Oude Kerk (Amsterdam)

The church has not been exposed, and earlier town houses are still directly adjacent to the facade

Baroque style spire

Main organ in the nave

Church window of the Oude Kerk

Wooden roof structure of the Oude Kerk (side aisle)

The Oude Kerk ( German  Old Church ) is the oldest surviving structure in the Dutch capital, Amsterdam . It is located in Amsterdam's red light district ( De Wallen ). In addition to church services, there are also many exhibitions and concerts in the church.

history

In the 13th century, there was a small wooden chapel with a cemetery on the site of the Oude Kerk . The mother church was the church of Ouderkerk , but the church in Amsterdam grew rapidly and in 1334 became an independent parish church, which was consecrated to St. Nicholas . At the beginning of the 15th century , the Nieuwe Kerk (New Church) in the west of the city was parish off, from which the respective names are derived.

The original wooden structure of the church was replaced by a stone hall in the second half of the 13th century. After 1300 a three-aisled hall church was built , which was probably the first hall church in the Netherlands. Around 1330 the church received a new choir, between 1330 and 1350 wider aisles were added. Later the church was enlarged to the east and a five-sided ambulatory was built. In 1380–1412 the St. George's Chapel was added to the north, and the Sebastian Chapel was added to the south from 1450–1460. In the 16th century the nave was raised and the tower enlarged.

In 1566, the medieval furnishings fell victim to the iconoclasm , after 1578 it was redesigned for Protestant worship. From 1584 to 1611 the church also served as a stock exchange.

In 1951 the church had to be closed due to the risk of collapse and was restored for 24 years. Another renovation took place in 1994–1998.

Oude Kerk burial site

In the Oude Kerk there are around 2,500 graves in which around 10,000 Amsterdam citizens are buried, including:

• Jacob van Heemskerck , Admiral of Holland
• Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck , Dutch organist at the Oude Kerk and composer
• Adriaen Block , dealer and cartographer
• Jakob Dircksz de Graeff , Regent of Amsterdam
• Cornelis de Graeff , Dutch politician and regent of Amsterdam
• Andries de Graeff , Dutch politician and regent of Amsterdam
• Pieter Lastman , artist
• Willem van der Zaan , Dutch admiral
• Laurens Bake , poet and poet
• Abraham van der Hulst , Dutch admiral
• Saskia van Uylenburgh , wife of Rembrandt van Rijn
• Andries Bicker , Dutch politician and regent of Amsterdam
• Cornelis Hooft , Regent of Amsterdam
• Jan Jacobszoon Hinlopen , merchant, regent of Amsterdam
• Kiliaen van Rensselaer , one of the founders of New Amsterdam in Manhattan , now known as New York .
• Frans Banning Cocq , captain in Rembrandt van Rijn's painting The Night Watch
• Johann Gottlieb Plüschke , German theologian and director of the theological seminar in Amsterdam

Organs

Great organ

Today's large organ was built from 1724 to 1726 by Christian Vater , a student of Arp Schnitger , with 45 stops in the north German tradition. It replaced Hendrik Niehoff's instrument , on which Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck was organist for 44 years. It is not clear how father received the contract for the new building in Amsterdam. Possibly his colleague Matthias Schultze made the connection. Johann Caspar Müller, a younger brother of Christian Müller , added nine registers to the organ in 1742. Changes were made in 1869/1870 and 1879 by Christian Gottlieb Friedrich Witte , who renewed the keyboards and the action and rearranged some registers in the romantic style. The company SF Blank reconstructed the bellows in 1979 and the keyboards in 1987. In the years 2015–2019 Orgelmakerij Reil carried out a comprehensive restoration of the original condition, with as little intervention as possible in the intonation.

I Rugwerk C – c 3 01. Prestant 08th' 02. Holpijp 08th' 03. Quintadena 08th' 04th Octaaf 04 ′ 05. Gemshoorn 04 ′ 06th Quint 03 ′ 07th Octaaf 02 ′ 08th. Woudfluit 02 ′ 09. Cornet disc V 10. Sexquialter II – IV0 11. Carillon III-IV 12. Mixture V – VIII 13. Scherp III-V 14th Bassoon 16 ′ 15th Trumpet 08th' Tremulant

II Hoofdwerk C – c 3 16. Prestant 16 ′ 17th Bourdon 16 ′ 18th Prestant 08th' 19th Holpijp 08th' 20th Quint 06 ′ 21st Octaaf 04 ′ 22nd Roerfluit 04 ′ 23. Roerquint 03 ′ 24. Octaaf 02 ′ 25th Fluit 02 ′ 26th Sexquialter disc IV0 27. Mixture V – VIII 28. Scherp IV-VI 29 Trumpet 16 ′ 30th Trumpet 08th' Tremulant

