Up to 1964 Nieuwer Amstel was the name of the municipality Amstelveen. It was the capital of a canton situated in the French division Zuiderzee.

The Amstelland was subdivided in Ouder Amstel (Older Amstel, towards the East of the Amstel) and Nieuwer Amstel (Newer Amstel, towards the West of the river) in the Middle Ages. Nieuwer Amstel arose as a village in the peat extraction area at the West of the Amstel.

In the 17th and 18th century rich Amsterdammers moved to this area, in search of peace and space. The border between Nieuwer Amstel and Amsterdam was in the South of the Buitensingelgracht, where currently the Van Baerlestraat and Ceintuurbaan are situated. At the Amsteldijk near the Amsterdamse Tolstraat still stands the former municipality house of Nieuwer Amstel, built in 1890.

The territory of Amsterdam did hardly grow in the preceding two centuries. As from 1860 Amsterdam doubled its number of inhabitants within a few decades.

Already in 1883, Amsterdam had undertaken attempts to annex Nieuwer Amstel, but the municipality resisted violently against its powerful neighbour. Under mayor Alexander Boers Nieuwer Amstel gave the order to build the Ceintuurbaan, to create an important connection straight through the Buitenveldertse polder.

Also the HBS at the Roelof Hartplein and the fire station at the corner of the Van Baerlestraat on the opposite corner of the concert building are date from that time.

In 1921, the municipality of Amsterdam annexed with the northern part of the Nieuwer Amstel, with Amstelveen remaining as a village in the surroundings. Its attractive potential towards rich Amsterdammers continued to exist. This is visible in the North Western residential area of the district build up in the 1930’s.

After World War II Amstelveen became an official residential part of the municipality of Schiphol. Extension districts were built up in a fast pace and in the sixties Amstelveen was one of the fastest growing cities of the Netherlands, without loosing its comfort as a living area and its green environment.

As from 1964 the name of the village was changed into Amstelveen.