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60-555: The Damiaatjes (English: Little Damiettas) refer to two bells in the St. Bavochurch of Haarlem that ring every night between nine and nine thirty, to signal the closing of the city's gates and commemorate the conquest of the Egyptian city Damietta during the Siege of Damietta (1218) . Though Haarlem no longer has a wall around the city, or gates to close, the bells are still rung every evening. Damietta

120-531: A bedroom community of Amsterdam, with many wealthy bankers becoming members of the young Society. The old paintings became just a colorful backdrop for chests filled with stuffed animals and prepared specimens. In 1777 the Society moved its overflowing collection to a renovated house on the Grote Houtstraat, where the new young curator Martin van Marum would live the rest of his life. This building, situated next to

180-535: A few paintings by the first two in their collection today. Stuers also felt it was a scandal that the city fathers in charge of the municipal museum made no effort to stop the sale of a portrait of Willem van Heythuijzen to the Brussels museum in 1872. Thus this antiquated collection is the one that was transferred to the Groot Heiligland in 1913, and large pieces that were not in the cloisters at that time, such as

240-502: A gift to other churches and town halls. Today the original Haarlem gift by Willem Thibaut still hangs in the Janskerk (Gouda) as designed. That window gives an impression of the type of window that once hung in the Western wall. When the famous Muller organ was installed, the glass on the west side of the church (now only known to us from the painting by the local painter Job Berckheyde ) with

300-452: A modern and a classical one, with the modern art housed in a new wing on the north side of the complex. Today the modern art is displayed in the Verweyhal . The museum celebrated its 100th anniversary on the Groot Heiligland in 2013 with a Frans Hals exhibition that included reproductions being placed around the city in original locations. In the late 19th century the museum became something of

360-450: A pilgrimage site for young impressionists, who were fascinated by the loose brushwork visible in the two group portraits of regents by Hals that he painted when he was in his eighties. This is the reason that after the move to the present location in 1913, the museum took on the name of Frans Hals as these were considered the most prominent paintings of the collection at the time. The museum is still famous for group portraits by Hals, but since

420-469: A size of 17,000 objects, about half of which are modern art. The museum holds about 800 paintings from the Dutch 17th century. The collection also includes silver and glassware and furniture. The depot, as well as the restoration studio, is located in the attics. Climatic conditions were so bad that in 2005 the museum considered selling two paintings to finance an external depot. This led to dismissive reactions from

480-474: A weight of approx. 4900 kg This biggest bell in the tower strikes the hour. In 1662 François Hemony from Amsterdam made a carillon of 33 bells, later it was enlarged by his brother Pieter Hemony to 35 bells. In 1968 25 bells were recast by Eijsbouts in Asten , and it was expanded to a concert carillon of 47 bells. The carillon is tuned in meantone temperament based on Des (Dflat ). Since this restoration

540-403: A woman for the dusting and serving tea, and in 1768 they hired a man as curator, who was responsible for the entire collection and the medical Hortus garden in the yard. The spacious room soon proved too small for the number of donated artifacts it received from its members, thanks to the increase in shipping and associated travel. In the late 18th century and early 19th century, Haarlem became

600-515: A year. The drum plays to announce the hour strike and all other quarters of the hour. In Haarlem there is also a very short tune on every seven and half minute. So the drum chimes eight times in the hour. Rien Donkersloot is appointed by the municipality of Haarlem as the city carillonneur of Haarlem. According to the local legend known as the Wapenvermeerdering , or "Legend of the Haarlem shield",

660-576: Is a museum in the North Holland city of Haarlem , the Netherlands , founded in 1862, known as the Art Museum of Haarlem. Its collection is based on the city's own rich collection, built up from the 16th century onwards. The museum owns hundreds of paintings, including more than a dozen by Frans Hals , to whom the museum owes its name. The Frans Hals Museum has two historic locations in Haarlem city centre:

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720-403: Is also a story that only the rich could afford to be buried in the church. Regardless of wealth, the corpses rotted as they lay under the stone floor, producing a foul odor. This gave rise to the phrase "Stinking Rich". In 1429 the bells from the former parish church which was on the same spot where the 'Grote Kerk' was built, were hung in a large wooden belfry (klokhuis) behind the choir close of

780-588: Is also mentioned during the Fifth Crusade in 1218/1219, and again during the Seventh crusade in the year 1249 . The Haarlem story claims that Haarlem knights and innovative shipbuilders played an important role in the fall of Damietta. Access to the city via the Nile was closed with a large, heavy harbor chain . A Haarlem ship with a saw on the bow (in Dutch called the "zaagschip") was equipped with an iron saw fastened along

