Monuments to Herzen and Ogaryov on Mokhovaya Street

Monuments to Herzen and Ogaryov on Mokhovaya Street () were installed in Moscow on Mokhovaya Street in front of the old building of Moscow State University (Mokhovaya Street, 11) and form a single ensemble. They were opened in 1922. The authors of the monuments are the sculptor N. A. Andreev and the architect V. D. Kokorin.
History.
In August 1919 the sculptor N. A. Andreev was commissioned to make a monument to the democrat, philosopher and publicist A. I. Herzen on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of his death. This monument was supposed to be set January 20, 1920 in front of the building of Moscow State University. Since the monument was originally planned to be installed on the site of the recently restored grid, the People's Commissariat of Education opposed this. Then Andreev suggested making two monuments - to Herzen and Ogaryov, by placing them in the depths of the square on both sides of the entrance. The time allotted to work was very tight, so N. A. Andreev attracted his brother, the sculptor V. A. Andreev, to help. However, even the two of them failed to meet the deadline, and in January 1920, only the laying of monuments took place. The monuments were discovered only on December 10, 1922 within the framework of the Leninist plan of monumental propaganda.
Description.
Monuments are made of concrete with marble chips. A. I. Herzen is depicted standing full-length with arms crossed on his chest. On his right shoulder he has a cloak, which falls with decorative folds. N. P. Ogarev is depicted full-length with a winglet, thrown over a bent right hand.
Other monuments to Herzen and Ogaryov in Moscow.
In addition to this paired monument, in Moscow there is a later monument to Herzen on Tverskoy Boulevard, as well as a monument to the oath of Herzen and Ogaryov on Sparrow Hills.


Leo van der Laan

Leonardus van der Laan (20 April 1864 – 17 March 1942) was a Dutch architect.
Life.
Leo van der Laan was born in The Hague. He married Anna Maria Louise Stadhouder, with whom he had eleven children, among them Dom Hans van der Laan, Jan van der Laan and Nico van der Laan, who all also became architects.
Van der Laan worked as an independent architect from 1891 in Leiden. From 1921 he worked in partnership with his son Jan after the latter had completed his training at the Technische Hogeschool in Delft. The two of them were responsible for the design of about 400 buildings in Leiden and the surrounding area.


Schoten, Netherlands

Schoten is a former village in the Dutch province of North Holland. It was located between Haarlem and Santpoort.
Schoten was a separate municipality between 1817 and 1927, when it was merged with Haarlem. The municipality consisted of the northern part of the current municipality of Haarlem, north of the old city, between the Delft and Spaarne rivers.


Oosterkerk

The Oosterkerk ("eastern church") is a 17th-Century Dutch Reformed church in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
The Oosterkerk was built in the period 1669-1671 by architect Daniël Stalpaert and completed by Adriaan Dortsman. The church bells were cast by Pieter Hemony.
The church has not been used for church services since 1962, and fell into decay since then. It was restored in the 1980s.
The layout of the church is in the shape of a Greek cross in which the space between the arms has been partially filled by lower volumes. On the canal side is the main entrance, the elevation of which is supported by a balustrade.
Some 500 people were buried in the church, including Adriaan Dortsman.


Gilles Schey

Gilles Schey (bapt. 28 August 1644 – 15 June 1703) was a Dutch admiral.
Schey was born in Arnhem, the oldest of 12 children of captain Dirk Schey and Maria van Rijsselenburgh (also Maria van Iselborgh). A midshipman in 1656, he was in 1659 commander of a unit of marines during Michiel de Ruyter's liberation of Funen in the Dano-Swedish War (1658–1660). He continued from 1661 as a lieutenant in the marines and participated in almost every battle that the Dutch fleet fought in those years. He was present at the Battle of Lowestoft in 1665 and in actions of Lieutenant-Admiral Willem Joseph van Ghent in West Africa against the Barbary pirates in 1670.<br>
In 1669 Schey became extraordinary captain in the Admiralty of Amsterdam. During the Third Anglo-Dutch War, Gilles was captain of the "Tijdverdrijf". In 1674 he joined the squadron of Cornelis Tromp in action against France. In 1675 he was made a full captain. He was captain of the "Essen" at the Battle of Stromboli, and of the "Spieghel" at the Battle of Agosta and the Battle of Palermo. In 1678 he fought under Cornelis Evertsen the Younger. On 6 December 1683 he became Rear-Admiral under William Bastiaensz Schepers during actions in the Baltic Sea.
In 1688 he commanded the "Wapen van Utrecht" in the fleet with which William III of Orange invaded the British Isles. In 1690, he commanded the flagship the "Princess Mary" in the Battle of Beachy Head. On 1 April 1692 he became vice admiral and fought that year in the Battle of La Hougue. In the following years he performed many actions against the Dunkirk Raiders. He died in Amsterdam.
Schey is best remembered because he was invited by Tsar Peter the Great, during his visit to the Republic, to come to work for him in the Russian navy, but Schey declined. On 1 September 1697 Schey had in fact organised a mock battle on the IJ, which had made a great impression on the Tsar.


Catharina Cornelia Hodshon

Catharina Cornelia Hodshon (24 November 1768 – 16 November 1829), was a wealthy Dutch heiress and regentess of the Wijnbergshofje.
Biography.
She was born in Haarlem as the daughter of Albertus Hodshon, linen dealer, and Catharina Cornelia van der Graas. Both of her parents died before she was twelve and together with two brothers she became the ward of Pieter Kops.
At 22, she was a wealthy heiress and regentess of the Wijnbergshofje who hired the leading Amsterdam architect Abraham van der Hart to build the house currently known as Hodshon house on the Spaarne. Her brother married the sister of Adriaan van der Hoop, who later bought the house, though he never lived there. In 1841, the house was sold for 29,500 gulden to the Hollandsche Maatschappij van Wetenschappen. She died in Haarlem.


Jop van den Avert

Jop van den Avert (born 11 May 2000), is a Dutch professional soccer player who plays as a defender for Willem II.


Jan Hemelrijk

Jan Hemelrijk (28 May 1918 – 16 March 2005) was a Dutch mathematician, Professor of Statistics at the University of Amsterdam, and authority in the field of stochastic processes.
Biography.
Hemelrijk received his PhD in 1950 at the University of Amsterdam with a thesis entitled "Symmetry Keys and other applications of the theory of Neyman and Pearson" under supervision of David van Dantzig.
After graduation Hemelrijk started his academic career as assistant to David van Dantzig at the Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica in Amsterdam, and later Head of the Statistical Consulting Department. He was Professor at the Delft University of Technology from 1952 to 1960. In 1960 he was appointed Professor of Statistics at the University of Amsterdam as successor of David van Dantzig. Among his doctoral students were Gijsbert de Leve (1964), Willem van Zwet (1964), R. Doornbos (1966), Ivo Molenaar (1970), Robert Mokken (1970) and J. Dik (1981). Jaap Wessels in 1960 started his academic career Wessels as assistant to Jan Hemelrijk.
Hemelrijk was President of the Netherlands Society for Statistics and Operations Research, and chief editor of the Journal of the association "Statistica Neerlandica". He also provided the first television course" Statistics" of Teleac, broadcast in 1969 and 1970.
In 1963 he was elected as a Fellow of the American Statistical Association.
Publications.
Articles, a selection:


Margaretha van Bancken

Margaretha van Bancken (Amsterdam 1628 - Haarlem 1694) was a Dutch publisher from Haarlem.
Biography.
She was the daughter of Dirck van Bancken and Anna Noppen. She married the city printer on 19 April 1661, . Their son, Gerard Casteleyn continued their work as publishers in the centrally located house "In de Blije Druck" on the main square Grote Markt, Haarlem. Most of their printing commissions came from the city hall across the square, but they also ran the newspaper called "Opregte Haarlemsche Courant". The painter Jan de Bray painted their double portrait sitting with clasped hands under a bust of Laurens Janszoon Coster, the Haarlem inventor of the printing press.
After her husband died she married Frederik van Vliet on 15 Sept. 1682 but continued to print works under her own name.


Finnish submarine Saukko

Saukko (Pu110) was a small submarine that served in the Finnish Navy during the Second World War. It was designed not to exceed , as it was planned for use in Lake Ladoga, and according to the 1920 Treaty of Tartu, no nation was allowed to use naval ships of more than 100 tonnes on the lake (When completed, Saukko weighed somewhat more than this). The submarine could be divided into separate sections and transported by rail. The conning tower could be lifted off entirely. The engines were in the aft section and the batteries in the forward section. The name "Saukko" means European otter.
The construction of Saukko.
The construction of "Saukko" began in 1928 at Sandvikens Skeppsdocka och Mekaniska Verkstad in Helsinki. The design was based on German drawings for the submarine "Pu110" ("smaller, quickly assemblable submarine prototype"). Launched on 2 July 1930, Saukko was declared ready for service on 16 December 1930. At that time it was the world's smallest submarine, officially weighing only . "Saukko" crew consisted of 15 men. The outer hull was designed for icy conditions.
Operational history.
Original plans called for "Saukko" to be brought to the town of Lahdenpohja on Lake Ladoga via rail, but this was never implemented. During the Winter War (1939–1940) and the Continuation War (1941–1944), the submarine operated in the Gulf of Finland.
Winter War.
"Saukko", accompanied by several motor torpedo boats, was towed by the gunboat Karjala to Koivisto on 7 December 1939. Since hostilities had started before the Finnish Navy had a chance to lay defensive minefields outside their coastal forts, it was hoped that "Saukko" might be able to accomplish that task. A Leningrad-class destroyer and five other Soviet destroyers reached the area on 8 December, and began to shell Finnish positions. The slow "Saukko" was unable to engage the Soviet destroyer group. On the following day ice prevented Finnish boats from sortieing against the bombarding Soviet ships, and when the ice was finally broken, half of the air valves on "Saukko" were frozen, which nearly caused the boat to capsize when it tried to submerge to lay a minefield. After these failures the Finnish boats were withdrawn from the area.
Continuation War.
On 3 July 1941 "Saukko" was patrolling off the island of Sommers when she sighted a couple of patrol vessels by the pier. The submarine fired a torpedo but was forced to withdraw, without being able to observe results, by harassing Soviet patrol boats.


Bart Smals

Bart Max Geert Smals (born 5 April 1970) is a Dutch politician serving as a member of the House of Representatives since 2019. A member of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), he previously chaired the party group in the municipal council of Delft from 2014 to 2019.
A pharmacist by trade, he grew up in Apeldoorn. He studied at Utrecht University before moving to Maarssenbroek.