III Bovenwerk C – c 3 31. Quintadena 16 ′ 32. Prestant 08th' 33. Baarpijp 08th' 34. Quintadena 08th' 35. Viola di gamba 08th' 36. Octaaf 04 ′ 37. Gemshoorn 04 ′ 38. Nasard 03 ′ 39. Sexquialter IV0 40. Cymbel III 41. Trumpet 08th' 42. Dulciaan 08th' 43. Vox Humana 08th' Tremulant

Pedal C – d 1 44. Prestant 16 ′ 45. Subbas 16 ′ 46. Prestant 08th' 47. Roerquint 06 ′ 48. Octaaf 04 ′ 49. Night horn0 02 ′ 50. Mixture VI 51. Bazuin 16 ′ 52. Trumpet 08th' 53. Trumpet 04 ′ 54. zinc 02 ′

• Pair : I / II, III / II, II / P
• Tuning: approx. ¹ ⁄ ₈ over a ¹ = 440 Hz, equal beat

Small organ

In 1544 Niehoff built a small organ (II / P / 13) in the transept, which was replaced in 1658 by Hans Wolff Schonat . Organ builder JC Friedrichs used the pipework for the organ in the Zuiderkerk in 1823 , while the case remained in the Oude Kerk. In the 19th century, rearrangements led to a change in the soundscape. When the Zuiderkerk was closed in 1929, the Oosterkerk in Aalten acquired the organ. The Friedrichs organ was reconstructed there in 1977. In 1975 the Schonat pipework came to the Groene of Willibrordkerk in Oegstgeest. In the Oude Kerk, Ahrend & Brunzema reconstructed the Schonat organ in 1965 on the basis of the disposition handed down by Joachim Hess in 1773, supplemented by a Gemshoorn 2 ′, behind the old case from Schonat. The equal tuning was changed in 2002 to a mid-tone tuning . The pipes of the Octaaf 2 'were shortened and reused for a Sifflet 1 ¹ ⁄ ₃  ' and the Quint 3 'reworked into a Fluit 4'. Since then, the disposition has been as follows:

I Hoofdwerk C – d 3 Prestant 08th' Quintads 08th' Holpijp 08th' Octaaf 04 ′ Fluit 04 ′ Gemshoorn 02 ′ Sifflet 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′ Mixture IV – VI0 Scherp IV-VI Trumpet 08th'

II Borstwerk C – d 3 Gedekt 8th' Prestant0 4 ′ Octaaf 2 ′ Dulciaan 8th'

Pedal C – d 1 Bourdon0 16 ′ Prestant 08th' Trumpet 08th'

• Pairing : I / P, II / P
• Tremulant

Bells and carillon

Four bells hang in the bell-room : Faith (b ⁰ , ≈3,700 kg, Ø 1,750 mm), hope (d ¹ , Ø 1,400 mm), love (f ¹ , Ø 1,170 mm) and freedom (b ¹ , Ø 870 mm) . The bells hang on cranked yokes and have always been rung by hand. In the lower lantern of the tower spire hangs a carillon , originally cast by François Hemony in 1658 . The tone sequence ranges from b ⁰ (≈3,400 kg), c ¹ , d ¹ chromatic to b ⁴ . Of the original 35 hemony bells, only the largest 14 are preserved today (b ⁰ to c sharp ² ), the others are by Eijsbouts. The carillon is tuned in a mid-tone mood . The stick game table was built in 1991 by the Eijsbouts bell foundry .

In the tower lantern above there is a clock chime from 1505. In the roof turret above the crossing, an angelus bell (Ø 770 mm) from the Eijsbouts bell foundry has been hanging in place of a predecessor since 2006 , which is rung for the Lord's Prayer .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Fritz Schild: Memorial organs. Documentation of the restoration by Organ Builders Guide 1974–1991. Florian Noetzel, Wilhelmshaven 2005, ISBN 978-3-7959-0862-1 , p. 98.
2. ^ Organ Databank , accessed on March 20, 2019.
3. ↑ Amsterdam, Oude kerk, koororgel , accessed on October 15, 2019.
4. ↑ Wim Alings: Kentekens in stad en land . Nefkens, Utrecht 1978, p. 37.

Web links

Commons : Oude Kerk  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Oude Kerk website (English, Dutch)
• Oude Kerk in Amsterdam In: amsterdam.info (German)
• Bureau Monuments & Archeology - History and Architecture of the Oude Kerk (Dutch)

Coordinates: 52 ° 22 ′ 27 ″  N , 4 ° 53 ′ 53 ″  E