Westerkerk
Encyclopedia
Protestant Church in the Netherlands
The Protestant Church in the Netherlands is the largest Protestant Christian denomination in the Netherlands. With 2,000 congregations and a membership of some 1.8 million , it is the second largest church in the Netherlands after the Roman Catholic Church.It was founded 1 May 2004 as a merger of...
denomination in 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...
, built in 1620-1631 after a design by Hendrick de Keyser
Hendrick de Keyser
Hendrick de Keyser was a Dutch sculptor and architect born in Utrecht, Netherlands, who was instrumental in establishing a late Renaissance form of Mannerism in Amsterdam...
. It is next to Amsterdam's Jordaan
Jordaan
The Jordaan is a district of the city of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. The area is bordered by the Lijnbaansgracht canal to the west, the Prinsengracht to the east, the Brouwersgracht to the north and the Leidsegracht to the south...
district, on the bank of the Prinsengracht canal
Canal
Canals are man-made channels for water. There are two types of canal:#Waterways: navigable transportation canals used for carrying ships and boats shipping goods and conveying people, further subdivided into two kinds:...
.
The spire, called the Westertoren ("western tower"), is the highest church tower in Amsterdam, at 85 meters (279 feet). The crown topping the spire is the Imperial Crown of Austria
Imperial Crown of Austria
The Crown of the Austrian Empire was originally the personal crown of emperor Rudolf II. It is therefore also known as the Crown of Rudolf II, or the Crown of the Austrian Empire.- History :...
of Maximilian I
Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor
Maximilian I , the son of Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor and Eleanor of Portugal, was King of the Romans from 1486 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1493 until his death, though he was never in fact crowned by the Pope, the journey to Rome always being too risky...
. The church bells were made by François Hemony
Pieter and François Hemony
François Hemony and his brother Pieter Hemony were the greatest carillon bell founders in the history of the Low Countries...
in 1648.
Rembrandt van Rijn was buried in the Westerkerk on October 8, 1669. The exact location of the grave is unknown, but presumed to be somewhere along the northern wall. Rembrandt's lover Hendrickje Stoffels
Hendrickje Stoffels
Hendrickje Stoffels was a model and mistress of Rembrandt.-Youth:Hendrickje was born in the garrison city of Bredevoort, Gelderland, the daughter of sergeant Stoffel Stoffelse and Mechteld Lamberts...
is also buried here, and his son Titus van Rijn
Titus van Rijn
Titus van Rijn was the fourth and only surviving child of Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn and Saskia van Uylenburgh...
. Other painters buried in the Westerkerk are Nicolaes Berchem, Gillis d'Hondecoeter
Gillis d'Hondecoeter
Gillis Claesz. de Hondecoeter or d'Hondecoeter was a Dutch painter, working in a Flemish style, painting landscapes, trees, fowl and birds. Later on d'Hondecoeter painted in a more Dutch, realistic style...
, Melchior d'Hondecoeter
Melchior d'Hondecoeter
Melchior d'Hondecoeter , Dutch animalier painter, was born in Utrecht and died in Amsterdam. After the start of his career, he painted virtually exclusively bird subjects, usually exotic or game, in park-like landscapes...
and Govert Flinck
Govert Flinck
Govert Teuniszoon Flinck was a Dutch painter of the Dutch Golden Age.-Life:Born at Kleve, he was apprenticed by his father to a silk mercer, but having secretly acquired a passion for drawing, was sent to Leeuwarden, where he boarded in the house of Lambert Jacobszoon, a Mennonite, better known...
. The church organ is decorated with doors painted by Gerard de Lairesse
Gerard de Lairesse
Gerard or Gérard de Lairesse was a Dutch Golden Age painter and art theorist.Lairesse was born in Liège. His broad range of talent included music, poetry, and the theatre. He was perhaps the most celebrated Dutch painter in the period following the death of Rembrandt...
.
The Westerkerk is located close to the Achterhuis (now Anne Frank House
Anne Frank House
The Anne Frank House on Prinsengracht canal in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, is a museum dedicated to Jewish wartime diarist Anne Frank, who hid from Nazi persecution with her family and four other people in hidden rooms at the rear of the building...
) where diarist Anne Frank
Anne Frank
Annelies Marie "Anne" Frank is one of the most renowned and most discussed Jewish victims of the Holocaust. Acknowledged for the quality of her writing, her diary has become one of the world's most widely read books, and has been the basis for several plays and films.Born in the city of Frankfurt...
, her family and others hid from Nazi
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
persecution for two years during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. The Westerkerk is mentioned frequently in her diary - its clock tower could be seen from the attic of the Achterhuis and Anne Frank described the chiming of the clock as a source of comfort. A memorial statue of Frank is located outside the church.
On March 10, 1966, Queen Beatrix
Beatrix of the Netherlands
Beatrix is the Queen regnant of the Kingdom of the Netherlands comprising the Netherlands, Curaçao, Sint Maarten, and Aruba. She is the first daughter of Queen Juliana of the Netherlands and Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld. She studied law at Leiden University...
(then Princess Beatrix) married Prince Claus
Claus von Amsberg
Prince Claus of the Netherlands was the prince consort of the current Queen regnant of the Netherlands, Queen Beatrix.-Biography:...
in the Westerkerk.