Adriaan Loosjes

Adriaan Loosjes (1761, in Texel – 1818, in Haarlem), was a 19th-century botanist, poet, novelist and publisher born in Den Hoorn, North Holland, Netherlands.
Biography.
He came from a family of Mennonite ministers and was an active member of the Doopsgezinde kerk, Haarlem, where he started his first literary society in 1777, "Honos alit artes". In 1779 he started another one called "Vlijt moeder der Wetenschappen" that began to annually announce contests with a prize similar to the Teylers Eerste Genootschap that was founded the year before. In 1782 these two societies were merged and also began to produce plays, which Loosjes wrote, acted, and published himself, becoming a Haarlem bookseller. In the same year Jan van Walré joined to become an actor, and under his influence, in 1785 the society was reinvented as the theater society "Leerzaam vermaak" with a strong Patriotic bias with Loosjes and Walré the leaders. When the House of Orange briefly enjoyed a "contrarevolution", Leerzaam vermaak was banned, and Loosjes decided to avoid politics and relinquished his official roles in the group, spending his time on scientific and writing pursuits. In 1789 he started the Haarlem scientific society Maatschappij tot Nut van 't Algemeen. To continue with his comedies, he began the society Democriet in the same year with the remark "Because Heraclitus had to cry, Democritus had to laugh". In 1790 Walré joined, who again added political color, despite Loosjes' intentions to remain neutral. In 1795 when the French occupation began, the activities of Democriet reached their peak, and after that moment the society began to show similarities with freemasonry.
Loosjes wrote several books and plays, and translated historical works from English into Dutch. He succeeded his father Petrus Loosjes as a member of Teylers Eerste Genootschap from 1813 until his own death in 1818. His son Vincent Loosjes continued his publishing business.


Oscar Benton

Oscar Benton (born Ferdinand van Eis, 3 February 1949 – 8 November 2020) was a Dutch vocalist. He was also the founder of the "Oscar Benton Blues Band" in 1967. The band rose to fame in 1968 by being a runner up in the Jazz Festival, Loosdrecht, the Netherlands.
Personal life.
Benton was born on 3 February 1949 in Haarlem. He studied Mandolin and the violin at the conservatory.
On 8 November 2020, Benton died in IJmuiden at the age of 71.
Career.
Oscar Benton Blues Band.
In 1968, the "Oscar Benton Blues Band" released its first album, "Feel so good". In 1969, they released the album "The Blues Is Gonna Wreck My Life". In 1971, they released "Benton ‘71".
Monica and Oscar Benton.
He recorded two hit singles with the Dutch singer Monica Verschoor as "Monica and Oscar Benton" in the 1970s.
Blue Eyed Baby Band.
In 1974, the band changed members and also the name by becoming "Blue Eyed Baby". Oscar himself changed his stage name to Billy Boy Bishop.
The "Blue Eyed Baby" released the LP Blue Eyed Baby.
Solo.
Oscar released his 1981 homonymous album the Bensonhurst Blues, written by Artie Kaplan and Artie Kornfeld, and produced by the EMI Records. The Bensonhurst Blues, which is considered to be Oscar’s best hit, was part of the soundtrack of the 1999 movie La Bûche.
Earlier it was on the soundtrack of the film Pour la peau d'un flic (1979) which features Alain Delon. The earliest version of that song is that of Artie Kaplan in his 1973 album "Confessions Of A Male Chauvinist Pig" produced by the Hopi Records.
The Italian singer Adriano Celentano, in his 2004 album "C’é Sempre un Motivo", included an Italian version, named "Vengo del Jazz". The single became a number one hit in France in December 1981, and the album was certified gold. A famous Romanian singer, Margareta Pâslaru, sings it in Romanian under the title "Spuneam că nu-mi pasă (Bui bui bui)". Another Romanian singer also recorded a Romanian language version of this song titled "Îndrăgostitul". The song became the musical theme of the TV show Crazy Horse in the early 2000s.
In 2011, he released his CD album, ""Oscar Benton is Still Alive".
Starting in 2016, guitarist Johnny Laporte and Oscar Benton recorded a new album titled "I Am Back"". It was released on CD, Vinyl and as a digital album in 2018.


Saint Petersburg City Duma

Saint Petersburg City Duma was established in 1785 in the course of Catherine the Great's municipal reform. Emperor Paul replaced it by the so-called Ratusha, but his son, Alexander I, had the Duma restored four years later. The next emperor, Nicholas I, expanded the institution from six to twelve members in 1846. Alexander II of Russia reorganized it once again during the Zemstvo reform of the 1870s. In September 1918 the Duma was abolished and its functions devolved on the Petrograd Soviet.
The Neoclassical headquarters of the Duma were erected on the main city avenue, Nevsky Prospekt, between 1784 and 1787. The famous Italianate tower was added in 1799–1804 to a design by Giacomo Ferrari. In 1847–52, the edifice was rebuilt in the Neo-Renaissance style, favoured by Nicholas I. Two more floors were added to the building in 1913–14. A spacious central hall of the City Duma was frequently let to host high-profile social events.
The structure is located at the corner of the avenue and Dumskaya Street, opposite the Merchant Court and Grand Hotel Europe. Its distinctive tower, formerly used for fire observation, can still be seen the whole length of Nevsky Prospekt after the crossing with Fontanka River.
During the Soviet years, the Smolny effectively functioned as the Saint Petersburg City Hall. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Legislative Assembly made the Marie Palace its headquarters.
References.
Антонов П. А. Городская дума на Невском // Диалог. 1989. № 31. С. 21-26.


Paul Panhuysen

Paul Panhuysen (21 August 1934 – 29 January 2015) was a Dutch composer, visual and sound artist. He founded and directed Het Apollohuis, an art space that functioned during the 80's and 90's having artists doing sound installations, sound sculptures, and concerts about free improvisation, experimental music, and electronic music.
Personal life.
Panhuysen was born in Borgharen. He first followed Monumental and Autonomous Art Studies at the Jan van Eyck Academy in Maastricht (1954–1959), and then followed Sociology of Art Studies at the University of Utrecht (1957–1961). Defined as artist, musician, curator, art sociologist and art theoretician, his artistic interests were first inclined towards Abstract Expressionism (until 1964), Minimal art (until 1966) and then Performance art (until nowadays).
Panhuysen’s production is greatly multifaceted though the goal remains contributing to improve the daily life of people. Marked by this social motivation, he organised several events such as the “Road Block” in Veendam (1970) to allow children to play safely at the street. In addition to this, he became Director of the Art School Vredeman de Vries, Leeuwarden (1962–1964) with a focus on raising the quality of education. The social recognition of his work was manifested with the prizes Mention of Honnor, Prix Europe de peinture, Oostende (1962) and Frisiana Award, Leeuwarden (1963), as well as with the job appointments at the Municipal Museum The Hague as member of educational staff (1966) and at the Van Abbemuseum Eindhoven in charge of the Educational and Public Relations Department (1966–1967).
Social engagement and experimental art were developed under several ways. Panhuysen founded the "" ("De Bende van de Blauwe Hand") (from 1965), and organized the "Museumfeest" ("Museumparty", 1967) at the Van Abbemuseum with a record of 1.200 visitors. Then he set up the “Free Community of the Global City of Peace and Pleasure” (1967-8), and the “Maciunas Ensemble” (1968-), and from 1980 until 2001 he founded and directed the aforementioned Het Apollohuis, in Eindhoven.
He was a member of the Board of the Federation of Artists Associations (BBK), and founder of the artists unions: OBK and VBBKZN (1969–1981). As an artist-in-residence, he has stayed at the Exploratorium, San Francisco, USA (1993), at the Yellow Springs Institute, Chester Springs, USA (1994), and at the Aomori Contemporary Art Centre, Aomori, Japan (2002). The artist has lately received the Noord-Brabant Cultural Award (1996), Award best exhibition, Galerie Klatovy/Klenová (2000) and Honorary Mention, Prix Ars Electronica, Linz (2004). Paul Panhuysen was invested Companion of the Order of the Netherlands Lion in 1998.
The most known sound installations of this artist were made with strings, crossing the spaces in different ways, and later played by the artist putting rosing in his fingers and using them as a sort of violin bow.
He has released several albums, including:
Maciunas Ensemble, named after George Maciunas of Fluxus fame, was an ensemble founded in 1968 by Paul Panhuysen, Remko Scha and Jan van Riet. Scha left the ensemble in 1982. In 2012 a set of eleven CDs was released of the early years. He has also worked with Arnold Dreyblatt and Ellen Fullman.
Panhuysen died on 29 January 2015 at the age of 80.


Cornelis Marinus Pleyte

Cornelis Marinus Pleyte (usually, C.M. Pleyte) (24 June 1863 in Leiden – 22 July 1917 in Batavia) was a Dutch museum curator, Dutch East Indies subject-matter expert, teacher, and author. He was notable for his classification work on neolithic Indonesian adzes.
Early years.
Pleyte was the son of archaeologist Willem Pleyte, who later would become director of the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden; his mother was Catharina Margaretha Templeman van der Hoeven. He spent time at a home in Rapenburg. Pleyte attended Japikse school in Leiden, and the Leiden gymnasium. From 1879 to 1881, Pleyte and his younger brother studied at the Instituut van Kinsbergen in Elburg. He studied in Delft, but did not complete his last year. Though he was admitted into the Leiden University, he was not successful with his exams.
Career.
Pleyte began to focus on the study of geography and ethnology as an unpaid volunteer at the Rijks Ethnographic Museum, where he started a new layout of the rooms. The new interior was finished in 1883, the same year when the Sixth International Congress of Orientalists was held in Leiden. Along with other students, Pleyte escorted foreign visitors at the conference. He attended lectures by Professors Hoffmann, Schlegel, Van der Pant, and George Alexander Wilken. By 1884, he was an assistant at the Leiden Museum.
In 1886, he attended the Seventh International Oriental Congress in Vienna, as well as the Colonial and Indian Exhibition in London, thus building an international network of acquaintances. In 1887, after disagreements with museum director Lindor Serrurier, Pleyte was hired as curator of the Ethnographisch Museum Artis, where the ethnological collection of the Society Natura Artis Magistra was managed. Besides a guide for the collection, Pleyte wrote during his Amsterdam period a large number of articles in scientific journals. Pleyte's promotion in 1896 to manager of the collection resulted in friction with the management of zoo. He subsequently became a Director of Brill; his father, an Egyptologist, served on the Board as well. In 1897, he developed an eight-volume catalog for the museum with an ethnographic collection of the South Seas. In the same year, he was asked to participate in the colonial exhibition at the Dutch pavilion of the 1900 World Exhibition in Paris. For this, he traveled to the Dutch East Indies, Sumatra, and Bali gathering artifacts, a trip which left a great impression upon him and inspired him to write a number of publications on Indonesian antiquities.
In 1902, he moved to Batavia, where he served as Lecturer on Indonesian Ethnology at the Gymnasium William III, a position he held until 1913. From 1915 until his death in 1917, he taught history and ethnology at the Administration School in Batavia, which trained government officials. In addition, he worked as a curator at the Royal Batavian Society of Arts and Sciences (now the National Museum of Indonesia in Jakarta), where he carried out many changes. According to Professor Raden Pandji Soejono, the most important classification work on neolithic Indonesian adzes was done by Pleyte.
Personal life.
Pleyte married Lina Eliza Alice Chavannes; they had six children. He died at the age of 54 due to a severe asthma attack.


