Anne Frank House VR
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Anne Frank House VR

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Free History / Holocaust PSHE / Human Rights 🌟 Anne Frank Foundation 7 Languages

Anne Frank
House VR

Walk through the Secret Annex as it was furnished in 1942–1944, where Anne Frank and seven others hid from Nazi persecution. Developed by Vertigo Games and Knucklehead Studios in partnership with the Anne Frank Foundation. Free on Meta Quest, PICO, and Steam.

Developer: Vertigo Games • Knucklehead Studios
Licensed by: Anne Frank Foundation
Price: Free
Duration: ~25 minutes
9.2
/10
XR School Score
Highly Recommended
One of the most important educational VR experiences available — free, 7 languages, multi-platform, Holocaust curriculum-essential
Anne Frank Foundation Free • 7 languages
Quest • PICO • Steam
Overview

Anne Frank House VR is a free virtual reality experience developed by Vertigo Games Amsterdam and published by Vertigo Games, licensed by and developed in partnership with the Anne Frank Foundation. It allows visitors to walk through the Secret Annex — the hidden rooms at 263 Prinsengracht, Amsterdam, where Anne Frank, her family, and four others hid from Nazi persecution for over two years between 1942 and 1944 — as those rooms appeared while occupied.

This is a crucial distinction that the experience makes explicit: in the real Anne Frank House museum, the Secret Annex is empty. After the eight people hiding there were discovered and arrested in August 1944, the furniture was removed. Leaving the rooms empty was the explicit wish of Otto Frank, Anne's father and the only member of the group to survive the war. In VR, for the first time, visitors can see the rooms as they were: furnished, cramped, and inhabited.

The VR Uniqueness: Furnished Rooms The physical Anne Frank House museum — one of the most visited sites in the Netherlands — shows visitors the empty Secret Annex in accordance with Otto Frank's wishes. The VR experience is the only way to see these rooms as they were between 1942 and 1944: the furniture in place, the rooms arranged for eight people sharing an impossibly cramped space, the conditions of hiding made spatially real. VR Voyaging writes: "I felt immersed in the history and was able to connect with this young girl from decades ago." Many users report being brought to tears.

The experience is approximately 25 minutes long and available in two modes: guided, with voiced quotations from Anne Frank's diary narrated as you move through the rooms; and free roam, allowing exploration at your own pace without narration. An accessible version for users with disabilities is also available. The experience is free across Meta Quest (standalone), PICO, and Steam, and has also been ported to support a wider range of headsets by Knucklehead Studios.

The Rooms of the Secret Annex
📚
The Bookcase Entrance
The rotating bookcase that concealed the entrance to the Secret Annex. Its existence was known only to a small group of trusted colleagues of Otto Frank who helped supply the group in hiding. In VR you can see how the office facade concealed the entrance from everyday view.
🏠
The Living Quarters
The rooms shared by the Frank family and the van Pels family: bedrooms, a shared living/dining space, and Anne's small room with the famous diary entries and pictures of film stars pinned to the wall. The spatial reality of eight people sharing this space for 761 days is viscerally apparent.
📝
Anne's Room
The small room Anne shared with Fritz Pfeffer, where she wrote her diary and decorated the walls with photographs cut from magazines. The diary entries are voiced in the guided mode, providing direct access to Anne's thoughts as she wrote them in this room.
✈️
The Attic
The attic where Anne sometimes went to look out of a skylight at a chestnut tree and a small piece of sky — the only connection to the outside world. In the VR experience this becomes one of the most affecting moments: the same view, in the same space, that Anne described in her diary.
Languages Available

Anne Frank House VR is available in seven languages, making it one of the most linguistically accessible educational VR experiences on this site:

🇬🇧 English 🇳🇱 Dutch 🇩🇪 German 🇫🇷 French 🇪🇸 Spanish 🇧🇷 Portuguese 🇮🇱 Hebrew
Curriculum Connections: Holocaust Education Holocaust education is on virtually every GCSE History specification in England (AQA, OCR, Edexcel, Eduqas). Anne Frank's story is one of the most taught personal testimonies in UK secondary education. Anne Frank House VR provides something no textbook or film can: the ability to stand in the rooms where she lived, understand the physical scale of the hiding place, and hear her diary entries in the spaces in which they were written. MFL teachers covering German, French, Dutch, or Spanish can use the language settings to make the experience relevant to their classroom.
Curriculum Fit
History (Holocaust / WWII)
9.6
PSHE / Human Rights
9.0
RS / Ethics (Persecution)
8.8
English / Diary Literature
8.5
MFL (7 language options)
8.0
Emotional Empathy Impact
9.6
What Visitors Say
VR Voyaging (full review) Specialist review
"I really enjoyed this experience — if enjoy is the right word. I felt immersed in the history and was able to connect with this young girl from decades ago. I highly recommend this to people of all ages, whether or not they've read the diary."
Meta Quest user review Meta Store
"I was brought to tears. Standing in the actual rooms — or as close as I'll ever get — hearing her words in the places she wrote them. Every student should experience this."
Anne Frank Foundation Official
"The VR app provides a very special view into the Secret Annex where Anne Frank and the seven other people hid during WWII. In the actual museum, the Secret Annex is empty. In VR, all of the rooms are furnished according to how it was when the group was in hiding between 1942 and 1944."
Reviews overwhelmingly positive across Meta Quest, PICO, and Steam platforms. Many users report significant emotional impact. No substantive negative patterns identified.
Strengths and Limitations
Strengths
  • Free on Meta Quest, PICO, Steam — multi-platform
  • Licensed and endorsed by the Anne Frank Foundation
  • Shows furnished Secret Annex — impossible in the real museum
  • Seven languages: EN, NL, DE, FR, ES, PT, HE
  • Guided mode with voiced Anne Frank diary quotations
  • Free roam mode for independent exploration
  • Accessible version for users with disabilities
  • ~25 minutes: fits a lesson period
  • Holocaust education is GCSE History core curriculum
  • Overwhelmingly positive user reception
Considerations
  • Emotionally affecting content: some students may find it distressing
  • VR headset required for full experience (no flat-screen version on Steam)
  • No locomotion in guided mode: progression is on a set path
  • Some users note limited replay value (complete experience on first visit)
  • Teachers should prepare students for emotional content before the session
FREE
Meta Quest • PICO • Steam
Get on Meta Quest → Get on Steam →
Quick Facts
Developer
Vertigo Games • Knucklehead Studios
Licensed by
Anne Frank Foundation
Price
Free
Platforms
Meta Quest • PICO • SteamVR
Duration
~25 minutes
Languages
EN, NL, DE, FR, ES, PT, HE
Modes
Guided (diary quotes) + Free Roam + Accessible
Age Guidance
KS3+ (emotional content; teacher preparation recommended)
Award
Award-winning experience
Verdict
One of the most important educational VR experiences available to UK schools. The combination of free access, seven languages, multi-platform availability (Meta Quest standalone + PICO + Steam), Anne Frank Foundation licensing, and direct GCSE History Holocaust curriculum relevance makes this essential for History, PSHE, and RS teachers at KS3 and above. The unique feature — a furnished Secret Annex, unavailable in the real museum — is something no other medium can replicate. Prepare students for emotional content before the session. Near the top of any educational VR shortlist.
Platform: Meta Quest • PICO • Steam
Subject: History, PSHE, RS, English, MFL
Key Stage: KS3 – KS5
Price: Free
Review: The XR School — 2026