840-615: The Kennemers in a scene from the 13th century. This painting was painted a century after the Catholics were banned from their church, and may have been a commemorative painting referring to the defense of the Church and the Catholic faith as well as the defense of the city. Haarlem has had a Christian parish church since the 9th century. This first church was a "daughter church" of Velsen , which itself

900-581: The Mennonite church, was mortgaged with the Mennonite banker Pieter Teyler van der Hulst , who was not a member of the Society, but who created his own arts society and whose later testament would be the basis for the Teylers Museum , where van Marum would also become curator. This move essentially split the collection, and the natural history half is currently in the collection of the Teylers Museum . Though

960-537: The Wapenvermeerdering , was dismantled and bricked up. The sketches for this glass have survived and are in the possession of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and were drawn by Barend van Orley . In the church today, the lack of historic colorful windows has been made up for by installing windows from other, demolished or defunct churches, while modern artists have created new themes. A beautiful large blue window hanging on

1020-414: The group portraits from the military guilds were cleaned in the early 20th century, it is these which most visitors come to see today. Most of the objects and paintings can not be displayed for lack of space, and the museum rotates its collection through exhibitions at various locations in Haarlem, though works by some prominent painters cannot be lent out and remain in storage. The museum's collection has

1080-488: The 10-year-old Mozart , who played it in 1766. The organ was modified a number of times in the 19th and 20th centuries and most drastically altered in the renovation by Marcussen between 1959 and 1961. Further voicing work was undertaken between 1987 and 2000. Today concerts are regularly held in the church, and all through the year special opening times are organized so the public can walk in free of charge to listen to this famous organ in action. A local story goes to say that

1140-542: The 17th century to rewrite Haarlem history, and purchased various large pieces to decorate the city hall, telling stories such as the legend of Damiate , or the legend of the Haarlem Shield. During this time the city hall functioned as a semi-public museum, though the term didn't even exist yet. The first signs of an official museum with a curator occurred when the Dutch Society of Science , founded in 1752, started to rent

1200-553: The Bavo have suffered through the years from neglect. It is hard to imagine that Haarlem was an important center for stained glass art in the 16th century, since so little evidence of it still exists in Haarlem. After the Reformation, Haarlem promoted the stories of the Damiaatjes and the associated Wapenvermeerdering and produced many windows with this central story, which it presented as

1260-608: The Prinsenhof room of the city hall in 1754 for its meetings and began to furnish it as a Cabinet of curiosities . From an inventory list in the city archives it can be seen that they used as a model for their system of naming and presentation, the book Amboinsche Rariteitkamer by Georg Eberhard Rumphius . They shared the room with the Synod of the Dutch Reformed Church, that used it once every six years for its meetings. They hired

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1320-688: The St George's militia. He received four more commissions for militia pieces. They are now world-famous and all hang in the Frans Hals Museum. Several stately rooms saved from torn-down Haarlem houses have been partially reconstructed and a collection of Haarlem silver saved from various local churches can be seen in the former regent rooms of the almshouse, which now seem much grander than they were originally. The windows have been decorated with art by anonymous Haarlem glass artists, most of which has been acquired through municipal demolitions work. Spread along

1380-631: The State Secretary for Culture, among others, and the heirs also appeared to be unaware. After an asbestos clean-up in 2011, the condition improved somewhat, but the structural lack of money remained. Frans Hals ranks with Rembrandt and Vermeer among the most famous and innovative painters of the Dutch 17th century. His smoothly painted, lively portraits of real people have inspired visitors and other artists for centuries. Famous modern artists such as Manet and Van Gogh even travelled to Haarlem to admire his group portraits of bailiffs and regents. Frans Hals

1440-638: The art of several other former Haarlem institutions, is now in the Frans Hals museum collection. The most notable artworks from the Oude Mannenhuis are the two group portraits of regents and regentesses by Frans Hals. The inventory of the Proveniershuis was drawn up by Pieter Langendijk and though some of the paintings have since been reattributed, his list is largely intact. The impressive regents' rooms have been rebuilt from other Haarlem locations. A room on

1500-454: The bass of the organ was so low, the mortar in between the brimstones started to brittle to nothing. Until 1831 graves were allowed in the church, and many illustrious Haarlemmers through the centuries are buried there. Often people were buried under family gravestones, and the family shields of illustrious families are mounted on diamond shaped "plaques" hanging on the walls. Other illustrious Haarlemmers were buried in individual graves such as