Ed van Es

Eduard ("Ed") van Es (born June 28, 1959 in Wageningen) is a former water polo player from the Netherlands, who finished in sixth position with the Dutch National Men's Team at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.


Machiel Spaan

Machiel Spaan (born 5 December 1966) is a Dutch architect and educator.
Biography.
Machiel Spaan was born on 5 December 1966 in Nijmegen. He studied architecture at the Eindhoven University of Technology from 1985 until 1992. Upon his master's degree in 1992 he founded M3H architecten, Amsterdam, of which he has remained owner together with architect Marc Reniers. Since 1994 Spaan has created more than forty apartment buildings in The Netherlands, mostly within the existing city of Amsterdam. His buildings have been selected for the Yearbook of Dutch Architecture in 2013/14 and 2015/16. In 2016, his apartment building "De Smaragd" won the Zuiderkerk Prize, the most prestigious architecture prize awarded by the city of Amsterdam.
Since 2000 Spaan has been a professor of architecture at the ArtEZ University of Arts and the Amsterdam University of the Arts respectively. From 2007 until 2012 he was Head of the Department of Architecture at the Amsterdam University of the Arts. As part of the Erasmus Programme he initiated, curated, and taught a workshop series in seven European countries from 2008 until 2014. In his educational projects, such as "Tastenderwijs" (2004), "The Temporary Expert" (2004-07), "Building Tectonics" (2007-14), "Crafting the façade" (2015-17), Spaan largely focusses on the creation of sensory experiences of architecture through engagement with materials and exploration of form. In collaboration with the landscape architect Bruno Doedens, he created the three environmental workshops "Pannenland" (2013), "Wadland" (2014), and "Windwerk" (2016), engaging with the landscape in an ongoing process of transformation. A hallmark of Spaan's approach is an active engagement with the design question, taking confluence as a starting point. Questioning the physical, social, and historical context in an ongoing process towards innovation of the architectural form.


Oost-Indisch Huis

The Oost-Indisch Huis (Dutch for "East India House") is an early 17th-century building in the centre of Amsterdam. It was the headquarters of the Amsterdam chamber of the Dutch East India Company ("Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie" or VOC). It is a listed Dutch national heritage site ("rijksmonument").
History.
In 1603, the Amsterdam chamber of the East India Company began using part of the armory on the Kloveniersburgwal canal as a warehouse. Two years later, the East India Company took over the whole building. However, the company still lacked meeting and office space, so a new building was constructed directly adjacent to the Bushuis. This building, completed in 1606, was called the Oost-Indisch Huis ("East India House") and was the first building especially built for the East India Company. In 1663-64, the western wing was extended. In addition, a northern wing was added, so that the building now also bordered the street . The last major extension was added between 1658 and 1661. A gate with Tuscan-style pilasters and a small tunnel lead to an inner courtyard with elegant facades in Amsterdam Renaissance style, a style closely identified with the architect Hendrick de Keyser, who was most likely responsible for designing the building.
The Oost-Indisch Huis was the first building especially built for the East India Company. It was multifunctional, serving simultaneously as a warehouse, administrative center, office and auction room. The building served as the headquarters of the Amsterdam chamber ("Kamer") of the East India Company. The 20 regents of the Amsterdam chamber met here. In addition, the majority of meetings of the "Heeren XVII" (the Lords Seventeen), the regents of the East India Company, were also held at the Oost-Indisch Huis. Shipcrews were recruited here, and the archives and map collection of the East India Company were also kept here.
After the East India Company was dissolved in 1798, the building served until 1808 as the seat of the colonial government of the Batavian Republic. In 1891, the adjacent Bushuis was demolished and a new eastern wing, designed by , was added along the inner courtyard.
In 1976 the building underwent restoration. During this restoration, the grand meeting room was also reconstructed. The building has been declared a national monument ("rijksmonument"). The building is now in use by the University of Amsterdam.
Related buildings.
The East India Company chambres in Rotterdam, Delft, Enkhuizen and Hoorn also had an Oost-Indisch Huis as their headquarters. The building in Rotterdam was destroyed during the Rotterdam Blitz in 1940; however, the ones in Delft and Hoorn are still in existence.
Amsterdam also has a West-Indisch Huis, which served as headquarters of the Dutch West India Company, and which has also been declared a Dutch national monument.


Warehouses Medan, Bindjeij and Laboean

As a continuation of the existing warehouses in the center of Amsterdam, around 1900 several new warehouses were built near the IJ bay. Most of these warehouses were converted into apartments at the end of 20th century.
History.
The area, where the Laboean, Bindjeij and Medan warehouses were built, was known as the Braker Buiten Polder in the mid-19th century. The construction site was almost against the former Westelijke Afsluitdijk. On an elder map from 1746 this area was called Slooten Buyten Dycks. This area was more or less protected by a low summer dike called Kadyck. The warehouses have been built on the grounds of this Kadyck.
The three warehouses at the Houtmankade were designed by architect Willem Hamer, who also designed some striking 19th-century buildings in Amsterdam, such as the Hotel de l'Europe. The construction of the warehouses started on July 22, 1895. On September 14 in the same year, the construction progressed so far that the founder and director of the Deli Company, Peter Wilhelm Janssen, could lay the foundation stone. In the years 1898-1900 the Deli Company expanded its storage facilities with the adjacent warehouses Serdang, Langkat and Deli (Nova Zemblastraat 8-12). All of these warehouses were used mainly for tobacco storage.
In 1897, during the great city expansions of Amsterdam, George Hendrik Breitner recorded the construction pits and piling activities on Van Diemenstraat.
The warehouses Laboean, Bindjeij and Medan near the Westerkanaal and close to the Westerkeersluis (flood barrier) can be seen in the background of these pictures and paintings made by Breitner.
The names of the warehouses refer to the locations Medan, Bindjeij (Binjai) and Laboean (Labuhan) in the sultanate of Deli at Sumatra, former Dutch East Indies, and modern day Indonesia, where the Deli Company had their possessions. Since 2003 the three warehouses together are marked as a Rijksmonument, which is officially recorded under registration number 526740.
From warehouse to a residential building.
The three warehouses at the Houtmankade were renovated in 1986, where all spaces were converted to units with a residential and / or business function. As part of the renovation, the central part of the Bindjeij was demolished to make way for the courtyard. The rear part of the Bindjeij was converted into a joint stairwell which includes also an elevator. As a result, all units became accessible. The part next to the warehouses, which previously provided direct access to the outside area, was rebuilt as the main entrance of the apartment complex, main hall corridor and additional storage facilities for the apartments. For this reason the main entrance to the complex appears now on the Nova Zemblastraat instead of the Houtmankade.
Due to the new main entrance the original house numbers Houtmankade 20-24 were changed into Nova Zemblastraat 2A-6L. Since 2016 all 24 apartments, which are divided over 5 floors, have a residential function. The warehouses together are called 'De Kleine Houtman' as a distinction from another building 'De Houtman', which is located on the other side of the Nova Zemblastraat.
As part of the renovation, the courtyard was decorated with a sculpture ‘three-dimensional nature fragments’. This sculpture was designed by the Dutch artist, Ger Zijlstra.
Building characteristics.
The different characteristics of the warehouses have been preserved on the outside as well as on the inside. The warehouses are designed in a neo-Renaissance style with elements such as stepped gables (with triangular and semicircular frontons), consoles and decorative bands with yellow brickwork. In terms of type, this storage building fits in with the warehouses from the Dutch Golden Age.
Inside, the cast-iron columns, together with the robust wooden beams on which the floors rest, still reinforce the load-bearing structure of the warehouses. The cast-iron columns are finished with (reinforced) concrete for sufficient fire resistance. The wooden rafters that support the roof are still visible in the apartments on the top floor.
Foundation.
Since the soil beneath Amsterdam is weak, many buildings in the city are built on wooden pilings. This also applies to these warehouses. A multiple piled beam construction has been applied to ensure foundational stability. The wooden beams were driven into a deeper layer of sand that is solid enough to bear the weight of the building. A stone foundation was built on top of those pilings.
All foundation materials made of wood are located below groundwater level and are water-saturated. This method prevents the wood from containing oxygen, which helps to avoid material degradation.
The soil below these warehouses consists mainly of clay with a peat layer of 1 meter thickness at a depth of 5 meters. The first layer of sand with sufficient loading capacity is located between 13.3 and 15.6 meters below ground level.
The wooden piles are located under the inside and outside walls of the building and underneath the 15 cast-iron columns, which are fitted indoors. The piles are within a short distance (< 20 inches) of each other. In total, nearly 700 piles have been driven into the soil to support all three warehouses.


Nicholas Heiner

 Nicholas Heiner (born 20 April 1989 in Enkhuizen) is a sailor from the Netherlands.
He is the 2014 World Champion in Laser.
He is scheduled to represent the Netherlands at the 2020 Summer Olympics


Laurens van Ravens

Laurens "Lau" van Ravens (18 September 1922 – 23 October 2018) was a Dutch international football referee, who featured at the 1970 FIFA World Cup. He officiated in the 1950s, 60s and 70s, becoming an international referee in 1966.
He infamously was in charge of the November 1971 European Cup Winners' Cup second leg of the second round match between Glasgow Rangers and Sporting Lisbon. The game originally finished 3-2 to Sporting after 90 minutes, and 4-3 to Sporting after extra time. Although Rangers had won the first leg 3-2 at home, van Ravens erroneously ordered a penalty shootout which Sporting won 3-0; UEFA later ruled that Rangers had won on away goals.
Major matches.
Van Ravens refereed two European Cup Finals, the 1969 European Cup Winners' Cup Final between Slovan Bratislava and FC Barcelona of Spain in Basel, and the second leg of the 1972 UEFA Cup Final between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Tottenham Hotspur.
He was also in charge of the 1967 and 1971 KNVB Cup finals and both finalists of the 1971 final requested van Ravens to also lead the replay after he was in charge of the first match which ended 2-2.
At the 1970 World Cup, van Ravens officiated the First Round Match between West Germany and Morocco as well as the quarter-finals match between the Soviet Union and Uruguay. He started the second half of the former match not realizing that the Moroccan goalkeeper had not entered the pitch yet and he mistakenly approved Uruguay's winning goal in the latter match.
His final game was Coen Moulijn's farewell match between Feyenoord and Uruguay on 9 June 1972.
Personal life.
Van Ravens worked as a salesman for the Oranjeboom brewing company and was married twice. He had two children. He died in Rijswijk, the Netherlands, aged 96.


