Kloosterkerk, The Hague

The Kloosterkerk (or Cloister Church) is a church on the Lange Voorhout in The Hague, Netherlands. The church and its accompanying monastery were first built in 1397.[1] The church is known today as the church where Beatrix of the Netherlands occasionally attends services.

Kloosterkerk
The Kloosterkerk
LocationLange Voorhout, The Hague
CountryNetherlands
DenominationProtestant Church in the Netherlands
Websitehttp://www.kloosterkerk.nl/
History
Dedication(as former Catholic church) Vincent Ferrer
Architecture
Functional statusactive
Heritage designationRijksmonument status

History

Origins of the original monastery and church that occupied this site may be found in the Dominican Order.[1] Reforms undertaken by Raymond of Capua, brought a renewed growth to the order, and it is around this time in 1397 that a monastery and church was first built for the Dominicans in The Hague.

Court of Albrecht of Bavaria

A thriving new center of arts was established in The Hague by the Court of Albrecht of Bavaria (1336–1404) and his second wife Margaret of Cleves (ca. 1375-1412). Some known artistic products to have been produced in this period are an important illuminated manuscript, the Hours of Margaret of Cleves commissioned between 1395-1400,[2] and the visually similar Biblia pauperum. From December 1399 Dirc van Delf (ca. 1365-ca. 1404)[3] was among the court of the Duke Albrecht of Bavaria in The Hague. There he had the function of court chaplain, but he also lectured at German universities, such as Cologne and Erfurt.[4]

Early Architecture

In 1420 a fire raged through the monastery, but serious renovations are not recorded until the church's southern transept was added in the beginning of the 16th century.[1] The church was expanded around 1540 with an enlarged aisle and side chapels. The center barrel vaulted aisle is 20 meters high and 11.5 meters wide. The worship space became a pilgrimage church, where people could visit and pass through, while services were being held in the central aisle or nave. At this time the church was also dedicated to St. Vincent, a Valencian Dominican missionary who was canonized June 3, 1455 by Pope Calixtus III.

Protestant Reformation

It was stripped of Catholic decorations during the beeldenstorm (iconoclasm of 1566). A number of monks lived on for a few more years, but in 1574 the last few monks left. After being abandoned for 12 years, the church had deteriorated and some suggested to tear it down. In 1588 a cavalry company seeking shelter settled in the former church. The following year the church and choir were made into a cannon foundry for the States of Holland and West Friesland. The choir was used as a foundry and the church served as a munition store with the two walled off from each other. On November 3, 1690, the ammunition stored in the church exploded leaving only one wall of the monastery remaining.[5] The monastery then temporarily served as a hospital. In 1583 most of the monastery was demolished, though the (now Protestant) church remained.

Early Protestant Church

A part of the building became a church again in 1617 after Counter-Remonstrants had successfully "squatted" it. The Protestant Church in the Netherlands had split between the Remonstrants and Counter-Remonstrants over Arminianism. The Grote Kerk in The Hague was in the hands of the Remonstrant party who had the support of statesman Johan van Oldenbarneveldt. Soon after the Counter-Remonstrants had occupied the Kloosterkerk, Maurice of Nassau, Prince of Orange demonstrated his support for them (and opposition to Van Oldenbarneveldt) by attending a service there. Van Oldenbarneveldt was arrested in 1618 and executed a year later. The Remonstrants were expelled from their churches but the Kloosterkerk continued in use as a second city church alongside the Grote Kerk. For the centuries to follow the church was used for Dutch Reformed worship with the pulpit standing against the north wall.

In 1620 a mechanical clock was added to the tower, made by Huyck Hopcoper.[1] Throughout the 17th century, the burial of people in the church brought money and numerous hatchments (Dutch:"rouwbord"). Most walls and columns were covered with hatchments, with the graves predominantly in the choir. A lead coffin was found in the choir with the embalmed remains of the foundress of the monastery, Margaret of Cleves.

