Nieuwe Kerk Amsterdam

The new Church (Nieuwe Kerk in Dutch) is an Amsterdam church in Gothic style whose construction started in 1408. It is located in the city Centre, in the heart of the Dutch capital, on the Dam, the main square of the city, close to Paleis op de Dam ("the Palace on the Dam"). It is the National Church of the Netherlands, but also a major exhibitions venue in Amsterdam.

Situation

The Nieuwe Kerk is located in the Northwest corner of the Dam in the District of the Nieuwe Zijde ("New side") in Amsterdam.

The Church is not difficult to access since it is located in the heart of the city, very close to shops. It takes between 5 and 10 minutes’ walk to get there from the Centre Station, it can also be access thanks to the numerous trams: Tram 1, 2, 4, 5, 9, 16, 24, 25. In addition, there are three car parks for cars near the Church.

History

In 1408, the Bishop of Utrecht received permission to be able to establish a second parish church in Amsterdam. Indeed, the Oude Kerk (the old church) seemed too small to accommodate the population of Amsterdam. Thus, Willem Eggert (1360-1417), a very wealthy merchant of the city, offered the bishopric an orchard and a large sum of money in order to finance the construction of the new Church, also named to distinguish it from the first. The Gothic style church, the current artistic that predominated Europe at that time, then had to be dedicated to the Virgin and St. Catherine.

The Construction of the Church was completed at that time when the Renaissance began to dethrone the Gothic style of the middle ages. The main source of inspiration was the Cathedral of Amiens, even today still the large church in France. The Church was damaged several times by fire, in 1421 and in 1452.

But the current appearance of the Church is quite far from the original gothic style. Indeed, the Alteration of 1578 caused large changes. The Church that was previously assigned to the Catholic cult was consequently consecrated like other churches of Amsterdam to the protestant worshiping of Calvinist inspiration, Catholicism having been, since this year, outlawed within the city. The Dutch reformed community then stripped the churches in the country of their various decorations (statues, medieval frescoes...) to mark a break with the Catholic era. Thus, the liturgical Center of the Nieuwe Kerk was moved to the nave. The Gothic style was quickly imposed in a church which required repairs since fire devastated it in 1645. A large organ case was built in 1645, spared from the fire, a huge pulpit in 1648 and a grid as well. Anthoni van Noordt was illustrated there as an organist from 1664 to 1673.aa

The Nieuwe Kerk also became a burial place for the great heroes of the Dutch Navy, such as Admiral Michiel de Ruyter, commodore Jan van Galen and the captain Jan van Speijk. The poet and playwright Joost van den Vondel was also buried there.

In 1808, when the Stadhuis (City Hall) became, on the initiative of Louis Bonaparte the royal palace, Nieuwe Kerk was named National Church of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

The Use

This church is the place of the sovereign investitures of Netherlands. Queen Wilhelmina, Juliana, Beatrix and King Willem-Alexander were enthroned there. On the 2^nd of February 2002, the latter, the Crown Prince of the Netherlands, married máxima Zorreguieta Cerruti.

The Nieuwe Kerk is also one of the main centers of exhibition in Amsterdam. Indeed, each year, approximately 100,000 visitors enters the Church. Exhibitions are generally devoted to the themes of cultures and religions in the world. So, there were exhibitions in the Morocco (2004-2005), summer in the Church (2005, 2008 and 2009), Indonesia (2005-2006), fashion DNA (2006), Istanbul (2006-2007), the heroes (2007), Afghanistan (2007-2008), the Oman (2009-2010), etc.

The Church also houses numerous concerts and organ recitals.

Source: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nouvelle_%C3%A9glise_d%27Amsterdam