Oude Kerk (Amsterdam)
Encyclopedia
- For the Oude Kerk in Delft, see Oude Kerk (Delft)Oude Kerk (Delft)The Oude Kerk , nicknamed Oude Jan , is a Gothic Protestant church in the old city center of Delft, the Netherlands. Its most recognizable feature is a 75-meter-high brick tower that leans about two meters from the vertical....
The Oude Kerk ("old church") is Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
’s oldest parish church, consecrated in 1306 by the bishop of Utrecht with Saint Nicolas as its patron saint. It stands in De Wallen
De Wallen
De Wallen is the largest and best-known red-light district in Amsterdam and a major tourist attraction. It is located in the heart of the oldest part of Amsterdam, covering several blocks south of the church Oude Kerk and crossed by several canals....
, now Amsterdam's main red-light district
Red-light district
A red-light district is a part of an urban area where there is a concentration of prostitution and sex-oriented businesses, such as sex shops, strip clubs, adult theaters, etc...
. The square surrounding the church is the Oudekerksplein
Oudekerksplein
The Oudekerksplein is a square in the centre of Amsterdam. It is named after the 14th-century church Oude Kerk which dominates the square. The Oudekerksplein is wedged between the Warmoesstraat street and Oudezijds Voorburgwal canal...
.
The bust of famous organist and composer Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck
Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck
Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck was a Dutch composer, organist, and pedagogue whose work straddled the end of the Renaissance and beginning of the Baroque eras. He was among the first major keyboard composers of Europe, and his work as a teacher helped establish the north German organ...
celebrates the lifetime he spent playing here. His early career began at the age of fifteen when he succeeded his deceased father Pieter Swybertszoon as the Oude Kerk’s organist. He went on to compose music for all 150 psalms and secure an international reputation as a leading Dutch composer. His music would also be played over the city from the church’s bell tower. He is buried in the church.
History
The church has seen a number of renovations performed by 15 generations of Amsterdam citizens. The church stood for only half a century before the first alterations were made, the aisles lengthened and wrapped around the choir in a half circle to support the structure. Not long after the turn of the 15th century, north and south transeptTransept
For the periodical go to The Transept.A transept is a transverse section, of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In Christian churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform building in Romanesque and Gothic Christian church architecture...
s were added to the church creating a cross formation. Work on these renovations was completed in 1460, though it is likely that progress was largely interrupted by the great fires that besieged the city in 1421 and 1452.
Before the Alteratie
Alteratie
The Alteratie is the name given to the change of power in Amsterdam on May 26, 1578, when the Catholic city-government was deposed in favor of a Protestant one. The coup should be seen in the context of the greater Dutch Revolt that was breaking out in this time...
, or Reformation
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
in Amsterdam of 1578, the Oude Kerk was Roman Catholic. Following William the Silent
William the Silent
William I, Prince of Orange , also widely known as William the Silent , or simply William of Orange , was the main leader of the Dutch revolt against the Spanish that set off the Eighty Years' War and resulted in the formal independence of the United Provinces in 1648. He was born in the House of...
’s defeat of the Spanish in the Dutch Revolt
Dutch Revolt
The Dutch Revolt or the Revolt of the Netherlands This article adopts 1568 as the starting date of the war, as this was the year of the first battles between armies. However, since there is a long period of Protestant vs...
, the church was taken over by the Calvinist Dutch Reformed Church
Dutch Reformed Church
The Dutch Reformed Church was a Reformed Christian denomination in the Netherlands. It existed from the 1570s to 2004, the year it merged with the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Kingdom of the Netherlands to form the Protestant Church in the...
. Throughout the 16th-century battles, the church was looted and defaced on numerous occasions, first in the Beeldenstorm
Beeldenstorm
Beeldenstorm in Dutch, roughly translatable to "statue storm", or Bildersturm in German , also the Iconoclastic Fury, is a term used for outbreaks of destruction of religious images that occurred in Europe in the 16th century...
of 1566, when most of the church art and fittings were destroyed by a mob, including an altarpiece with a central panel by Jan van Scorel
Jan van Scorel
Jan van Scorel was an influential Dutch painter credited with the introduction of High Italian Renaissance art to the Netherlands.-Biography:He was born in Schoorl, north of Alkmaar and close to Egmond Abbey...
and side panels painted on both sides by Maarten van Heemskerck. All that was spared were the paintings on the ceiling that could not be reached.
Locals would gather in the church to gossip, peddlers sold their goods and beggars sought shelter. This was not tolerated by the Calvinists, however, and the homeless were expelled. In 1681 the choir was closed off with a brass screen. Above the screen is the text, “The false practices gradually introduced into God’s church, were here undone again in the year seventy eight,” referring to the Reformation in 1578.