The 20th Century: Restoration and Renewal

Towards the end of the 19th century, the consistory (church council) of the Dutch Reformed Church in The Hague divided the city into several wards or neighbourhoods. Each ward was allocated to one of the city ministers who was responsible for the pastoral care of the members of the Church living within the ward boundaries. The Kloosterkerk was in Ward XI which ran from the Lange Voorhout to the eastern boundary of the city. For 34 years (1894-1928) the ward minister was Willem Leonard Welter (1849-1940) who was also Court Chaplain from 1919 to 1928.

The city ministers continued to preach in all the churches in turn. In 1911 the first liturgical service of the Dutch Reformed Church was held in the Kloosterkerk under the direction of Welter’s colleague Jan Hendrik Gerretsen (1867-1923), but services were suspended in 1912 due to the dilapidated and dangerous condition of the building. Proposals were made to demolish the church and sell the plot to release funds for building a new church in the Duinoord area of the city. After strong objections were received the consistory agreed to fund the restoration of the building and services resumed in 1914.

The minister for Ward XI from 1929 to 1939 was Simon van Dorp (1880-1963) who belonged to the conservative Reformed Association within the Dutch Reformed Church. He founded the “Kloosterkerk-Benoordenhout” society to support church activities in his ward and opened the “Elim” church hall as a base for the society. The activities held in Elim included a Sunday School, Catechism classes and Bible lectures. Van Dorp took early retirement at the end of 1939. The consistory decided to split Ward IX between two adjacent wards and redeploy the vacant ministerial place to another part of the city. The Kloosterkerk ceased to be a neighbourhood church and the ward society became a city-wide society for Reformed Association members, still based at Elim but unconnected to the Kloosterkerk. There was further disruption when the Netherlands was occupied by German forces in May 1940 and no services were held in the Kloosterkerk during the winter months of 1940/41 and 1941/42.

A fresh start was made in 1942 when the congregation of the Duinoordkerk was forced to look for another building; their church had been demolished by order of the occupying Germans. The Kloosterkerk was made available, initially on a temporary basis but when it appeared that building a new church would be impossible, the congregation was allowed to settle there permanently. In 1952, the minister of the Duinoordkerk, Johannes Arnoldus Kwint (1900-63), was transferred to the list of city ministers and given special responsibility for the Kloosterkerk. Between 1952 and 1957 the church was thoroughly renovated and the wall between the nave and choir was removed. Furniture and works of art which had been saved from the demolition of the Duinoordkerk and stored in the Peace Palace were placed in the Kloosterkerk, including

  • the pulpit of oak (c. 1700) with Flemish carvings showing the Four Evangelists
  • a stained glass window depicting the twelve apostles by Lou Asperslagh (1893–1949)
  • the mosaic 'The Last Supper' from 1925 by Johan Thorn Prikker (1868-1932).

Rosettes in the ceiling are attributed to Gerhard Jansen (1868–1956). In 1966 an organ by Danish organ builder Marcussen was installed.


Notable events

Notable Burials

Church Today

Today the Kloosterkerk is home of an energetic Protestant congregation. Every last Sunday of the month a cantata service is held in collaboration with the Residential Bach Orchestra and the Residential Chamber Orchestra or the Residential Bach Choir. Soloists, choir and orchestra are conducted by Jos Vermunt. Every first, third and any fifth Wednesday of the month a lunch-time concert is given by the Stichting Kunstcentrum Kloosterkerk.

References
  1. Rijksmonument report
  2. today in the collection Archived 2008-03-14 at the Wayback Machine of the Museu Calouste Gulbenkian, in Lisboa, Portugal, Accessed November 8, 2008
  3. See Masters of Dirc van Delf
  4. John M. Jeep, Medieval Germany: An Encyclopedia, 2001
  5. Incidentally, this wall was included in the new building of the Dutch Court of Audit.

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