The New Church (Dutch: Nieuwe Kerk) is a 15th-century church in Amsterdam located on Dam Square, next to the Royal Palace. Formerly a Dutch Reformed Church parish, it now belongs to the Protestant Church in the Netherlands.
Construction history
The Sint-Nicolaaskerk (Old Church), the first parish church in Amsterdam, was found to be too small due to the enormous growth of the city in the second half of the 14th century. On November 15, 1408, Bishop Frederik van Blankenheim of Utrecht gave permission for a second parish church. The church was dedicated to Onze Lieve Vrouwe, and later to Saint Catherine. However, the construction was already well advanced.
The history of the New Church began around 1380 alongside (not in) the orchard of Willem Eggert. He had donated this site to his house as a building plot for the church and was the builder and financier of the church that was dedicated on November 25, 1409. Willem Eggert was buried in 1417 in the Eggert Chapel built for him.
The Nieuwe Kerk was established in phases. The oldest parts of the church are the choir and transept. During a city fire of 1421 the church was damaged, but it remained limited. The construction of the ship started around 1435. The ship was originally supposed to have eight bays, but this was due to a lack of space. In the second half of the 15th century, the side aisles were built and a light beam came on the center ship for the benefit of light. After 1538 the northern transept was raised to the height of the rest of the church. This can clearly be seen on an old city map of Cornelis Anthonisz. from 1538, where the church still has a low northern transept.
During the city fire of 1452 the church was damaged again. Much has been rebuilt and rebuilt since then. One of the last parts of the church that was completed is the northern cross arm from 1530-1540, which exhibits style elements from the Renaissance.
In 1565 the Oude Kerk was given a new tower and the Nieuwe Kerk did not want to be left behind; one starts with the piling for an own tower, which, however, will never be completed (see paragraph Tower).
The Nieuw Kerk is also hit during the iconoclasm and there is little left of the rich Catholic interior. After the Alteration of 1578 the church was used as a Protestant church. In 1662 the grave monument for Admiral Michiel de Ruyter, designed by Rombout Verhulst, was erected at the place where the main altar once stood.
While the church had survived the town fires of 1421 and 1452 fairly well, things went completely wrong in 1645. As a result of the work of plumbers, the church burned down, with the exception of the choir and blasting chapels. After this fire the church was restored in Gothic style.
Fire of 1645
Around noon on January 11, 1645, the roof caught fire due to the carelessness of plumbers working under the roof. It was cold and clear weather that day (a few degrees below zero), and a strong north-easterly wind allowed the fire to quickly spread. In less than half an hour, the entire church was lit up. At three o’clock in the afternoon the roof and everything on it collapsed with great noise. Almost everything in the church burned. Gravestones and pillars were cracked by the heat. However, the copper chandeliers could still be removed undamaged from the ruins. After the fire, the church was restored and further embellished. In the end the church got a better look than before the fire. The wooden vaults were now replaced by stone vaults, with the exception of the middle cross vault, which was decorated with gilded foliage. On 10 May 1648 the church was put into use again.
The interior of the church for the most part dates from after the fire of 1645. Although the time of the Gothic era was over, the Gothic style was used for the restoration. A new pulpit was made, by Albert Vinckenbrinck (1649-1664), and a new organ, the cabinet of which was made by Jacob van Campen (1655). Bernard Winsemius is the organist of this monumental instrument.
Interior
The interior contains, among other things:
Main organ from 1655
Transept organ from the 16th century
Praalgraf by Jan van Galen
Tomb cellar and tomb of Michiel Adriaenszoon de Ruyter
Epitaph for Wolter Jan Gerrit Baron Bentinck
Pilot monument of Jan Hendrik van Kinsbergen
Epitaph for Jan Carel Josephus van Speijk
Monument to Joost van den Vondel
Monument to Pieter Corneliszoon Hooft
Pulpit 1649-1664
Herenbanken, after 1645
Choir screen, circa 1650
Stained glass windows
Various stained glass windows have been installed in the church, including a number of memorial stalls: the Coronation window (Mengelberg, 1898), the memorial stalls on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the reign of Queen Wilhelmina (Van Konijnenburg / Nicolas, 1938), the Liberation window (1995) by Toon Verhoef and ‘ A garden of glass ‘ (2005) by Marc Mulders, which was placed on the occasion of the Queen’s silver jubilee.
