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.
