Pictures of the city of Haarlem, Holland

Holland and Haarlem in pictures

 

The gothic cathedral St Bavo

The most notable building in the city is Saint Bavo's Church, or 'Groote Kerk', built in the 15th century in gothic style. After the alteration in the 16th century it was converted from a Roman Catholic church to a protestant church. It is one of the largest gothic churches in Holland. The central tower at the crossing dominates the city and can be seen from far beyond Haarlem. From the side window of my house I have a magnificent view on this monumental building. The Hemony carillion (bells) in the tower are often played by the city organ player on marked days, filling the air with its delightful silvery sound.

The Christian Mueller organ (1738)

The old cathedral in also famous by its big organ, built by Christian Mueller, with over 5000 pipes, one of the largest instruments of its kind in the world. The instrument is used for the annual Haarlem organ competition. Holland is a country of pipe organs, hundreds of instruments can be found in many churches all over Holland. Organ building is still a common practice, over 50 organ builders are building organs for churches and concert halls all over the world. Well known are the ateliers of Van Vulpen (Utrecht) and Flentrop (Zaandam) among many others.

Laurens Janszoon Coster

In front of the church stands a statue of Laurens Janszoon Coster, to whom the Dutch ascribe the invention of printing (The Germans stay with Gutemberg). Holland was and is one of the important publishers countries (and I know some in the family ...)
Elsevier was one of the first commercial book printers (my father published all of his books at Elseviers, he was on the board of publishers too)

The Haarlem townhall, with a large Knights Hall. It was in this hall Ans and I married in 1976

An other interresting building is the 14th century city town hall (13th century), formerly the residence of the counts of Holland, with a large Knights Hall. The town hall contains canvases by the celebrated Dutch painter Frans Hals and a valuable collection of early painted works. In the 14th century a cloister was added to the building.

Other buildings of note are the Frans Hals Museum, the Dutch Society of Sciences, the Pavilion (1788), an Italian-style château, and the Teylers museum, containing an science and industrial art museum. Many notable 17th century houses and buildings were built by Lieven de Key, a celebrated Flemish architect. The 'Waag' building at the river Spaarne (the weigh building) and the 'Vleeshal' on the central marketplace (meat market building) are among the most famous of his creations.

The new (1912) Roman Catholic cathedral in Haarlem

The new Roman Catholic cathedral in Haarlem, built by Kuypers in 1912 , where Roos and Rick are singing in the services and in many concerts. This is a typical example of Neo-Roman architecture, popular at the end of the 19th century. The acoustics of the church are remarkable, and many CD-recordings are available of the boys choir and of the famous Willibrord organ

Bulb exposition at the 'Keukenhof' garden in spring

Haarlem is the center of a prosperous trade in bulbs, notably tulip and hyacinth, which gave Haarlem its name as 'flower-city'; the annual floral parade (the 'bloemen-corso') at springtime with dozens of flower-decorated carriages attracts thousands of tourists from all over the world. Well known is also the 'Keukenhof', a large park at Lisse near Haarlem with a fabulous presentation of bulbs each spring.

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