Tower
Twice a start has been made on building a church tower near the church. The foundations were laid in 1565, but the changing religious and political climate made further implementation of the plans impossible. A second attempt was made in 1646. Jacob van Campen, also the architect of the adjacent city hall (now the Royal Palace), designed a tower in a Gothic style. In 1647, the last of the 6363 piles for the tower was smashed into the ground. An old magic ritual follows to ensure that the construction goes well: a sacrifice of 200 guilders worth of gold, and a first stone laying, but in 1653 the construction was stopped. Reason: the costs for the construction of the new Town Hall, which is currently in full swing, are so high (ultimately more than 8 million guilders) that the city council decides to abandon the construction of the tower for the New Church to see. In 1783 the unfinished hull was demolished. What remains is the substructure for the west facade of the church.
Inaugurations
The Nieuwe Kerk, since sovereign Prince Willem took the oath on the constitution in this church on March 30, 1814, has also been used for inauguration and the blessing of a royal wedding.
His son, Willem II, ascends the throne stage on November 7, 1840 to be inaugurated as Head of State. William III succeeds him in May 1849.
The official inauguration of Queen Wilhelmina takes place on September 6, 1898. A memorial window is placed that is offered by the Dutch people on the occasion of the inauguration. Film recordings of the ceremonies were made on this day. This is the oldest film made in Amsterdam and in the Netherlands.
Queen Juliana succeeds her mother on 6 September 1948. The inauguration of Queen Beatrix took place on April 30, 1980. In 2013, the inauguration of Willem-Alexander took place on the same day.
On 2 February 2002, the civil wedding of Prince Willem-Alexander and Princess Máxima, concluded at the Beurs van Berlage, was consecrated in the church. When the bridal couple entered the church, the shutters of the main organ were opened as an embrace of the couple, images of which went across the world.
Restorations
The church has undergone various restorations, including various changes. During a restoration between 1892 and 1907-1912, neo-gothic elements were added by architect Christiaan Posthumus Meyjes Sr. to restore the church to the state before the fire of 1645. C. Wegener Sleeswijk carried out a restoration between 1959 and 1980, where the church was adapted to the demands of its own time: the lighting effect was improved and constructive restoration was carried out, such as laying new foundations. In addition, heating was installed under the natural stone floor and annexes were lowered to achieve more light.
Foundation
The subsidence behavior of the foundation has been monitored for many years. In recent years, the foundations of the burial cellar and of the ten surrounding pillars in the choir aisle have been sinking faster and faster than the other pillars. In 2006 it was decided to provide all ten pillars and the burial cellar with a new foundation, designed by the well-known Amsterdam restoration constructor, de Beaufort.
Current uses
Nowadays there are no more church services. Due to the secularization, the Reformed Church could no longer afford the costs of maintenance and management and it was therefore decided to convert the church into a cultural center. In 1980 the church was transferred to the “National Foundation De Nieuwe Kerk”, which was founded in 1979. This foundation has since organized church activities. To date, alternating exhibitions have been organized in the church, often of an ethnical nature. In addition, organ concerts take place.
In 2010 the six hundred year existence of the church was celebrated. A church service was held as part of the Amsterdam “Festival of the Reformation”. “A unique event,” according to the Protestant Church in Amsterdam: “In 1955, a church service was last held in the Nieuwe Kerk.” and Mennonites.
Every year on 4 May the National Remembrance Day takes place in the Nieuwe Kerk, prior to the wreath laying at the National Monument on Dam Square.