Amsterdam (Rough Guide) - Martin Dunford [84]
Entry to the church is at the back, on Oude Groenmarkt, with a humble passageway leading to the southeast end of the nave, whose towering beauty is enhanced by the creaminess of the stone and the bright simplicity of the whitewashed walls. The Protestants cleared the church of most of its decoration during the Reformation, but the splendid wrought-iron choir screen has survived, as have the choir’s wooden stalls with their folksy misericords, carved with expressive faces, each one different. In front of the screen is the conspicuous Neoclassical tomb of Haarlem’s own Christiaan Brunings (1736–1805), a much-lauded hydraulic engineer and director of Holland’s water board, who devised a strategy for controlling the waters of the lower Rhine.
Close by, next to the south transept, is the Brewers’ Chapel, where the central pillar bears two black markers – one showing the height of a local giant, the 2.64-metre-tall Daniel Cajanus, who died in 1749, the other the 0.84-metre-high dwarf Simon Paap from Zandvoort (1789–1828). In the middle of the nave, the pulpit’s banisters are in the form of snakes – fleeing from the word of God – while across the other side is the pocket-sized Dog Whippers’ Chapel, built for the men employed to keep dogs under control in the church, as evidenced by the rings to tether them to, now separated from the nave by an iron grille.
The Grote Kerk, Haarlem
At the west end of the church, the mighty Christian Müller organ was manufactured in Amsterdam in the 1730s. It is said to have been played by Handel and Mozart (the latter on his tour of the country in 1766, at the age of ten) and is one of the biggest in the world, with over five thousand pipes and lots of snazzy Baroque embellishment. Hear it at work at one of the free organ recitals held in the summer (mid-May to mid-Oct Tues 8.15pm, July & Aug also Thurs 3pm; free). Beneath the organ, Jan Baptist Xavery’s lovely group of draped marble figures represents Poetry and Music offering thanks to Haarlem, which is depicted as a patroness of the arts – in return for its generous support in the purchase of the organ.
Day-trips from the city | Haarlem | The Town |
The Hallen
Back outside, just beyond the western end of the church, the rambling Hallen divides into two; first up is the old meat market, the Vleeshal, which boasts a flashy Dutch Renaissance facade and a basement given over to the modest Archeologisch Museum (Wed–Sun 1–5pm; free). A couple of doors along is the Kunstcentrum De Hallen (Tues–Sat 11am–5pm, Sun noon–5pm; €5), an art gallery where the emphasis is on temporary exhibitions of modern and contemporary art and photography.
Day-trips from the city | Haarlem | The Town |
The Corrie Ten Boomhuis
After these modest attractions, you’ll probably want to push on south to Haarlem’s star turn, the Frans Hals Museum, but you might consider a brief detour north from the Grote Markt to the Corrie Ten Boomhuis, Barteljorisstraat 19 (April–Oct Tues–Sat 10am–4pm; Nov–March Tues–Sat 11am–3pm; 1hr guided tours only; free; www.corrietenboom.com), where a Dutch family – the Ten Booms – hid fugitives, resistance fighters and Jews alike, above their jewellers shop during World War II. There isn’t actually much to look at, but the guided tour is instructive and moving, if a tad drawn-out. The family, whose bravery sprang from their Christian faith, was betrayed to the Gestapo in 1944, and only one, Corrie Ten Boom, survived – as does the jewellers itself, still doing business at street level.
Day-trips from the city | Haarlem | The Town |
The Frans Hals Museum
Haarlem’s biggest draw, the Frans Hals Museum (Tues–Sat 11am–5pm, Sun noon–5pm; €7.50; www.franshalsmuseum.nl), is a five-minute stroll south of the Grote Markt at Groot Heiligland 62; to get there, take pedestrianized Warmoesstraat and keep going. The museum occupies an old almshouse complex, a much-modified red-brick hofje with a central courtyard,