W>ntt§ IMcïunsiati JÊelus CONTRIBUTORS: GODFRIED BOMANS, J. J. DE GELDER, E. HELDRING, OLGA HELDRING, OLGA VAN MARLE, MARIA WILKINS. Sunday 17th May 1959 Hulloh! dear guest, awake! We are here again to draw your attention to the day's program. This morning of Witsun-Sunday we would not invite the Dickensians for any trip, but reserve time for going to church or rambling through Amsterdam or resting a little longer. But in the afternoon we like to show you the neighbouring town of Haarlem. A special train takes you there from the Central Station about midday in little more than a quarter of an hour. The railroad runs parallel with the old canal constructed in 1631 to warrant a safe connection between the two towns, safer than sailing over the Haarlem lake, a vast extension of water which in stormy weather was dangerous. The towing-barge gave the traveller some comfort and no risk and soon became one of the generally used means of transport in the whole Western country. Haarlem, capital of the province of North-Holland, well known all over the world as a centre of floriculture, with near it to the South a series of villages where the bulbgroWers live, their fields bordered to the seaside by the dunes. Haarlem is a quiet town of about 170 thousand inhabitants, mentioned for the first time in 1155, developed to the second important town of Holland in the middle ages. During part of that period, a residence of the counts of Holland, it participated in the crusades and assisted in the capture of Damiate (1218). After a frightful siege in 1573 by the Spaniards it recovered soon. At the exit of the railway-station we propose to enter the town by the Jansweg (Saint Johns- way), walking first to the left along the front-side of the station and then, crossing the square, to the right into the street which leads straight on to the imposing church of St. Bavo. And, by the by, we wish you to see a „hofje", one that is situated aside of our path. Behind the house numbered 39 (left side of the street) stands a fine specimen, the Staatshofje, built in 1730 by a rich yarnmerchant. To enter it you have to push the green door, left of the flight of steps. That door is always open and through a short corridor you enter the court-yard with all its housefronts. This is the dwelling-place for 39 old spinsters or widows, not younger than 50 years and belonging to the Reformed church. The "hofje" is an old charitable institution in our country, it is enclosed like a beguinage, but differs as everybody has her own house. The oldest "hofje" in this town was founded in 1395. There are 25 spread all over the town, with the exception of one that is situated in the wood, south of the town. Many date from after the Reformation and owe their existence to the munificence of rich citizens. Our country pos sesses two hundred of them almost exclusively in the Western regions. Virtuous and devout old people who wanted support were endowed with such a home and the residents receive still nowadays a monthly prebend, bread or/and a quantity of peat. A short walk brings us to the Northfront of St. Bavo, once the cathedral, since-1577 a Re formed church. Going to the right we enter the central square, the Grote Markt, anciently called't Sant, i.e. sand, indicating a dry and also an elevated spot. At the opposite end you see the Town Hall, and at a corner next to the church stands the "Vleeshal" our destination for lunch. Built in 1604 by the town's architect Lieven de Key, of Flemish origin, it is one of the most beautiful buildings of the Dutch Renaissance. The edifice served to control the meatmarket; on the first floor the Butchers-guild had its meeting-place. When we have finished "regaling our hum ble fare", to quote Pecksniff, and are prepared for a short walk, let us go to the Frans Hals museum. Leaving the "Vleeshal" through the front door we have to turn immediately to the right, go round the corner to the South side of St. Bavo where several little shops cluster at the foot of the high facade. Opposite is a small street which, after a cros sing a little farther on, continues as a still narrower one and ends at a broad thoroughfare (a filled-up old moat) where much traffic some times claims all our watchfulness to penetrate to the other side whence our way runs under the name of Groot Heilig Land (Great Holy With this number goes the symbol of to day's message: I know that Scrooge's budget would have gone to pieces if he had known the taste of EYSSEN'S creamy CHEESES, but bankruptcy is yet a far, far better thing than wealth, if with your poverty your joy increases. Land). It is the approcach to our second desti nation, the Frans Hals Museum. An old orna mental gate embraces a simple double door, the entrance. This building is also a creation of Lieven de Key in collaboration with Pieter van Campen. Its coming into existence is a remarkable feature in the town's history. Our fathers knew how to join the pleasurable with the profitable. A lottery procured the funds for the erection of this alms-house for poor old men, that has now been turned into a museum. The uncommon thing is that the considerable sum of money was collected on occasion of a contest of rhetorical chambers from eleven towns and villages in South and North Hol land. They were invited in the year 1606 by the oldest chamber in town, the Pellicanists to be present here on the 6th of August, in festive apparel and with their blazons, by performing farcical plays and comedies, giving recitals, singing songs and letting off fireworks to show their abilities in public. This festival lasted eight days. The spectators as well as those who took part in the performance gave their con tribution and so the "Oudemannenhuys" could be built in 1608. Many of its original features have diappeared in the course of time and a radical transformation was required before it was made into the town's Museum of Art in 1913. It contains works of the local painters and as its greatest treasure the portraits of the Civic Guards (Schutters) and of regents, by Frans Hals, who was like Lieven de Key of Flemish origin. There are also fine and interes ting paintings among the many views of the old town and it is a quiet pleasure to roam through the apartments of different periods. Somewhere you will meet the old chap chiseled in grey stone, a former part of the adornment of the main entrance. Strolling back to St. Bavo we invite you to listen to a recital on its famous organ. En trance to the church is on the South side, a little to the right when coming out of the street. If you have no guidebook, here are some of the most important things that are interesting to notice: the church, a neogothic structure, has a extraordinary big choir; the roof of choir and nave are made of wood, no funds being available for a stone vault as planned previous- ty- The greater part of the inventory of the church dates from times before the Reforma tion. Specially noteworthy are the beautiful screen and the monumental lectern, both in copper and works by Jari' Fierens of Malines and the sculptured oak seats in the choir and a pew. Many in this world run after felicity like an absent man hunting for his hat, while all the time it is on his head. A Dutchman was advised by an eminent English doctor to take each morning a walk on an empty stomach. The Dutchman pon dered a moment. „Whose?" he inquired. Why is it, that in the American upper classes the divorce-rate is so much higher than in the upper-ten of England Because American women expect to find in their husbands a per fection that English women only hope to find in their butlers.

Krantenviewer Noord-Hollands Archief

The Dutch Dickensian | 1959 | | pagina 1