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Supporting Resources
Dutch Lives in the World
story by professor yasmin haskell
A Latin Storm in a Dutch Teacup.
What do Dutch buildings tell us about their creators, their
motivations, aspirations and experiences During the Golden
Age, many people seem to have reconciled their new-found
wealth by leaving it when they died to various charities
for the poor and needy, young and old, in society. These were
particularly common in North and South Holland, the two richest
provinces in the nation, where we still find a range of buildings
that operated as orphanages, old peoples’ homes and as
almshouses (homes for the poor). Both men and women
left their own homes or arranged to buy properties to establish
such almshouses where poor (usually old or widowed) men or
women could go to live and be provided with food and shelter.
Many of the buildings were designed to have a series of rooms
around a little shared, internal courtyard called a hofje. Some
are still functioning today just as their owners set out in their
foundation documents.
Certainly these benefactors were acting for the care of their local
community, but often they also had one eye on creating public
memory for themselves. In Haarlem, Het Hofje van Guurtje de
Waal was founded in 1616 by Guerte Jansdochter de Wael, the
daughter of a rich textile merchant whose family coat-of-arms
can still be seen above the stone gate of the complex. It was
quite a curious image too – showing the Dutch Lion with its head
cut off and blood spurting out! In Alkmaar, Margaretha van
Splinter left a set of eight almshouses in 1646 which you can still
see on the Lindengracht today.
Rules for entrants could be quite strict and if you wanted to live
there, they had to be carefully followed. Most had places only
available to those of a particular faith. All expected their
residents to lead a good and sober life. In 1667, the rich
Amsterdam merchant Pieter Jansz Suuykerhoff left money in his
will to create a home for ‘modest daughters and widows of
Protestant households’. The women were required to be honest
and decent, and to have a ‘peace-loving humour’ in order to get
on with others in the community. In exchange, they would receive
free rent, 10 pounds of rice, a keg of butter, 20 tonnes of peat (for
burning to keep warm) and even a little pocket money.
Founders were not above leaving more obvious references to
themselves and their feelings than just their names and coatsof-arms.
In Haarlem, one donor’s almshouse includes a poem
on the main building that called on others to follow his lead:
‘Wouterus van Oorschot shows his love here for the poor and as
an example to the rich; died 19 March 1768.’ In Utrecht, on the
Nieuwegracht, stands a row of mid-seventeenth century free
houses, designed to accommodate the city’s poor and needy
citizens. These were built on the commission of a wealthy widow,
Maria van Pallaes. Above the entrance door a dedicatory stone
highlights her motivations: ‘Not in appreciation of earthly favour,
but a place in heaven’s court’. Was she really thinking of the poor,
or of her own salvation in making such a statement
Image/ Johannes Wassenbergh, engraver Jan Caspar Philips, Portrait of Clara
Feyoena van Sytzama. 1745.
In ways like this, through buildings that still bear their names
and their signage or continue to follow their instructions, wealthy
individuals could make sure that they were remembered in their
home towns. Certainly these rich citizens wanted to help the
needy of their community, and many benefited from their care
and concern, but these donors also wrote themselves into their
towns’ histories, actvities and memories in ways that are still
strong today.
FAR FROM HOME: ADVENTURES, TREKS, EXILES & MIGRATION
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