Vladimir III Mstislavich

Vladimir III Mstislavich (; ) (1132–1171), Prince of: Dorogobuzh (1150–1154, 1170–1171), Volodymyr and Volyn (1154–1157), Slutsk (1162), Trypillia (1162–1168) and Grand Prince of Kiev (Kyiv, 1171). He was the son of Mstislav I Vladimirovich, grandson of Vladimir Monomakh. Due to his brief rule, he is omitted from some lists of the princes of Kiev.
He was a son of Mstislav I from his second marriage with an unknown daughter of Dymitr Zawidowicz. According to "Latopis kijowski" Vladimir was born between 1 March 1131 and 29 February 1132.
He kept excellent ties with Hungary and Serbia. In 1150 he married the daughter of Serbia's Beloš Vukanović. According to old Russian annals, her titular name was inscribed as "Banovna".


List of people associated with the Republic of Ragusa

Here follows a list of notable Ragusans and Rectors of the Republic of Ragusa (also known as the Republic of Dubrovnik), a maritime republic centered on the city of Dubrovnik on the eastern coast of the Adriatic.
Note on First and Last Names.
Reflecting the dual Romance and Slavic influence on Ragusan culture, most Ragusan noble families, as well as members of the citizen class, used both Romance and Slavic versions of their first and last names, especially since the Late Middle Ages onward, while the lower classes mostly only used Slavic names. Some used only one version of their family name exclusively, e.g. the noble families Natali and Zlatarić. Since the official language of the Republic was always from the Romance language group, the official records record the last names almost exclusively in those versions, although in the older records the first names can be found in Slavic. Members of noble families, even those originally of Slavic descent, used the Slavic forms of their family names in an unofficial capacity in literary works written in Slavic, and in an official capacity only in treaties that the Ragusan State signed with its neighboring Slavic states in their language and script. In the noble class' everyday usage, most commonly the first name was in Slavic and the last name in Italian, a traditional practice which has continued until today, and transformed into official.
When only the Romance version of a first or last name appears in the sources, modern Croatian and Serbian scientific literature very frequently translates it creating a new slavicized version, which often results in various errors due to insufficient knowledge of Ragusan traditions, e.g. erroneously using non-Ragusan Slavic form "Vinko" instead of Ragusan Slavic form "Vicko", or "Blaž" instead of "Vlaho", or incorrectly adapting a Romance version while ignoring actual Ragusan usage, e.g. "Natal" instead of "Božo", "Junije" instead of "Džono".
When several persons had the same first and last name, it was Ragusan custom to append the father's name in the genitive case, also changing the declension of the last name (in Ragusan the genitive case for nouns ending in -o is -a), e.g. there were two persons named "Đivo Gundulić", so one was called Đivo Frana Gundulića, and the other Đivo Nika Gundulića (in modern literature this is sometimes indicated with the possessive determiner -ov, thus "Franov", "Nikov", translated to English as "Frano's", "Niko's"). When translating this into Latin, the genitive case was kept, e.g. "Joannes Francisci Gundulae", however, when translating into languages in which names do not have grammatical cases (such as Italian) it was written as effectively a middle name ("Giovanni Francesco Gondola"). It is important to differentiate this from actual middle names, such as Roger Joseph Boscovich, an example where the names were also anglicized.
Some examples of Romance and Slavic versions of last names:
Bassegli, Basilio - Basiljević

Bobali, Babalio - Bobaljević

Bona - Bunić

Bonda - Bundić

Caboga - Kabužić

Cerva, Cervinus - Crijević

Ghetaldi - Getaldić

Giorgi - Đorđić, Đurđević

Gondola - Gundulić

Gozze - Gučetić

Gradi - Gradić

Luccari - Lukarević

Menze - Menčetić

Palmotta - Palmotić

Pozza - Pucić

Resti - Rastić, Restić

Sorgo - Sorkočević

Stay - Stojković

Zamagna - Zamanja, Zamanjić


Maria Belgica of Portugal

Maria Belgica of Portugal, also known as Maria Belgica of Crato (born before 12 October 1598 – 28 July 1647), was the daughter of Manuel of Portugal, son of the self-proclaimed Portuguese king António of Crato, and Countess Emilia of Nassau (1569–1629), the youngest daughter of William of Orange.
Life.
Maria Belgica was born and raised in Delft. She must have been approximately 27-years-old when she moved to Geneva, Switzerland, with her mother and sisters. Soon after she arrived in Geneva she decided to return to The Hague to negotiate a stipend she was entitled to with her uncle Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange, and to request her inheritance from her aunt, Maria of Nassau, the Countess of Hohenlohe.
She negotiated a deal with her uncle and soon afterwards she returned to Geneva. Her mother died soon after Maria Belgica returned to her.
Maria Belgica married a colonel, Baron Croll, who originally came from Heidelberg, Germany, but had come to Geneva in the service of the Margrave of Baden-Durlach. The match was deemed unworthy of her, and her husband was seen as an opportunist. Croll was later given the title of Baron of Prangrins. The marriage was not a happy one, and a divorce was first approved and later rescinded by the government of Bern. Croll, however, was murdered in 1640 in Venice before any further decisions had been made. Maria Belgica died in Geneva in 1647. She was buried in the same chapel as her mother.
Marriage and issue.
Maria Belgica married Colonel Theodor Croll (died 1640 in Venice - stabbed to death), Quartermaster general of Odoardo Farnese, Duke of Parma, in June 1629. They had six children:


Brigitte Kaandorp

Brigitte Kaandorp (born 10 March 1962 in Haarlem) is a Dutch comedian and singer-songwriter. She started her show business career in 1983. Kaandorp's style is a mix of absurdism and sensitive songs, sometimes playing the ukulele. Many of her shows have been broadcast on Dutch TV. She also performed in Belgium.


History of the Jews in Amsterdam

Amsterdam has historically been the center of the Dutch Jewish community, and has had a continuing Jewish community for the last 370 years. Amsterdam is also known under the name "Mokum", given to the city by its Jewish inhabitants ("Mokum" is Yiddish for "town", derived from the Hebrew "makom", which literally means "place"). Although the Holocaust deeply affected the Jewish community, killing some 80% of the some 80,000 Jews at time present in Amsterdam, since then the community has managed to rebuild a vibrant and living Jewish life for its approximately 15,000 present members. Six of Amsterdam's mayors were Jewish. Job Cohen was runner-up for the award of World Mayor in 2006.
Marrano and Sephardic Jews.
Permanent Jewish life in Amsterdam began with the arrival of pockets of Marrano and Sephardic Jews at the end of the 16th, and beginning of the 17th century; their first Chief Rabbi was Rabbi Uri Levi. Many Sephardi (Jews from the Iberian Peninsula) had been expelled from Spain in 1492 after the fall of Muslim Granada. Those that moved to Portugal were forced to leave in 1497, where they were given the choice between conversion to Catholicism or death penalty on the grounds of heresy.
From 1497, others remained in the Iberian peninsula, practising Judaism secretly in their homes. The newly independent Dutch provinces provided an ideal opportunity for these crypto-Jews to re-establish themselves and practise their religion openly, and they migrated, most notably to Amsterdam. Collectively, they brought economic growth and influence to the city as they established an international trading hub in Amsterdam during the 17th century, the so-called Dutch Golden Age. Perhaps the most notable example of Sephardic Jews in Amsterdam are the Curiel family, namely Jeromino Nunes da Costa (alias Moses Curiel), son of Jacob Curiel. Curiel was the single largest financial contributor to the building of the Portuguese Synagogue in Amsterdam.
In 1593, Marrano Jews arrived in Amsterdam after having been refused admission to Middelburg and Haarlem. These Jews of Converso descent were important merchants, and persons of great ability. Their expertise, it can be stated, contributed materially to the prosperity of the Netherlands. They became strenuous supporters of the contender House of Orange, and were in return protected by the Stadholder. At this time, commerce in Holland was increasing; a period of development had arrived, particularly for Amsterdam, to which Jews had carried their goods and from which they maintained their relations with foreign lands. Quite new for the Netherlands, they also held connections with the Levant, Morocco and the Caribbean Antilles.
The formal independence from Spain of the Republic of the Seven United Provinces (1581), theoretically opened the door to public practice of Judaism. Yet only in 1603 did a gathering take place that was licensed by the city. The three original congregations formed in the first two decades of the 17th century merged in 1639 to form a united Sephardic congregation.
Ashkenazim.
The first Ashkenazim who arrived in Amsterdam were refugees from the Chmielnicki Uprising in Poland and the Thirty Years War. Their numbers soon swelled, eventually outnumbering the Sephardic Jews at the end of the 17th century; by 1674, some 5,000 Ashkenazi Jews were living in Amsterdam, while 2,500 Sephardic Jews called Amsterdam their home. Many of the new Ashkenazi immigrants were poor, contrary to their relatively wealthy Sephardic co-religionists. They were only allowed in Amsterdam because of the financial aid promised to them and other guarantees given to the Amsterdam city council by the Sephardic community, despite the religious and cultural differences between the Yiddish-speaking Ashkenazim and the Portuguese-speaking Sephardim.
Only in 1671 did the large Ashkenazi community inaugurate their own synagogue, the Great Synagogue, which stood opposite to the Sephardic Esnoga Synagogue. Soon after, several other synagogues were built, among them the Obbene Shul (1685-1686), the Dritt Shul (1700) and the Neie Shul (1752, also known as the New Synagogue). For a long time, the Ashkenazi community was strongly focused on Central and Eastern Europe, the region where most of the Dutch Ashkenazi originated from. Rabbis, cantors and teachers hailed from Poland and Germany. Up until the 19th century, most of the Ashkenazi Jews spoke Yiddish, with some Dutch influences. Meanwhile, the community grew and flourished. At the end of the 18th century, the 20,000-strong Ashkenazi community was one of the largest in Western and Central Europe.
The Holocaust.
Occupation of Amsterdam by Nazi Germany began 10 May 1940.
Amsterdam, the largest city in the Netherlands, had an estimated 75–80,000 Jews, approximately 53-57% of the country's Jewish population. Among them was Anne Frank.
Approximately 25–35,000 of the Dutch Jews were refugees. but most of these were not in Amsterdam.
Although fewer than 10 percent of Amsterdam's population was Jewish, there were two seemingly contradictory outcomes:
Part of the Nazi plan included consolidating the Dutch Jewish population into Amsterdam, prior to the "Final Solution."
Canadian Forces liberated Amsterdam in the spring of 1945.
Cheider.
In 1964 Adje Cohen began Jewish classes with five children in his home. This grew into an Orthodox Jewish school (Yeshiva) that provides education for children from kindergarten through high school. Many Orthodox families would have left The Netherlands if not for the existence of the Cheider : Boys and girls learn separately as orthodox Judaism requires, and the education is with a greater focus on the religious needs. By 1993 the Cheider had grown to over 230 pupils and 60 Staff members. The Cheider moved into its current building at Zeeland Street in Amsterdam Buitenveldert. Many prominent Dutch Figures attended the opening, most noteworthy was Princess Margriet who opened the new building.
Jewish community in the 21st century.
Most of the Amsterdam Jewish community (excluding the Progressive and Sephardic communities) is affiliated to the Ashkenazi Nederlands Israëlitisch Kerkgenootschap. These congregations combined form the Nederlands-Israëlietische Hoofdsynagoge (NIHS) (the Dutch acronym for the Jewish Community of Amsterdam). Some 3,000 Jews are formally part of the NIHS. The Progressive movement currently has some 1,700 Jewish members in Amsterdam, affiliated to the Nederlands Verbond voor Progressief Jodendom. Smaller Jewish communities include the Sephardic Portugees-Israëlitisch Kerkgenootschap (270 families in and out of Amsterdam) and Beit Ha'Chidush, a community of some 200 members and 'friends' connected to Jewish Renewal and Reconstructionist Judaism. Several independent synagogues exist as well. The glossy Joods Jaarboek (Jewish Yearbook), is based in Amsterdam, as well as the weekly Dutch Jewish newspaper in print: the "Nieuw Israëlitisch Weekblad".
Contemporary synagogues.
There are functioning synagogues in Amsterdam at the following addresses.
Kashrut in Amsterdam.
Kosher food in Amsterdam restaurants and shops is available. There is the possibility of eating kosher in Restaurant Ha-Carmel, and the well-known Sandwichshop Sal-Meijer.
Jewish culture.
The Joods Historisch Museum is the center of Jewish culture in Amsterdam. Other Jewish cultural events include the Internationaal Joods Muziekfestival (International Jewish Music Festival) and the Joods Film Festival (Jewish Film Festival).
The Anne Frank House hosts a permanent exhibit on the story of Anne Frank.
Jewish cemeteries.
Six Jewish cemeteries exist in Amsterdam and surroundings, three Orthodox Ashkenazi (affiliated to the NIK), two linked to the Progressive community and one Sephardic. The Ashkenazi cemetery at Muiderberg is still frequently used by the Orthodox Jewish community. The Orthodox Ashkenazi cemetery at Zeeburg, founded in 1714, was the burial ground for some 100,000 Jews between 1714 and 1942. After part of the ground of the cemetery was sold in 1956, many graves were transported to theOrthodox Ashkenazi Jewish cemetery near Diemen (also still in use, but less frequent than the one in Muiderberg). A Sephardic cemetery, Beth Haim, exists near the small town of Ouderkerk aan de Amstel, containing the graves of some 28,000 Sephardic Jews. Two Progressive cemeteries, one in Hoofddorp (founded in 1937) and one in Amstelveen (founded in 2002), are used by the large Progressive community.


