What's the problem exactly? In the Netherlands we sometimes take the time to make nice things just because it looks nice and/or because we like to commemorate our shared history.

The website answers this question directly:

> This website is a product of the Department of Archaeology, Monuments and Archaeology (MenA), City of Amsterdam, in cooperation with the Chief Technology Office (CTO), City of Amsterdam.

Seems to me like a good, culturally enriching way for a city to spend a bit of time and money.

That's exactly what history should be about. Ordinary lives of ordinary people. But it's mostly which King fought with which emperor and slept with which socialite.