Nieuwe Kerk (New Church)

Nieuwe Kerk (New Church) Review

Begun in the 14th century, the Nieuwe Kerk (it celebrated its 600th birthday in 2010) is a soaring Late Gothic structure whose tower was never completed because the authorities blew all their money on the building of the Palace. Whereas the Oude Kerk had the blessing of the Bishop of Utrecht, the Nieuwe Kerk was supported by the local well-to-do merchant class—the result was an endless competition between the two parochial factions. Don't miss the magnificently sculpted wooden pulpit by Albert Vinckenbrinck constructed after the Great Fire of 1645. It took him 19 years to complete, though there is now a bit missing: the scales from a lady of justice were an impulsively generous gift to the Canadians, who liberated Amsterdam. Other features include the unmarked grave of the poet Vondel (the "Dutch Shakespeare") and Rombout Verhulst's extravagantly sculpted eulogy to naval hero Adm. Michiel de Ruyter (you can peer through a glass to see his actual coffin in the crypt). De Ruyter daringly sailed his invading fleet up the river Medway in England in the 17th century, causing Sir William Batten, surveyor of the Queen's Navy, to explode to diarist Samuel Pepys, "By God, I think the devil shits Dutchmen!" The two organs are exceptional. At the royal marriage in 2002, there was a magical moment as the painted shutters of the Great Organ unfurled behind Prince Willem and Princess Maxima as they walked up the aisle. The Nieuwe Kerk has been the investiture church for Dutch monarchs since 1815, and has broadened its appeal by serving as a venue for organ concerts and special—invariably excellent and often cutting-edge—exhibitions that attract a half-million visitors a year. Outside the church, you can see the sundial from which all town clocks were calibrated up to 1880.