Ernst Kossmann

Ernst Heinrich Kossmann (31 January 1922 – 8 November 2003), often named as E. H. Kossmann in his books, was a Dutch historian. He was professor of Modern History at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. His magnum opus is "The Low Countries. History of the Southern and Northern Netherlands."
Life and work.
Born in Leiden, Kossmann was the son of the erudite librarian F. H. Kossmann. He had two brothers. His twin brother Alfred became a writer; his younger brother, Bernhard, played the violin professionally. The Kossmann family was partly of Jewish descent and they came from Germany before they settled in the Netherlands. Kossmann attended the Gymnasium Erasmianum in Rotterdam. The Second World War meant an interruption of his education. He was arrested during a raid, was sent to Vught concentration camp, and had to work for two-and-a-half years in Germany, together with his twin brother Alfred. The latter wrote a novel, "De Nederlaag" (The Defeat), that was based on their experiences during the war. After the war he studied History at Leiden University in the Netherlands. He graduated in 1950 and in the same year married his fellow student Johanna Putto.
After their marriage the couple went to Paris. In 1954 Kossmann obtained his Ph.D. from Leiden University, with a doctoral thesis entitled "La Fronde". In 1957 he went to London as professor of Dutch History and Institutions. In 1962 he became professor at the University College London. In 1966 he became professor of Modern History at the University of Groningen. In 1981 he delivered his Huizinga Lecture in the Pieterskerk in Leiden. He retired as professor in 1987 and died in Groningen in 2003.
Kossmann was considered a writer with a refined style, and an erudite scholar. His intellectual outlook was sceptical, ironical, detached. He published several books in collaboration with his wife Johanna Kossmann-Putto. In an interview in 2007, his former student Frank Ankersmit gives a description of him:
He had an unusually strong and fascinating personality -- I never met anyone even remotely coming close to what he was like. Just to give you an idea: he was all that one might associate with François Guizot, very much aloof, very intelligent, both impossible to get close to and yet very much accessible and blessed with the rhetorical powers of a Pericles. If he had decided for a political career, the recent history of my country would have been completely different from what it is now. It rarely happened, but if he really felt that this was necessary he could raise a rhetorical storm blowing away everything and everybody. Indeed, when thinking of him, I never am sure what impressed me most, his scholarship or his personality. He was a truly wonderful man.
Kossmann became member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1961 and resigned in 1966. He joined again as member in 1973.


Nicole van den Hurk


Johannes Saeckma

Johannes Saeckma (7 November 1572 – 22 December 1636), was a Dutch Golden Age magistrate and judge of Leeuwarden.
Biography.
He was born in Kollum as the son of Sjoerd Saeckma and Fedke Ringia, but his father died just after he was born and he was raised by his uncle Reinalda. He was educated at Franeker, Heidelberg and Basel, where he became a doctor. In 1596 he was admitted to the admiralty of Friesland in Dokkum, and in 1600 he became procureur-generaal. He was soon judge of the Hof van Friesland, and in 1628 he was curator of the Fries university and a representative to the Staten-Generaal. He married Hylck Boner, daughter of Johannes Boner, and though they had several children, his sons died without issue and his estate was left to his daughter who married Hans van Wyckel. Hylck's portrait was documented as painted by Frans Hals, and a portrait by Frans Hals was identified as a possible pendant by Wilhelm Valentiner in 1923.
In 1910 Hofstede de Groot documented this portrait with the following description: "PORTRAIT OF A MAN STANDING. 6.30; M. 143.
Almost a three-quarter-length. He faces three-quarters right, and
looks at the spectator. His right hand is pressed to his side ; his left
hand, with a ring on the ring-finger, is at his breast. He has brown hair,
a brown moustache, and large pointed beard. He wears a black silk
costume and a cloak of the same material hanging from the left shoulder
and wound round the waist. Yellowish-grey background. Painted about
1640. [Pendant to 410.] Canvas, 46 1/2 inches by 35 1/2 inches.
Sales. Rotterdam, October 18, 1843, No. 24 (190 florins, with pendant,
Lamme). A. de Beurs Stiermans and others of Hamburg, Rotterdam, April
23, 1845, No. 48 (100 florins, with pendant, Lamme). B. A. C. de Lange van Wijngaarden, Rotterdam, April 22, 1846, No. 92. Mestern, Hamburg, 1865 (bought for the Boymans Museum).
In the Boymans Museum, Rotterdam, 1907 catalogue, No. 106."
Today the identification of the man as Saeckma has been rejected because the provenance of both paintings do not match, but his name remains attached to the portrait. The identification of Hylck is also not firm, based mostly on a 19th-century label discovered on the back of her portrait, which was acquired in 1910 by the Frick Collection. The paintings do seem to match in size, position, age of the sitters, and period of creation. The Hylck-Johannes attribution is also attached to another pair of pendant portraits dated 1628, that may be of the Haarlem couple Theodor Schrevelius and his wife Maria van Teylingen.


Franciscus Maelson

Franciscus Maelson (1538–1601), originally from Enkhuizen in what was then West Friesland, was a Dutch physician, statesman and member of the States of Holland (representative assembly).
Some sources identify him as François Maelson. His father's name was Pieter Maekschoon, which under the naming conventions of the time and place would have made his own name Frans Pieterszoon Maekschoon, but he shortened the family name to Maelson (variously spelled in sources).
Life.
Maelson studied medicine and in 1563 was appointed Enkhuizen's first city medical officer, for an annual salary of 42 Gulden. He entered into the service of the state in 1572. He was appointed a city doctor in The Hague in 1579.
However, his notability derives more from his political activity than from his work as a physician: he played a leading role in the independence struggle of West Friesland, following the outbreak of the Dutch resurgence in 1572. He was a strong partisan of the Orange cause.
Since the opening up of the Zuiderzee in the eleventh city, the area West Friesland (roughly the northern part of modern day North Holland) had become isolated from the rest of the Netherlands economically and politically, and its political isolation was increased after Haarlem fell to the Spanish in 1573. Interested outsiders, notably the English, saw political opportunities to weaken the authority north of Haarlem of the States General in The Hague, by encouraging separatism in West Friesland, especially following the assassination of William of Orange in 1583. Maelson's unwavering support for the Orange cause was an important element in keeping the fighters for Dutch independence united.
As the 1570s progressed Maelson became a "Pensionary" representing Enkhuizen at the Provincial States (assembly), a member of the Delegated Council of West Friesland and of the Council of the Prince of Orange. He was sent on a diplomatic mission to Queen Elizabeth of England in 1575 and again in 1585. In 1596 he was sent on a diplomatic mission to the nineteen year old King Christian of Denmark. Maelson became very knowledgeable on sea-transport and navigation, and provided financial support to the Enkhuizen cartographer Lucas Janszoon Waghenaer (1533 - ca.1606), which enabled the latter to produce two ground breaking books of descriptively annotated sea charts. In 1594 Maelson was an important co-funder of the first expedition to try to find a "northern" sea-route to the East Indies. English attempts to find such a route earlier in the sixteenth century had already led to the discovery, in 1553, of Novaya Zemlya.