In the same year, the Oude Kerk became home to the registry of marriages. It was also used as the city archives, the most important documents locked in a chest covered with iron plates and painted with the city’s coat of arms. The chest was kept safe in the iron chapel.
Rembrandt was a frequent visitor to the Oude Kerk and his children were all christened here. It is the only building in Amsterdam that remains in its original state since Rembrandt walked its halls. In the Holy Sepulchre is a small Rembrandt exhibition, a shrine to his wife “Saskia” van Uylenburgh
Saskia van Uylenburg
Saskia van Uylenburgh was the daughter of a Frisian mayor. She did not marry an academic, but became the wife of painter Rembrandt van Rijn, who was the son of a wealthy miller from Leiden...
who was buried here in 1782.
Structure
The church covers an area of some 3,300 square meters. The foundations were set on an artificial mound, thought to be the most solid ground of the settlement in this marshy province.The roof of the Oude Kerk is the largest medieval wooden vault
Vault (architecture)
A Vault is an architectural term for an arched form used to provide a space with a ceiling or roof. The parts of a vault exert lateral thrust that require a counter resistance. When vaults are built underground, the ground gives all the resistance required...
in Europe. The Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
n planks date back to 1390 and boast some of the best acoustics in Europe. Many concerts are performed here, including the BBC Singers
BBC Singers
The BBC Singers are the professional chamber choir of the BBC. As one of six BBC Performing Groups, the 24-voiced choir has been in existence for more than 80 years. The BBC Singers have commissioned and premiered works by the leading composers of the past century, including Benjamin Britten, Sir...
and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields
Academy of St. Martin in the Fields
The Academy of St Martin in the Fields is an English chamber orchestra, based in London.Sir Neville Marriner founded the ensemble as The Academy of St.-Martin-in-the-Fields in London as a small, conductorless string group. The ensemble's name comes from Trafalgar Square's St Martin-in-the-Fields...
.
Graves
The floor consists entirely of gravestones. The reason for this is that the church was built on a cemetery. Local citizens continued to be buried on the site within the confines of the church until 1865. There are 2500 graves in the Oude Kerk, under which are buried 10,000 Amsterdam citizens, including:- Jacob van Heemskerck, naval hero
- Jan Pieterszoon SweelinckJan Pieterszoon SweelinckJan Pieterszoon Sweelinck was a Dutch composer, organist, and pedagogue whose work straddled the end of the Renaissance and beginning of the Baroque eras. He was among the first major keyboard composers of Europe, and his work as a teacher helped establish the north German organ...
- Adriaen BlockAdriaen BlockAdriaen Block was a Dutch private trader and navigator who is best known for exploring the coastal and river valley areas between present-day New Jersey and Massachusetts during four voyages from 1611 to 1614, following the 1609 expedition by Henry Hudson...
- Jacob de Graeff Dircksz, Amsterdam regent
- Cornelis de GraeffCornelis de GraeffCornelis de Graeff, also Cornelis de Graeff van Polsbroek was the most illustrious member of the De Graeff family. He was a mayor of Amsterdam from the Dutch Golden Age and a powerful Amsterdam regent after the sudden death of stadholder William II of Orange...
, Amsterdam regent - Andries de GraeffAndries de GraeffFree Imperial Knight Andries de Graeff was a very powerful member of the Amsterdam branch of the De Graeff - family during the Dutch Golden Age. He became a mayor of Amsterdam and a powerful Amsterdam regent after the death of his older brother Cornelis de Graeff...
, Amsterdam regent - Pieter LastmanPieter LastmanPieter Lastman was a Dutch painter . Lastman is considered important because of his work as a painter of history pieces and because his pupils included Rembrandt and Jan Lievens...
- Willem van der ZaanWillem van der ZaanWillem van der Zaan was a Dutch Admiral. His name is often given in the 17th century spelling Zaen.Willem was born in Amsterdam. He joined the Dutch navy at a young age and had risen to the rank of captain by 1652...
- Laurens BakeLaurens BakeLaurens Bake or Baak, Baeck was a Dutch poet of the seventeenth century.He was born in a distinguished family of Amsterdam, son of the merchant Joost Baeck and Magdalena van Erp, sister-in-law of P.C. Hooft, while his grandfather Laurens Baeck was a close friend of Joost van den Vondel...
- Abraham van der HulstAbraham van der HulstAbraham van der Hulst was a Dutch admiral in the 17th century.Van der Hulst was appointed extraordinary captain in 1650...