1560-565: The bow and front keel. This ship sawed through the Damietta harbour chain and allowed the fleet to attack the city, which was a success. The Damietta story is however contradicted by the eyewitness account of Oliver of Cologne, who led the Dutch fleet, and who never mentioned the heroic actions of the Haarlem knights. The story gained in popularity after 1667 when the Dutch fleet broke another chain to win an important naval victory. Haarlem declared itself

1620-633: The church has also changed little over the years, though the inner chapels suffered greatly during the Beeldenstorm , and many stained-glass windows have been lost to neglect. Fortunately, the interior has been painted many times by local painters, most notably by Pieter Jansz Saenredam and the Berckheyde brothers. Based on these paintings, work has been done to reconstruct the interior so various items such as rouwborden or "mourning shields" hang again today in their "proper" place. The stained glass windows of

1680-445: The church various low buildings have been built up against it, most notably the former fish market called De Vishal , which today is used for exhibiting modern art. On the south side a series of low buildings used as shops are built up against various church buildings such as the former "librye" or library, and sacristy. In 1630 the architect Salomon de Bray designed and built the consistory which still exists today. The interior of

1740-664: The church was confiscated during the episode known as the Haarlemse noon and converted to Protestantism as part of the Protestant Reformation . At this time most of the art and silver artefacts were also seized and what was not sold or destroyed has survived in the Haarlem municipal collection, which is now in the collection of the Frans Hals Museum . The Haarlem Catholics took what they could carry with them and went underground, meeting thereafter in various schuilkerken ,

1800-531: The church. It was demolished in 1804, to strengthen the finances of the city council, and the bells were sold. In 1918, a smaller iron replica was built on the same spot by the firm of Joh. Enschede where the guilder billets were printed. Today the Haarlem Grote Kerk tower is provided with a big bourdon bell from 1503 named Roeland, made by the Kampen bellfounder Geert van Wou . It sounds with tone A and has

1860-486: The city gates. In 1732 the bells were recast, and installed, by Jan Albert de Grave a bellfounder from Amsterdam. Since Haarlem was no longer a vesting stad or walled city, the tradition of the bells continued, to commemorate the conquest of Damiette on August 25, 1219. The bells have names Piet and Hein. The church is mentioned by Corrie ten Boom in her book, The Hiding Place . Frans Hals Museum The Frans Hals Museum (formerly Stedelijk Museum van Haarlem )

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1920-455: The city was 25%, a record high. More art has survived up to today from that period in Haarlem than from any other Dutch city, thanks mostly to the Schilder-boeck published by Karel van Mander there in 1604. The former curator Pieter Biesboer has created inventories of Haarlem art and worked on several catalogues for the museum, mostly based on the works created before 1800. What follows

1980-542: The complex was renovated beyond recognition, most notably by the previous inhabitants, the Haarlem municipal orphanage which made use of the complex from 1810 until 1908, when it moved to the Coen Cuserhof . During the French occupation, the old men still living in the hofje were moved a block away to the present-day Proveniershuis , when the art collections of the two institutions were merged. The art of both locations, as well as

2040-411: The corridors are beautiful Dutch tiles from local salvage operations that have been installed along the walls, accompanied by 17th century furniture including clocks, chairs, and chests. The museum as an institution is only responsible for its collection, which is mostly oil paintings. Other applied art that has been installed is the responsibility of the municipal culture department, and the museum rents

2100-571: The decision to form the museum was to cater to the visitors of other Haarlem museums. At the time, modern art could be seen at the nearby Teylers Eerste Schilderijenzaal in Teylers Museum , and also in the gallery of the Museum voor Levende Nederlandsche Meesters , otherwise known as the Haarlemsche Paviljoen , a museum that was open from 1838 until 1885 in the former home of Henry Hope he called Villa Welgelegen . The art critic Victor de Stuers

2160-406: The giant Daniel Cajanus with his midget friend Jan Paap, are buried there. The last burial there was for Willem Bilderdijk . A local story is that under stone number 7 near the choir gate, there is a grave of a man who used to hit his mother as a child. After a time his hand started growing above his grave, and a copper plate had to be installed on the grave to stop the hand from growing. There