Crosier Monastery, Maastricht

The Crosier Monastery or Monastery of the Crutched Friars () is a former monastery of the Order of the Holy Cross in Maastricht, Netherlands. The well-preserved convent buildings house a five-star hotel, the Kruisherenhotel. It is a rare example of a Gothic monastery in the Netherlands, having survived more or less in its entirety. The buildings from the 15th and 16th century constitute three listed buildings ("Rijksmonuments"). The more or less intact monastery archive is unique in the Netherlands.
History.
Foundation.
The Canons Regular of the Order of the Holy Cross (Latin: "Ordo Sanctae Crucis", OSC) was founded around 1210 in the city of Huy, some 30 km south-west of Liège in present-day Belgium. The initiator was Theodore of Celles, a canon of Liège Cathedral and a former crusader. The order was recognized by the pope in 1248. Initially, the order mainly spread in France and England. Later, Crosier monasteries were founded in the Mosan region and elsewhere in the Low Countries, as in Namur (ca. 1248), Liège (before 1270), Asperen (1314), Cuijk-Sint Agatha (1367), Aachen (1372), Venlo (1399) and Roermond (1422).
Around 1400 the Crosiers experienced a period of monastic decline. In 1410 the superior general of the order, Libertus van Bommel, made it compulsory for all priors to annually attend the general chapter of the order in Huy. Thereafter, the priors of monasteries north of Maastricht would stay overnight in Maastricht on their way to Huy. In 1433 this proved to be problematic when all accommodation was booked because of the "heiligdomsvaart", a seven-yearly pilgrimage. A wealthy citizen, Gilles of Elderen, offered the Crosiers a place to stay in some houses that he owned at Kommel. In 1436 Gilles donated five houses with gardens at Kommel, as well as some money, to the superior general of the Crosiers, stipulating that this was to be used for founding a new monastery in Maastricht.
The founding of the new monastery could only happen with permission of the bishop of Liège, the dean of St. Servatius' and the parson of St John's, in whose jurisdiction the monastery was. The latter two gave their permission in October 1437. John of Heinsberg, bishop of Liège, did so in January 1438, allowing the Crosiers to build a walled monastery, including a church, a bell tower, a dormitorium, gardens and a cemetery.
Initially the friars lived in houses donated by Gilles of Elderen. A small chapel was built for celebrating the Liturgy of the Hours. In 1439 the Fraternity of the Holy Cross was founded. Its goal was to promote the devotion to the Holy Cross, as well as to financially support the new monastic foundation.
The founding of the Crosier Monastery in Maastricht in 1438 was part of a wave of monastic foundations within the Order. The Crosier Monastery in Venlo was for most of these – including the Maastricht monastery – the mother monastery. After Maastricht, more monasteries were founded in the Mosan region: Borgloon-Kerniel (1438), 's-Hertogenbosch (1468) and Maaseik (1474). In the case of the latter monastery, the Maastricht Crosiers were the mother monastery.
Construction history.
The first stone of the monastery church was laid in 1440. Petrus Toom and Johannes van Haeren were mentioned as architects (or master builders). In 1459 the choir was finished but it was not consecrated until 1470. In 1462 and again in 1480 the clock tower (or perhaps a ridge turret) was destroyed in a storm. It was replaced by a smaller ridge turret. After a prolonged break, construction continued in 1501 under prior Walterus Beckers of Herentals. The nave and aisles were finished in 1509.
The first section of the new monastery, the east wing, was built in 1480-81. This part housed the sacristy, the chapter hall and a temporary refectory. In 1495 construction of the west wing commenced. The ground floor with the new, permanent refectory was finished in 1500; the upper floor with cells for the friars around 1520. The old refectory became the library, as well as the prior's quarters and a guesthouse. The south wing was finished last by prior Mathias Mijnecom (1517–27) after the old brewery and bakery had been destroyed by fire. Around 1520 the church and monastery had the extent and the appearance that it would keep for the next 500 years.
Monastic life.
The Maastricht Crosiers started in 1438 with four friars. In 1468 there were 15; in 1483 this had increased to 23. In 1500, the Maastricht monastery was among the larger foundations of the order. The fifth prior, Walterus of Herentals (1483-1517), accepted 24 new priests, many of whom came from Maastricht.
The Crutched Friars were canons regular, living a communal life according to the Rule of St. Augustine. Their first and foremost task was to pray and sing the Liturgy of the Hours. Several of them served as priests in nunneries or third order monasteries in Maastricht, such as the Canonesses Regular of the Holy Sepulchre (Bonnefantenklooster), the Third Order Grey Sisters (Grauwzustersklooster), the Third Order Sisters of St Andrew (Sint-Andriesklooster) and the Alexians (Cellebroedersklooster), or in parish churches in Maastricht or nearby villages, such as Vlijtingen, Bolbeek and Haccourt. Other friars worked as copyists and illuminators of manuscripts, or bookbinders, later also as printers. Others worked in hospitality (the monastery offered accommodation to lay people; the elderly could 'buy themselves into the monastery') or nursing (as during the plague epidemics of 1529 and 1579). A further source of income were mass stipends, as well as the sale of burial rights in the church (for which the church was known). Over the centuries the Crosiers got ever wealthier because of the accumulation of property that people left to them. Most of this property (or income from real estate) was located in the vicinity of Maastricht, mostly in the border region with Belgium.
The Fraternity of the Holy Cross seems to have existed from 1439 until 1579; after that there is no mention of it. Another fraternity was founded around 1510 and lasted till the dissolution of the monastery. It was devoted to the patron saint of the Crosiers, Saint Michael. The fraternities had their own altars in the Crosier church. The Fraternity of Saint Michael possibly ordered a wooden statue of Saint Michael from the famous wood sculptor Jan van Steffeswert in 1512.
Decline.
The monastery was frequently damaged during sieges due to its elevated location near the western city wall. The monastery suffered particularly during the Eighty Years' War. During the Siege of Maastricht (1579) many Crutched Friars died; those that survived perished during the ensuing plague epidemic. For a while the monastery remained uninhabited. In 1581 prior Hubertus of Stavelot sold some of the Crosiers' possessions in order to pay for the repair of the monastery buildings (including the partial renewal of the church's vaults). In 1582 the books that had been shipped to Aachen for safety, returned to Maastricht. After this, the monastery would not reach the same level of prosperity that it had enjoyed before. Where it had previously 25 or more friars, in 1615 it had only 9, and throughout the 17th and 18th century it would never exceed 15.
In 1629 a high ransom was paid for prior Martinus Pauli who had been captured by Dutch militia near Liège and was kept prisoner in Emmerich. More wartime hardship came with the Capture of Maastricht by the Dutch in 1632 and the Capture by the French in 1673. After the siege of 1673, Louis XIV of France donated 2100 guilders to the monastery for repairs. After the French left in 1678, the monastery suffered from forced billeting of the Dutch garrison.
Worldly influence entered the monastery in the 18th century. This became apparent with the wearing of wigs and more fashionable cloths (see drawing above). The enthusiasm of the Counter-Reformation had dwindled, as was the case in other monasteries in Maastricht. The spiritual influence of the Crosiers on their surroundings was negligible, both in Maastricht and elsewhere. Several monasteries were forced to close for lack of monks. In Maastricht, only ten Crutched Friars took holy orders between 1760 and 1796.
List of priors.
From 1438 until 1796 around 30 priors were in charge of the Maastricht Crosier foundation. Initially, the monastery was not allowed to choose its own prior. Later, probably from the 16th century onward, priors were chosen by the so-called house chapter, made up of all priests (friars who had taken holy orders) and presided by the magister general from Huy. A sub-prior (coadjutor) and a manager (procurator) were appointed by the prior, after consulting with the house chapter. In some cases a prior would be procurator too.
Dissolution of the monastery; military use.
The Capture of Maastricht by the French general Kléber in 1794 and the ensuing incorporation of the city in the French First Republic meant the end of all monasteries in Maastricht. In 1796 the Maastricht Crosier Monastery was dissolved. The eight priests and two friars that remained were forced to leave the monastery within one year. Under French law, those that wanted to remain active as priests had to swear the so-called Oath of Hatred (towards the monarchy and anarchy). Apparently six Maastricht Crosiers refused to do so. As a result they were deported to the penal colony Cayenne. One fled to Germany, another was allowed to return home after he got sick during the voyage, and others were pardoned
after interference by the Francophile barrister Charles Roemers. Prior Joseph Leurs withdrew to Sittard but was then made prior of the Crosier Monastery Sint Agatha in Cuijk in 1804, where he died two years later. This monastery led a dormant existence with a few elderly friars until the mid-19th century, when it played a key-role in the resurrection of the Order. The dissolution of the Maastricht monastery met with few protests. The institution had outlived itself.
The former monastery buildings were given a military purpose as an arsenal and barracks for the French troops. When the French left in 1814, the Dutch garrison took over the buildings. They were used as barracks, storage for military clothing and the garrison's bakery. Although the former monastery was owned by the city of Maastricht, it was the Ministry of War that decided how it was to be used. When the city housed a cholera clinic in one of the wings, it was told that this was not in accordance with the military purpose. In the 19th century the decaying complex – the only medieval monastery that had escaped destruction – inspired local artists as Philippe van Gulpen (1792-1862) and Alexander Schaepkens (1815-1899).
Agricultural testing station; other uses.
In the late 19th century Victor de Stuers was concerned about the rapidly decaying monastery. Through his contacts with the government in The Hague he managed to find funding for the renovation of the building that was to be given a new purpose. From 1897 onward, the National Agricultural Testing Station ("Rijkslandbouwproefstation") gradually moved into the monastery wings, after restoration by chief government architect Jacobus van Lokhorst. In 1906 part of the east wing collapsed during restoration work. The church was renovated in 1912-14 by chief government architect Daniël Knuttel. Under the church floor Knuttel discovered fragments of a Renaissance tabernacle tower (see description below). The church was then used for exhibitions, meetings and for registering the unemployed during the Great Depression. During and after the Second World War the church was first used by the German occupiers, then by the American liberators and finally by a Dutch organisation that helped to recuperate lost possessions after the war ("Nederlandse Beheersinstituut").
The Maastricht testing station initially did agricultural research for the southern provinces of the Netherlands. It was gradually given additional tasks, as for example the national research on fertilisers and on cattle feed. In 1947 the Crozier church was added to its premises and in 1953 a wooden shed was built into the church, making extra room for laboratories. During the eighty years that the institution was based in Maastricht it always remained an outsider. Most of its personnel came from outside the region. The former monastery buildings were fenced off and remained an alien body in the city. In the late 1970s the institution was moved in phases to Wageningen, closer to the agricultural university there.
The city of Maastricht once again took charge of the buildings around 1980. From 1985-90 the church was used as a temporary parish church for the parish of St. Servatius, whose own church underwent restoration. The church was then used by Opera Zuid for storage and rehearsal studios. Parts of the monastery were briefly occupied by squatters.
Current destination: Kruisherenhotel.
In 2000 the city of Maastricht sold the complex to local entrepreneur Camille Oostwegel, who already owned several luxury hotels and restaurants in the South Limburg region. In 2003-05 the buildings were renovated and re-purposed to house a luxury design hotel with 60 rooms. The renovations were led by Rob Brouwers of SATIJNplus architects. As the building is a rijksmonument, all constructive elements such as the two mezzanines in the church, as well as the entrances, walkways, glass elevators, reception areas and toilets had to be reversible ('box in box' principle). Rob Brouwers added a modern COR-TEN steel pavilion on the south side. German designer Ingo Maurer added a copper tunnel entrance on the north side. Maurer also designed several light sculptures for the cloister yard and the church interior.
At the opening ceremony of the Kruisherenhotel on 1 September 2005, the superior general of the Crosier Order, Rein Vaanhold, said in his speech that the new purpose of the building was consistent with its historical function: making guests feel welcome. The hotel received the bi-annual Monument Prize of the Municipality of Maastricht (the Victor de Stuers medal) in 2005. Also in 2005, interior designer Henk Vos received the European Design Award for his daring design of the hotel interior. In 2011 it was named "hotel of the year" in the Dutch edition of the Gault Millau guide. In 2017 the hotel was officially recognized as a five-star hotel by European Hotel Classification, the only one in Maastricht and Limburg.
Architectural heritage.
Monastery church.
Exterior.
The Maastricht Crosier Church is a spireless, three-, or rather two-aisled monastery church (the south aisle is a pseudo-aisle). It was built between 1440 and 1509 in the local Mosan Gothic style, using local yellow limestone ("Limburgse mergel") on a plinth of bluestone from Namur ("Naamse steen"). The roofs are covered with sheets of slate. The architecture is similar to that of other Gothic monastery churches in the Mosan region, like the Dominican and Minorite churches in Maastricht, which however are two centuries older. The west façade features a (secondary) entrance, as well as a large and a small window, both with pointed arches. The windows had been bricked up in the 19th century but were fitted out with new tracery and colourless leaded glass in the early 20th century. The bluestone finial at the top of the west gable was replaced with a copy around 2004 (the original finial stands in a hotel corridor). The north aisle as well as the north clerestory have five windows, with buttresses in between. The window above the main entrance is blind. The modern entrance by Ingo Maurer has the shape of a tunnel made of copper. The choir has the same height as the nave. Five bricked-up windows of the apse, like the west windows, were reopened and reglazed in the early 20th century. The windows of the choir bays, between the apse and the nave, are blind. Most of the south (pseudo-)aisle is hidden from sight behind the cloisters. Three clerestory windows can be detected from the cloister yard
Interior.
The length of the church (nave plus choir) is ca. 42.6 m (inside measurements); the choir measures 18.1 m and the nave 24.5 m. The total width of nave and aisles is ca. 17 m; the nave by itself 10 m. Both choir and nave are 14.85 m high, the aisles are lower. The choir consists of two bays and a seven-sided apse. Five tall apse windows with colourless glass make the space very light. The nave consists of five bays and has net vaulting, probably dating from shortly after 1579 (see 'History' above). The connection between the choir vaults and the nave is far from seamless and still very much visible. Only the north aisle is a full aisle, 4.5 m wide and 7.7 m high. The pillars between the aisle and nave are of Namur stone. The south aisle is a pseudo-aisle. It is only 2.4 m wide and consists of five side chapels that were built between the buttresses. Three of these chapels are still recognizable as such, the others have been walled off and are now part of the cloisters.
In order to create more usable space for the hotel, two mezzanines were constructed inside the church in 2003-05. The larger mezzanine runs parallel with the nave and part of the choir. It is connected to other parts of the hotel by glass walkways and elevators. On top is a restaurant seating 85. Below is a wine bar and a glass 'wine cellar'. The smaller mezzanine fills the north aisle. It has a reading room on top and lavatories and offices below. An egg-shaped office designed by Ingo Maurer is near the west entrance. All this can be removed without permanent damage to the building.
Murals.
The choir vaults are decorated with murals from the 15th and 16th century that are partly in a poor state. Some of these were completed in 1461 by Master Gerardus but were altered by an unknown hand in 1571. The decorations consist of floral wreaths, the "Arma Christi", angels, busts of monks and knights with banderoles. The text on the banderoles is virtually illegible. A depiction of a cross with the coat of arms of the Crosier Order and two human figures – possibly a Roman and a female saint – may refer to the Finding of the True Cross by Saint Helena.
