Central Station was opened and, since then, the railway tracks form the northern boundary of the Oosterdok.
Oosterdokseiland initially served as a railway yard until, in the 1960s, the new Amsterdam Main Post Office was built along its south side. By the 1990s, the PTT (this is the former name of the Dutch Post, now called TNT) carried most of the mail by road rather than by rail, and its headquarters on the Oosterdokseisland were eventually relocated to a distribution center at the Sloterdijk Station. The municipality of Amsterdam then began to execute a complex and long-term plan of re-developing the islands along the banks of the IJ.
In 2005, most of the PTT headquarters building was demolished. Its main tower, which remained standing until 2011, temporarily housed the Stedelijk Museum, while the latter’s main building at the Paulus Potterstraat was being renovated for quite a number of years. The impressive, open to the public and certainly worth a visit central branch of the Amsterdam Public Library (otherwise known as the OBA) was erected here and opened on July 7, 2007. Its top floor cafe offers a magnificent panorama over the city. The Amsterdam Conservatory was also relocated from the Museum Square into a new building built on the Oosterdokseiland and opened in 2008.