The Nieuwe Kerk is a church in The Hague

The Hague

The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...

, located across from the modern city hall on the Spui. It was built in 1649 after the Great Church

Grote of Sint-Jacobskerk (The Hague)

Grote of Sint-Jacobskerk is a landmark Protestant church in The Hague, the Netherlands. The building is located on the Torenstraat, named for its high tower. Together with the Binnenhof, it is one of the oldest buildings in the Hague. Members of the House of Orange-Nassau have been baptised there...

 had become too small. Construction was completed in 1656.

History

The church was designed by the architect Peter Noorwits, who was assisted by the painter and architect Bartholomeus van Bassen

Bartholomeus van Bassen

Bartholomeus Corneliszoon van Bassen was a Dutch Golden Age painter and architect.-Biography:Van Bassen was born in Antwerp. Little is known of his early life, but according to the RKD he became a member of the Delft Guild of St. Luke in 1613. In 1622 he moved to the Hague, where he became a...

. The church is considered a highlight of the early Protestant church architecture in the Netherlands. Like many churches of that time was the New Church, a central building. Unlike other central building, the church is no simple circular or multifaceted plan but there is a space of two octagonal sections which are connected by a slightly smaller proportion in which the pulpit was prepared. The architecture of the church shows elements of both Renaissance

Renaissance

The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...

 and Classicism

Classicism

Classicism, in the arts, refers generally to a high regard for classical antiquity, as setting standards for taste which the classicists seek to emulate. The art of classicism typically seeks to be formal and restrained: of the Discobolus Sir Kenneth Clark observed, "if we object to his restraint...

. Two church bells by Coenraat Wegewaert in 1656 hang in their original bell-chairs, 100,2 cm and 81,5 cm in diameter. He also designed the clock.

The church has an organ built by the Dutch organ builder Johannes Duyschot (1645-1725) in 1702. The construction has left most of the pipework and the cupboard. The organ was rebuilt in 1867 by one of the best organ builders of that time, the business of Christian Gottlieb Friedrich Witte. They adjusted the design of the organ to make it suitable for modern Romantic music

Romantic music

Romantic music or music in the Romantic Period is a musicological and artistic term referring to a particular period, theory, compositional practice, and canon in Western music history, from 1810 to 1900....

.

Up until these canals in the Hague were filled in at the end of the 19th century, the church was accessed by boat or from the Wagenstraat on a square island between the Spui river, the St. Anthonisburgwal or Rotterdam Veerkade (the old trekschuit

Trekschuit

Trekschuit, literal translation 'tugboat', is an old style of horse-drawn boat specific to the Netherlands where it was used for centuries as a means of passenger traffic between cities along trekvaarten, or tow-canals.-History:...

 route to Rotterdam), the Stille Veerkade or Amsterdam Veerkade (the old trekschuit route to Amsterdam), and the Paviljoensgracht.

Concert Hall

In the 20th century, acoustical adjustments were made to the interior in a modern face. In the thirties the church was notable as the most impressive building on the Spui, which was one of the streets in the Dutch game of Monopoly. The church was closed in 1969 after a long restoration and reopened as a concert hall.

Famous burials

The Nieuwe Kerk, or new church (first half 17th century), contains the tombs of the brothers De Witt and of the philosopher Spinoza. Spinoza's tomb is in the churchyard.