The south-west chapel contains a large mural, most likely from the second quarter of the 16th century. The main depiction portrays eight scenes from the life of Saint Gertrude: six within a pointed arch on the south wall of the chapel; the other two (originally four?) on the side walls. Depicted are: the birth of Gertrude, the taking of the vows, a bishop consecrating Nivelles Abbey, Gertrude saving a house on fire, and Gertrude saving a ship in a storm. The mural on the west wall shows "Saint Gertrude's love drink" ("Sint-Geerteminnedronk"), the ancient custom to drink to a healthy homecoming of someone who is undertaking a long journey. Saint Gertrude is the patron saint of travellers.
Sculptures.
Both the architectural sculpture in the church and the sculptural fragments that were recovered in 1913 from underneath the church floor, testify of a rich artistic tradition. The massive late-Gothic capitals that adorn the composite columns between the nave and the north aisle, are impressive both in size and skill. The ribvaults are decorated with sculpted keystones and corbels. Beautifully detailed are the four corbels with the evangelists' symbols. Two Baroque altars have been preserved in the south chapels. They are of local limestone with stucco decorations in Louis Quatorze style.
Two interesting reliefs decorate the north and south wall of the choir. The smaller one on the north wall depicts a heart that is pierced by a sword with two hands folded in prayer below. Inside the heart the letters IHS (Jesus) and MA (Mary) have been carved; above it the date 1595. This might be an epitaph that was removed from elsewhere. The larger relief on the opposite wall consists of four vertically arranged parts, partly damaged by a 19th-century mezzanine floor. It probably refers to a "Vidimus" (Latin: "we have seen") of 1482, in which the dean of St. Servatius confirmed a privilege of Pope John XXII of 1318, allowing the Crosiers to celebrate mass, collect money, etc. The papal tiara and Saint Peter's Keys of Heaven are clearly recognizable. Above and below are depictions of the coat of arms of the Crosiers and what looks like a sundial or an astrological chart. These may not be related to the central reliefs. The bottom drawing may be connected to prior Mathias Mijnecom who was known as "Astronomas" because of his knowledge of mathematics and astronomy.
Ledger stones.
Around ten ledger stones remain in the church, all of laypersons. For the burghers of Maastricht the Crosier Church obviously was a popular place to be buried. It is remarkable that no graves of friars or other clergy have survived. Burials of friars in the church are mentioned in the monastery archive. It is also known that the Jesuit preacher Hendrik Denijs was buried in the choir of the church in 1571, and that three years later the dean of St. Servatius', Nicolaas van der Straeten, was buried in the same grave. None of the remaining ledger stones are in their original location. Some were moved to the cloisters (see below); others were most likely destroyed in the 19th century.
Some ledger stones were used twice, as was the case with the damaged stone that originally covered the grave of "jonker" Gerard van der Marck and his wife in 1482. It was reused for Art Proenen and his wife in 1618. The ledger stone of Elisabeth and Vaes Nuellens from 1510 is decorated with the Lamb of God and the Four Evangelists' symbols in the corners. A large sculpted ledger stone was moved to one of the chapels during the early-20th-century restorations. The stone from 1605 once covered the grave of mayor and "schepen" Johan Sdrogen and his wife Verona Weertz. Against a wall in the south-east chapel stands a ledger stone of 1639 with the damaged coat of arms of Lysbeth Coenegracht, widow of Herman Jekermans. Leaning against the wall of the north aisle are three ledger stones that were moved here from elsewhere. They are visible only through the glass back wall in the toilets. The 16th-century stone of mayor Mathijs Nollens's family is very worn. Next to this is a 17th-century stone with the coats of arms of the families Meesters and Selen. The third stone along this wall also dates from the 17th century and was part of the grave of mayor Andries van Stockhem and his wife Catharine.
Monastery wings.
Outer walls.
The four wings of the monastery make the shape of an imperfect square between the streets Kruisherengang and Kommel. The north wing runs parallel to the south aisle of the church and for that reason is not visible from the street. The east wing overlooks Kommel, a street that at this point has the appearance of a square. In 2009 it was redesigned as a park with trees, box hedges, flower beds and cobbled paths. A bronze sculpture of a horse ("Julius Solway", Arthur Spronken, 1982) was relocated in front of the hotel, also in 2009. The south wing is visible only from a secluded garden between the monastery and a row of houses along Kommel. Both the south wing and the west wing end in a stepped gable.
The outer walls are largely built with local limestone ("mergel") with incidental use of brick, sometimes in alternating bands with limestone. The lower part of the west wing was replaced in 1928 by Nivelstein sandstone, which is harder. Pointed Gothic windows, partly dating from the 15th century, appear on the ground floor of the south and east wing, and in the stepped gables. Elsewhere 16th-century rectangular windows with stone frames and muntins and wooden window shutters predominate. The shutters, including those of the dormers with their tented roofs, are painted red and white, the colours of the Crosiers' cross. The entrances in the outer walls of the south and west wings have pediments with the Crosiers' cross. Above a door in the east wing is a lintel with the name of the agricultural testing station ("Rijkslandbouwproefstation") in blackletters.
Cloister yard.
The cloister yard is a quadrangle that is not entirely square, surrounded by four monastery wings. The lower Gothic windows on this side were probably once open; they were (re)glazed in the 19th century. Gothic windows also appear in the upper floor of the south wing; the lower windows in this wing are wider than elsewhere. Also, the south wing features a centrally-placed one-storey outbuilding with a hip roof that protrudes into the cloister yard. As is the case with the street-facing façades, brightly coloured window shutters decorate the Renaissance windows around the cloister yard.
The cloister yard may have been used originally as a herb garden ("hortus medicus"). It is now a hotel patio. The white pavement and the colour of the garden furniture, as well as the red and white window shutters, refer to the colours of the Crosiers' cross. A modern staircase leads to a fire escape tunnel that goes under the south wing of the cloisters, connecting the courtyard to the outside world. A light sculpture by Ingo Maurer in the shape of an illuminated vertical column filled with 3000 litres of water with silver dust has been temporarily removed because of malfunctioning.
Interior.
The monastery wings consist of a ground floor and two floors above, of which the upper floor is directly underneath the roof. Parts of the building are furnished with cellars that have barrel vaults. Surrounding the cloister yard are the cloister corridors. The leaded glass windows date from the late 19th century and were possibly designed in the studios of Pierre Cuypers in Roermond. The ceilings are supported by beams with profiled corbels, which are all painted white. The tiled floors were renewed in 2004. The north corridor is narrower because it is adjacent to the church. The other corridors provide access to rooms that have windows looking out onto the street. The protruding section of the south corridor contains a lavabo (including a hand pump until the late 20th century).
Several interesting ledger stones have been moved here, probably from the church. The floor of the lavabo space in the south corridor consists of a large ledger stone from the 17th century that once covered the grave of the Alards family. Another ledger stone has been placed against the north wall of the north corridor. It dates from 1624 when both Thomas Ulrich and his wife Anna were buried underneath it.
The public spaces and rooms of the Kruisherenhotel – fifty in the main building and ten in the Renaissance House and Casa Nova (see below) – were individually conceived by interior architect Henk Vos, who made use of furniture and lighting designs by Le Corbusier, Philip Starck, Marc Newson, Ingo Maurer and others.
Other buildings.
The Crosier Monastery in Maastricht is unique in the Netherlands as it has been preserved in its original state almost completely. Some minor parts have not survived. As late as 1962, a 17th-century gateway with the Crosiers' coat of arms was demolished. Along Kommel there are some small houses (all "Rijksmonuments") that may or may not have been part of the monastery. They are privately owned and not part of the hotel.
Adjacent to this row of houses are two buildings that are now part of the Kruisherenhotel. The 17th-century building on the south-west corner is known as "Renaissance House" (Kruisherengang nr. 23). It is a remnant of the original gatehouse and gatekeeper's lodge that stood here. There is some evidence on the north façade that this building was once bigger. The house is built in the local style of the Mosan Renaissance with alternating layers of brick and limestone, a stepped gable and bluestone door and window frames. A brand new pavilion clad in COR-TEN steel was added to the east of this in 2004. Between this "Casa Nova" and the south wing of the main monastery a patio garden has been laid out.
It is not clear whether anything remains of the tenant farms, tithe barns and other buildings that were once owned by the Maastricht Crosiers. In the small village of Herderen in Belgian Limburg, where the Crosiers owned several properties, a street is named after them, the Kruisherenstraat.
Other heritage.
Tabernacle tower.
A former eye-catcher in the Crosier Church must have been the imposing 16th-century tabernacle tower. It was around ten meters high and only fragments of it survived. It was sculpted in or shortly after 1561 by Liège sculptor Guillaume de Jonckeu. The contract for the work between De Jonckeu and prior Servaes Heynsberch still exists. According to this contract, the tabernacle was to follow the example of a similar one in St. John's Cathedral in 's-Hertogenbosch (destroyed during the "beeldenstorm" of 1568). De Jonckeu received 120 Brabant guilders for the work. The money was provided by the dean of St. Servatius, Nicolaas van der Straeten, who was buried in front of the tabernacle in 1573. During the restoration of the church in 1913 around 15 fragments of the tabernacle were discovered underneath the church floor. They are part of the collection of the LGOG Limburg Historical Society, now in storage at the Bonnefantenmuseum. Some of the fragments, described in detail by the art historian "jonkheer" Eugène van Nispen tot Sevenaer in 1926, may have gone missing.
With the help of the remaining fragments and the surviving contract, it is possible to make a fairly accurate reconstruction of the tabernacle tower. It was constructed of natural stone (Avesnes limestone?), 35 Liège feet tall (ca. 10 meters), and consisted of six or seven sections on top of each other. The pedestal was decorated with statues of the Seven Virtues. On top of this was the proper tabernacle which had three metal doors with statues of angels in between (one of the angels, 70 cm tall and standing in a niche, has been preserved). It could be reached via three steps of Namur bluestone. Above the tabernacle were three eucharist-themed reliefs: the Last Supper (seven fragments remaining), the manna rain in the desert, and the priesthood of Melchizedek. On top of this were statues of the four evangelists (of which Saint Luke survives), then statues of the four Doctors of the Church, and finally statues of two local holy bishops, Saint Servatius and Saint Lambert. The latter two sculptures were placed underneath a ciborium.
The style is that of the Northern Renaissance, of which Liège under prince-bishop Érard de La Marck had become a major centre. No other works by Guillaume de Jonckeu are known. The sculptures have a certain dynamic but lack detail. Some of the architectural parts are mindful of the work of Cornelis Floris de Vriendt, though less refined. Tabernacle towers with a similar architectural scheme can be found elsewhere in the Prince-Bishopric of Liège, as in St. Leonard's Church, Zoutleeuw.
Other artworks and liturgical objects.
As evidenced in the bookkeeping records of the monastery, the Maastricht woodcarver Jan van Steffeswert received several commissions from the Crosiers between 1512 and 1516. Among these were a statue of Saint Michael of 1512 and one of the Virgin Mary of 1515. It is unlikely that any of these still exist. In 1733 local artist Jean-Baptiste Coclers painted the four evangelists for the chancel in the Crosier Church. The whereabouts of these paintings are unknown.
A small sculpture that did survive is an heirloom from a previous occupier, the agricultural testing station. The wooden statuette of a Crosier used to be in the director's office but was given to the Kruisherenhotel when it opened in 2005. It now stands in a niche in the apse of the former church. A series of Renaissance corbels are also relatively late arrivals in the building. They are on loan from the Bonnefantenmuseum but their provenance is unknown. Some have the form of caryatids, others of lions or fantasy creatures that hold coats of arms. Since 2005 the corbels are on display in the stairwells and corridors in the hotel.
A fragment of the 15th-century choir stalls has been reused in the attic of a house adjacent to the monastery. The acquisition of various liturgical objects is listed in the Crosiers' archive, but only a few have survived. A precious monstrance and a chalice by the Maastricht silversmith Johannes Wery (1695-1750) must have once adorned the main altar in the Crosier Church. Both are now in the church treasury of Burtscheid Abbey (near Aachen).
Books and manuscripts.
Book covers and manuscripts were produced in the Crosier Monastery until the second half of the 16th century. The book covers were made of calf leather with embossed decorations of lions, flowers, leaves or lozenge shapes. Several carry an emblem: an angel holding the Crosiers' coat of arms. Famous copyists were Daniël van Keulen (ca. 1462-1489), Franciscus van Nijmegen (ca. 1493-1531) and Jasper Schaefdriess (ca. 1519-1569). The latter was asked to teach copyists in Liège in 1533. Theodoricus van Sittard and Johannes Leerdam were well-known bookbinders around 1500. Johannes Leerdam worked in Maastricht for about ten years, then moved to London towards the end of his life.
Few manuscripts produced in the Crosiers' scriptorium in Maastricht have survived. Four manuscripts from the 15th and 16th century are in the collection of the National Library of the Netherlands in The Hague ("Koninklijke Bibliotheek" or KB). Other collections with Maastricht Crosiers' manuscripts are: the University Library Groningen (UBG), the Utrecht University Library (UBU) and the Leiden University Library.
Starting in 1528, prior Jan Proenen kept meticulous records of the financial affairs of the monastery. He also recorded the books he purchased for the library. In 13 years he bought over 60 books, half of which were non-religious. In 1536 he bought a Latin dictionary in five languages by Ambrogio Calepino. By special order of the National Convention, it was confiscated by the French in January 1795. In February, the rest of the valuable books were confiscated and shipped to France. All of the books bought by Proenen went missing, except for one. His "Novus orbis regionum ac insularium veteribus incognitarum", published in Basel in 1532, purchased and annotated by Proenen in 1533, and bound in the Crosiers' own bookbindery, is now in the collection of the city library in Maastricht (Centre Céramique, CC).
Crosier archive.
The archive of the Crosier Monastery has been part of the Dutch National Archives ("Rijksarchief") since 1882. It is now stored in the Regionaal Historisch Centrum Limburg (RHCL), based in a former Minorite monastery in Maastricht. The Crosier archive measures 9.9 m and consists of 304 charters on parchment and 110 archival calendars, bundles and loose papers. it is considered special because of its completeness which is unique in this part of Europe. Almost the entire financial administration of the monastery from 1450 to 1795 has been preserved. It provides valuable information, not only about the monastery but about many aspects of life in Maastricht in general.
The oldest and most vulnerable documents are packed in Lexan (a polycarbonate) and stored in a secure and refrigerated strongroom. Around sixty documents precede the founding of the monastery. They are either related to the early history of the Crosier Order, or to transactions of real estate later acquired by the Crosiers. Three documents are of paramount importance for the history of the monastery: the original deed of 1436 in which five houses at Kommel where transferred to the Crosiers, the permission for the monastery foundation by the local clergy (1437), and the permission granted by the bishop of Liège (1438). In 2015 most of the Crosier archive was preserved and digitalised as a result of a national conservation programme ("Metamorfoze").
The original matrix of the seal of the Maastricht Crosiers dates from the 15th-century. After having been lost for decades, it was discovered by chance in 1876 and is now part of the RHCL archives. Its diameter is 3.5 cm. In the centre is a quatrefoil with the head of Christ crowned with thorns. The text around the quatrefoil is in Latin: "+ S: COVENTUS.FRM SACTE. CRUCIS. TRAICTENCIS".


