Doopsgezinde kerk, Haarlem

The Doopsgezinde kerk is a historical hidden Mennonite church dating from the 17th century between the Grote Houtstraat, Peuzelaarsteeg and the Frankestraat in Haarlem, Netherlands.

Entrance built in 1757 to the Doopsgezinde kerk on the Grote Houtstraat in Haarlem.

History

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View from the pulpit

The church (also referred to as the Vermaning) was built in 1683.[1] The original entrance was a simple narrow door in the alley connecting the shopping street Grote Houtstraat to the Frankestraat, called the Peuzelaarsteeg, and through the purchase of a house in the Frankestraat a new, larger, entrance was created in 1717. In 1757 a group of members of the church, including Pieter Teyler van der Hulst, purchased a house on the Grote Houtstraat and created a modern but unobtrusive entrance with long hallway. In 1902 the Frankestraat entrance was renovated and new regents’ rooms were created in Jugendstil. During the course of centuries, almost the entire block of houses was purchased by the church, and a large house across from the church in the Frankestraat, the "Huis ter Kleef", was used as an orphanage.[2] The house on the corner of the Peuzelaarsteeg and the Grote Houtstraat (nr. 51) also was purchased by Pieter Teyler, and he rented it to the Dutch Society of Science for their museum, which was the first museum in Haarlem that opened its doors in 1777.

List of teachers

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Name board of the ministers (called teachers) and deacons of the church in the 18th century.
 
Hymn book published in 1804 with a foreword by the Mennonite teachers of Haarlem

The church calls its ministers teachers, and the names are written on a large name board in one of the meeting rooms, along with a list of deacons. In 1804 a songbook Christelijke Gezangen en Liederen was published in Haarlem of 150 songs with accompanying music. It had a title vignette by Reinier Vinkeles and a forward which was signed by the teachers Klaas van der Horst, Petrus Loosjes Az., Barend Hartman van Groningen, Matthias van Geuns Jz], Martinus Bodisco and Adriaan Loosjes Pz. Aagje Deken wrote the text for 74 of these songs for which she asked 4 ducats (21 guilders) compensation per page.[3]

Called Teacher Died
1736 Age Wijnalda 1792
1757 Martinus Arkenbout 1790
1761 Klaas van der Horst 1825
1762 Petrus Loosjes Adr. 1813
1763 Cornelis Loosjes 1792
1770 Barent Hartman van Groningen 1806
1792 Cornelis de Haan 1793
1792 Matthias van Geuns Jz 1839
1803 Abraham de Vries 1862
1807 Sijbren Klaases Sijbrandi 1854
1828 Sijtze Klazes de Waard 1856
1838 Klaas Sijbrandi 1872
1839 Willem Carel Mauve 1869
1856 Karel de Lanoij
1863 Hendrik Arend van Gelder 1899
1872 Jeronimus de Vries
1884 Jacobus Craandijk
1890 Leonardus Hesta 1901
1900 Dr. Hendrik Jan Elhorst
1901 Broer Pieter Plantenga

References

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  1. ^ Rijksmonument report
  2. ^ Van de schuilkerk naar de Wereld; 1967 publication by the church
  3. ^ letter to Adriaan Loosjes by Aagje Deken, 20 February 1802, the Hague, in the DBNL

52°22′48″N 4°38′5.8″E / 52.38000°N 4.634944°E / 52.38000; 4.634944