- Saskia van Uylenburgh
- Cornelis HooftCornelis HooftCornelis Pietersz. Hooft was a Dutch statesman. He was the grandson of Pieter Willemsz. Hooft, a Zaanse grain merchant and shipmaster, and the father of the poet and dramatist Pieter Corneliszoon Hooft. Hooft himself held numerous positions in the administration of Amsterdam...
- Jan Jacobszoon HinlopenJan Jacobszoon HinlopenJan Jacobszoon Hinlopen was a rich Dutch cloth merchant, an officer in the civic guard, a real estate developer in the Jordaan, alderman in the city council and a keen art collector. He would have been elected as a burgomaster, if he had not died at the age of forty, an age considered acceptable...
- Kiliaen van Rensselaer, owner of the only successful patroonship in New Netherland, Rensselaerswyck.
- Frans Banning CocqFrans Banning CocqKnight Frans Banning Cocq was a burgemeester of Amsterdam in the mid-17th century. He is best known as the central figure in Rembrandt's masterpiece The Night Watch....
, central figure in Rembrandts masterpiece The Night WatchNight Watch (painting)Night Watch or The Night Watch or The Shooting Company of Frans Banning Cocq is the common name of one of the most famous works by Dutch painter Rembrandt van Rijn.... - Nicasius de SilleNicasius de SilleDr. Nicasius de Sille was a 16th-century statesman from Belgium who served as a Special Ambassador from the Netherlands to several nations, and as Secretary to future-Holy Roman Emperor Matthias.-Early life:...
, Ambassador
Organs
There are three pipe organPipe organ
The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air through pipes selected via a keyboard. Because each organ pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ranks, each of which has a common timbre and volume throughout the keyboard compass...
s in the Oude Kerk, the old church organ built in 1658 and the cabinet organ built in 1767. The third was built by the German Christian Vater
Christian Vater
Christian Vater was a German organ and harpsichord builder.He was born in Hanover; his father Martin Vater was an organ builder and gave him his first instruction in the craft. He went on to work for Arp Schnitger as a journeyman between 1697 and 1700. He worked independently from c.1702...
in 1724 and is regarded as one of the finest baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
organs in Europe. It was acknowledged by the church Commissioners as “perfect.” The organ was dismantled whilst renovations were made to the church tower in 1738, and upon reassembling it, Casper Müller made alterations to give the organ more force. It became known as the Vater-Müller organ, to acknowledge the improvement of sound.
The Oude Kerk contains 12 misericord
Misericord
A misericord is a small wooden shelf on the underside of a folding seat in a church, installed to provide a degree of comfort for a person who has to stand during long periods of prayer.-Origins:...
s.
Today
In mid-March each year, Catholics arrive at the Oude Kerk to celebrate the "Miracle of AmsterdamStille Omgang
A stille omgang is an informal ritual that served as substitute for the Roman Catholic processions that were prohibited after the Reformation in the Netherlands in the 16th century...
" that occurred in 1345. After taking communion, a dying man vomited the Host. When his vomit was thrown on the fire, the Host did not burn and was proclaimed a miracle. The Host was put in a chest and installed at the Oude Kerk, however, it disappeared during the Reformation
Reformation
- Movements :* Protestant Reformation, an attempt by Martin Luther to reform the Roman Catholic Church that resulted in a schism, and grew into a wider movement...
.
Today the Oude Kerk is a centre for both religious and cultural activities and can be rented for presentations, receptions and dinner parties. Among the events hosted is the prestigious annual World Press Photo
World Press Photo
World Press Photo is an independent, non-profit organization based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Founded in 1955 the organization is known for holding the world's largest and most prestigious annual press photography contest....
awards ceremony.
Part of the Oudekerksplein
Oudekerksplein
The Oudekerksplein is a square in the centre of Amsterdam. It is named after the 14th-century church Oude Kerk which dominates the square. The Oudekerksplein is wedged between the Warmoesstraat street and Oudezijds Voorburgwal canal...
, the square surrounding the church, is used by prostitutes who offer their services from behind windows. The street also features a bronze relief of a hand caressing a breast that was set in the cobblestone at night by an anonymous artist. In March 2007 a bronze statue named Belle honoring the prostitutes of the world was also installed there.
External links
- Oude Kerk - official site
- Oude Kerk congregation - Protestant congregation of the Oude Kerk
- Bureau Monumenten & Archeologie - history and architecture of the Oude Kerk
- Amsterdam Oude Kerk Organs - Visitor's information and details about Oude Kerk's organs