De Doelen

De Doelen is a concert venue and convention centre in Rotterdam, Netherlands. It was originally built in 1934 but then destroyed in 1940 during the German bombardment of Rotterdam in May 1940 at the outset of World War II. It was rebuilt in 1966, originally with one hall to which two more were added in the 1990s.
It has a variety of facilities, including the Grote Zaal (Grand Hall), a 2,200-seat concert hall, two smaller halls which each seat about 700 people, and convention rooms. In 2015 it was classified as a Rijksmonument.
Although mainly known as a venue for classical music, de Doelen is also a stage for jazz, world music and as the Central Boxoffice for the International Film Festival Rotterdam.
It is also the home of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra.


Jeltje de Bosch Kemper

Jeltje de Bosch Kemper (1836 – 1916) was a Dutch feminist.
Life.
Bosch Kemper was born in Amsterdam on 28 April 1836. She was a member of the Kemper noble family, daughter of (1808-1876) and Maria Aletta Hulshoff (1810-1844) and educated in a girls' school. She became interested in women's issues by "The Subjection of Women" by John Stuart Mill. In 1871, she became a member of Betsy Perk's "Algemeene Nederlandsche Vrouwenvereeniging Arbeid Adelt", an association with the goal to improve women's right to be educated and work to support themselves; in 1872, she founded her own association with the same purpose, "Algemeene Nederlandsche Vrouwenvereeniging Tesselschade", which she chaired 1886-1911. In 1878 she founded "Vereeniging voor Ziekenverpleging", the first courses to educate professional nurses in the Netherlands. In 1894, she became chairperson of the "Maatschappelijken en den Rechtstoestand der Vrouw in Nederland", and association to improve the legal rights of women, and in 1896-1906 she manage her own women's rights magazine, "Belung und Recht"; she was also a member of the women suffrage association. Her younger sister Christine de Bosch Kemper was a (less public) women's right activist as well.
Bosch Kemper died in Amsterdam on 16 February 1916.


List of sights and historic places in Budapest


Aert van Tricht

Aert van Tricht was a Dutch metal-caster who was active in Maastricht between 1492 and 1501, in Antwerp in 1521 (?). He is sometimes called Aert van Tricht the Elder to distinguish him from his son. His known works include the following:


The House in Karp Lane

The House in Karp Lane () is a 1965 West German drama film directed by Kurt Hoffmann and starring Jana Brejchová, Edith Schultze-Westrum and Wolfgang Kieling.
It portrays the Jewish residents of a Prague boarding house during the German occupation of Czechoslovakia. While the film received several awards, it was a major commercial failure. Hoffmann then returned to directing the comedies he was better known for.
The film was shot at the Barrandov Studios in Prague, and on location around the city.