2220-454: The guilds in the Netherlands in 1794. The guilds' property reverted to the state. This is how the larger pieces that Hals painted for the guilds came into the collection. Without an official curator, the painting collection was only available to be seen by appointment with the city clerk, a situation that has remained up to the present day for the large pieces still located there, such as the whalebone from Willem Barentsz trip to Nova Zembla or

2280-447: The inspiration for this deed. St. Bavochurch This church is an important landmark for the city of Haarlem and has dominated the city skyline for centuries. It is built in the Gothic style of architecture , and it became the main church of Haarlem after renovations in the 15th century made it significantly larger than the Janskerk (Haarlem) . First mention of a church on this spot

2340-468: The main location on Groot Heiligland and Location Hal on Grote Markt, composed of the adjacent 17th-century Vleeshal and 19th-century Verweyhal. On Groot Heiligland is the 17th-century Oudemannenhuis with regent's rooms. It houses the famous paintings by Frans Hals and other ancient, modern and contemporary art, as well as the museum café. Location Hal regularly hosts exhibitions of modern and contemporary art. The Haarlem Old Men's Almhouse ( Oudemannenhuis)

2400-561: The most prominent ones known as the St. Franciscus statie and the St. Josephs statie . Eventually, the St. Josephstatie built a new church across from the Janskerk called the St. Josephkerk, and this church, after growing and becoming a cathedral again, built a new cathedral on the Leidsevaart in the 19th century. Since the building of this new Cathedral of St. Bavo , there has been much confusion about

2460-487: The name of the Bavochurch, since as a Protestant church it is not even dedicated to Saint Bavo. For this reason it is officially called Grote Kerk , which just means "Big Church". On May 22, 1801, there was a fire caused by lightning which struck the tower. Another disaster was prevented in 1839 by Martijn Hendrik Kretschman, the guard of the tower. He stopped Jan Drost who worked for the church. Drost had tried to set fire to

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2520-573: The northern side greets the visitor who enters through the double doors on the Groenmarkt. This window was made to personify peace and harmony, and was made by the local glass artist Michel van Overbeeke, who received a local prize of culture for this in 2009 ( De Olifant ). The organ of the Sint-Bavokerk (the Christiaan Müller organ) is one of the world's most historically important organs. It

2580-519: The old 25 bells by Hemony hang in the tower of the Bakenesserkerk also in Haarlem. In 2010, the Grote Kerk carillon was redesigned to improve the play ability. The city carillonneur plays the bells weekly on the market days and on Tuesday in the summer there is a concert just before the weekly organ concert played often by guest players. The city carillonneur also re-inserts the pins on the drum twice

2640-536: The painting by Dirck Ferreris installed in the mayor's room, remained at city hall. A few of these were formally given to the museum in 1962, such as The Banquet of the Officers of the St Adrian Militia Company in 1627 and The Officers of the St Adrian Militia Company in 1630 . In 1962 when the museum celebrated its 100th anniversary as a municipal collection, the collection had already been split again into

2700-447: The paintings and the garden remained back at city hall, 40 years after Carl Linnaeus had published his Systema Naturae no one was interested in the garden (which was set up as a living version of that book), and still fewer people were interested in the religious art. The city hall was seen as a depot of large pieces of historical importance, and the next large group of paintings to join the collection occurred when Napoleon disbanded

2760-430: The pipe organ and piano by throwing hot coals on top of it. Drost committed suicide and he was buried in the tower. In the church was a high sentry box reserved for fire-watchers. If they saw a fire in the city then they would signal using red flags so that the guards in the main guard house opposite could react. This sentry position was still in use in 1919. In the renovation of the 1930s an automatic sprinkler system

2820-429: The portrait of Kenau Simonsdochter Hasselaer . In the mid-19th century the back cloisters were given an extra floor for additional showing space, and it was at this time that the museum opened its doors to the public via a separate entrance than the main city hall entrance. This was also the first time that all the group portraits could be shown hanging near each other. No works of modern art were bought at that time, and

2880-421: The premises from them. This is the reason that visitors are offered much more information about the paintings than about other aspects of the building, including the objects in the courtyard. Between 1605 and 1635 over 100,000 paintings were produced in Haarlem. Not all of these have survived, and most have left town, but this does say something about the artistic climate in the city. At that time art ownership in

2940-492: The rich Pieter Teyler van der Hulst and Willem van Heythuisen . The painters Maarten van Heemskerck (as a former church koster, he is buried in the kerstkapel), Frans Hals (who was buried in his first wife's grandfather's grave, Nicolaes Ghyblant, but who received his own gravestone in 1962), Saenredam himself (in the South choir way near the entrance), and Jacob van Ruysdael and Salomon van Ruysdael . The two circus curiosities,

