The Oude Kerk (Dutch for "old church") is Amsterdam’s oldest parish
church. Consecrated in 1306 by the bishop of Utrecht, its renaissance
atmosphere has barely been touched and is the obvious starting point of
any historic walk in Amsterdam. The foundations were set on an
artificial mound, thought to be the most solid ground of the settlement
in this marshy province. The church covers an area of 3,300 square
meters. Today, it borders Amsterdam's main red-light district.
The original building design was audacious and 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 transepts 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.
The roof of the Oude Kerk is the largest medieval wooden vault in
Europe. The Estonian planks date back to 1390 and boast some of the best
acoustics in Europe. Many concerts are performed here, including the BBC
Singers and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields.
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 Dutch figureheads, the naval hero Jacob
van Heemskerck and Dutch West India Company board member Kiliaen van
Rensselaer, one of the founders of New Amsterdam on Manhattan, known
today as New York.
Before the Alteratie, or reformation in 1578, the Oude Kerk was
principally Catholic. Following William of Orange’s defeat of the
Spanish and the influence of Calvinists, the church was adopted by the
Protestants. Throughout the 16th century battles, the church was looted
and defaced on numerous occasions. 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 who was buried here in 1642.
There are three pipe organs 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 in 1724 and is regarded as one of
the finest baroque 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 bust of famous organist and composer Jan Pieterszoon
Sweelinck 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
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.
In mid-March each year, Catholics arrive at the Oude Kerk to
celebrate the "Miracle of Amsterdam" 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. A new
chapel was built on the place the miracle occurred and continued to be a
place for miraculous cures.
Today the Oude Kerk is a centre for both religious and cultural
activities and can be hired for presentations, receptions and dinner
parties. Among the events hosted is the prestigious World Press Photo
awards ceremony.
History of
the
building
More than
three centuries had passed before the 'Oude Kerk" the earliest
parish church Amsterdam attained its present form. The church
has almost as many chapels as there have been building phases.
The earliest building phase however is lost in the mist of time.
Archaeologists think that the 'Amstelledammers, founded their
first church at the turn of the 13th and 14th century. As site
they chose a "terp" (artifcial mound) which served as a cemetery
on the east bank of the Amstel. The church was built in the form
of a basilica. The building was 40 m. long but in 30 Years time
the size wasn't sufficient any more. Evidently neither the
diocese nor the authorities had taken into account that
municipal rights had been granted to the town in 1300 by the
Count of Holland. This resulted in a dynamic proces of economic
development which tempted many merchants and countrypeople to
come to the to the budding town.
The
building-plan was ambitious: a 'hall-church' with a nave and two
aisles, which were exactly alike. In the extension of the nave a
long choir was built. The church was dedicated to St. Nicholas,
the patron saint of seamen and curiously enough later also of
bakers. This building-plan was finished in several phases. After
half a century the church had to be adapted once more. An
obvious solution was chosen: lengthering the aisles and wrapping
them around the choir in a half-circle. This extension to the
east had as a consequence that the altar had to be moved to the
choir-screen. In order to give the church somewhat the form of a
cross, transepts were gradually added. Around 1380 the
north-transept was built, in 1412 the crossing with the aisles,
and ordy in 1460 the southtransept was added. These
interruptions in the building process were probably due to the
enormous fires of 1421 and 1452 when great parts of the town,
with its wooden houses, were reduced to ashes. The church
however was miraculously saved. Another reason for the delay was
the building of the 'Nieuwe Kerk (New Church) on the Dam. This
church turned out to be a rival in the competition for financial
means. The 'Oude Kerk' now also came into conflict with the
already existing planning of the area around the church. Great
extensions in the width were not possible anymore and the
development of the building came to an end. The limits of the
expansion had been reached: about 70 by 60 by 20 m. Fortunately
the existing transepts still made it possible to build
sidechapels on the north and south side at the beginning of the
16th century. Nave, crossing and choir were heightened by
clerestories. Perhaps unconsclously the architect had returned
to the model of the original church on the banks of the Amstel.
Interior
ca. 1300: A pseudo-basilical nave with narrow aisles and a small
rectangular choir. The tower was built somewhat later.
1370: small choir replaced by a larger multiple-sided choir.
1390: Entire nave replaced by a nave and two aisles, all three
of equal width and length. This made it a hall church, possibly
the first hall church in the Netherlands.
ca. 1460: The transepts were extended eastward and the choir
received an ambulatory – a unique feature for a hall church. A
chapel was built on the south side.
Between 1485 and 1517, side chapels were built on the north and
south sides of the nave and an extended transept. The portals
and other additional rooms such as the Iron Chapel (that housed
the city’s archives) and the Holy Sepulchre on the north side.
Around 1510, the nave was heightened and clerestories were
added.
Between 1550 and 1560, the Maria Chapel was added to the north
side of the choir and its crossing and choir were heightened.
After the
Reformation
The 'Oude
Kerk' suffered from the iconoclastic fury in 1566 which left a
trail of destruction throughout the Netherlands. The church was
violently looted and the images were destroyed. The victory of
the Calvinists in 1578 made this violation complete. Images of
saints and altars had disappeared from the church and only
because the wallpainting's in the vaults were difficult to
reach, were they saved for posterity, although painted over many
times.
Before
'the Alteration' as this reformation is called, the 'Oude Kerk'
literally was used as a 'living room' of the city. In the same
way as now tramps seek shelter in the Central Station, beggars
and wanderers slept in the church and pedlars displayed their
goods in the building. To the followers of Calvin this of course
was unacceptable, as we can read on the choir-Sate at the side
of the nave. These Augian stables were thoroughly cleaned and in
the 17th century the attention of the church authorities focused
on the interior. i.e. pulpits, monuments and memorial stones. In
the same period the two organs were placed in the church and one
of them is the well-known Vater-Müller organ (1724). The church
became a true copy of the bourgeois society, respectably
decorated with the furniture of those days. But the adaptation
to the taste of that time was not limited to the interior only.
In the 18th century the last external building-activities were
effected: the addition of a variety of small houses leaning
against the church.
Parts of
the oak vaults were renewed which meant irreplaceable damage to
the wallpaintings. In 1755 the entire vault was painted Prussian
blue. Under this coat of painting, the decay continued however
and in the beginning of the 20th eentury this became clearly
visible. From 1912 till 1914 some emergency restaurations were
done, which however proved not to be satisfactory.
As a
result the 'Oude Kerk' had to close its doors in 1951 because of
the danger of collapsing. In order to save the monument the 'Stichting
de Oude Kerk' was founded on the 25th of May 1955. The
foundation had two aims: conservation of the building and
opening it to the public with a variety of activities in the
social and cultural fields. In 1955 the total restauration was
started and 24 years later the immense job was completed. The
restauration had cost 26.5 million Dutch guilders and on the
14th of March 1979 the impressive building was opened to the
public.
In 1571, seven years before the church began serving as a
Protestant church, the meeting room for the Guild of Our Lady
was built next to the Maria Chapel.
