The Onderlinge van 1719 u.a. is a life insurance

Life insurance

Life insurance is a contract between an insurance policy holder and an insurer, where the insurer promises to pay a designated beneficiary a sum of money upon the death of the insured person. Depending on the contract, other events such as terminal illness or critical illness may also trigger...

 firm on the Korte Begijnestraat 14 in Haarlem

Haarlem

Haarlem is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Holland, the northern half of Holland, which at one time was the most powerful of the seven provinces of the Dutch Republic...

, Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

. It is the oldest still independent life insurance firm in the Netherlands.

History

The fund was founded on February 12, 1719 as a "begrafenisbos" or funeral insurance firm. The old name was "Begrafenisbos De Vrijwillige Liefdebeurs", with the motto "In Alles Ghetrou" (faithful in everything). This is the name that is on the facade of the building, which was designed in 1870-1871 by the Haarlem architect Adrianus van der Steur (1836-1899). The company was first located at the neighboring building, Korte Begijnestraat 16. After an argument with the neighbour, a baker whose oven "made the meetings of the society overheated", the company decided to solve the mutual problem between the neighbour and the fund by buying the neighbour's house. That house was bought and then renovated to create the current building. The building is currently located between the Toneelschuur

Toneelschuur

De Toneelschuur is a theater in Haarlem, Netherlands.The building has two theaters and two movie theaters. In the latter more alternative movies are shown . The name Filmschuur is often used to indicate the movie theaters....

 and the Hofje van Bakenes

Hofje van Bakenes

The Hofje van Bakenes or Bakenesserkamer is a hofje in Haarlem, Netherlands, located between the Bakenessergracht and the Wijde Appelaarsteeg.-History of the foundation:...

.

Fund and building today

The board of the fund consists of 10 to 15 citizens of Haarlem. They are volunteers. The office of the fund is open every Friday evening from 19:00 to 22:00. Originally the board would meet on Sunday afternoon, after going to church, but in 1935 Friday evening was chosen. The fund still serves as a full-fledged funeral insurance firm; policies are still being sold and the company is in very good financial shape. For the fact that the building is a good example of the oeuvre of A. van der Steur, as well as the fact that it still operates under the same charter for which it was formed, both numbers 14 and 16 have rijksmonument

Rijksmonument

A rijksmonument is a National Heritage Site of the Netherlands, listed by the agency Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed acting for the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science.-History and criteria:...

status.