3000-540: The street side has a curious keystone above the door with masonic symbols denoting a mason's society and the text 'Metsselaars Proef-Kamer 1648 12/29'. The older pieces of the museum collection, consisting of primarily religious themes, are Haarlem relics from the Reformation , when all Roman Catholic art was formally seized by the city council in 1648. Frans Hals himself worked as the first official city-paid restorer for some of these pieces. The city council then proceeded in

3060-414: The summer and at seven in the winter. The residents had to make a weekly collection with a poor-box, and a statue of a man holding this can be seen in the entrance hall of the museum. The old men's home was governed by five regents, whose portraits, painted by Frans Hals in 1664, are on display. Though the men's home dates from 1609, only the main hall is still mostly intact. During the intervening centuries

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3120-453: The two upper bells in the tower were taken from Damiette ( Damiate in Dutch) during the Fifth Crusade by Haarlem knights and were placed in the tower. In reality, they were a gift by Johannes Dircks, a bell-maker from Aalst to Nicolaas van Nieuwland , the bishop of Haarlem, in 1562. Since then the two bells were chimed every evening between 21:00 and 21:30 o'clock, to give a signal for closing

3180-513: Was a hofje founded in 1609. The residential rooms were situated around a courtyard in the style of contemporary Haarlem Hofjes . Each of the thirty little houses was inhabited by two men; to be eligible to living there they had to be at least 60 years old, honest Haarlem residents, and single. They were required to bring their own household goods listed as a bed, a chair with a cushion, a tin chamberpot, three blankets, six good shirts and six nightcaps. They were locked in each night at eight o'clock in

3240-476: Was already in the middle of the period known as the Protestant Reformation . The church was confiscated only 19 years later during the Haarlemse noon in 1578, when it was converted to Protestantism . It was dedicated to Saint Bavo at some time before 1500, though there exists a curious painting in the collection of the Catholic Cathedral of St. Bavo illustrating the miracle of St. Bavo saving Haarlem from

3300-519: Was born around 1582 in Antwerp, but grew up in Haarlem. His parents moved north soon after his birth to escape Spanish rule. Frans Hals probably trained as an artist with Karel van Mander. In 1610, Hals became a member of the Sint-Lucas guild of artists. His loose touch caught the eye and earned him numerous commissions for portraits. In 1616, Hals completed his first large group portrait: the militia piece of

3360-411: Was built by the Amsterdam organ builder Christian Müller , with stucco decorations by the Amsterdam artist Jan van Logteren , between 1735 and 1738. Upon completion it was the largest organ in the world with 60 voices and 32-foot pedal-towers. In Moby-Dick (1851), Herman Melville describes the inside of a whale's mouth: Many famous musicians played this organ, including Mendelssohn , Händel and

3420-533: Was founded in 695 by St. Willibrord . This early first church was a wooden church on the same site of the current Sint-Bavokerk. Extensions and expansions over the centuries led to its formal consecration in 1559 when the first bishop Nicolaas van Nieuwland was appointed. Only 19 years later, after the Spanish occupation ended (they won the Siege of Haarlem ) and Haarlem reverted to the Protestant House of Orange ,

3480-540: Was installed in the tower, that could extinguish a fire 70m high in the tower. Though the exterior of the church seems timeless, it changed twice in the past 500 years; once when all statuary was removed from the outer niches during the Haarlemse Noon , and the second time in the late 19th century when a "more Gothic look" was given to the church by adding some fake ramparts to the roof edge. This can be seen easily when comparing pictures made before and afterwards. Around

3540-425: Was made in 1307, but the wooden structure burned in the 14th century. The church was rebuilt and promoted to chapter church in 1479 and only became a cathedral in 1559. The main architects were Godevaert de Bosscher and Steven van Afflighem (nave), and Evert van Antwerpen (transept). The term "cathedral" was never really associated with this church, since it was only consecrated as a cathedral in 1559, which

3600-480: Was very angry about Haarlem being the location of such museums, as there was no artistic climate there to speak of. He criticized the collection at the Paviljoen for lacking works by contemporary painters such as "Israëls, Bosboom, Bles, Bisschop, van de Sande Bakhuijzen, Bakker Korff, and Alma Tadema", and though works by these painters were already on view at Teylers at the time, the Frans Hals museum collection only has

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