Oude Kerk

An old church in an unlikely square

The Oude Kerk is the oldest building in Amsterdam. It stands on Oudekerksplein, in the middle of the Red Light District, with the windows of De Wallen close around its walls. The contrast is part of the visit. The church was here first, and the neighbourhood grew up around it.

A wooden chapel stood on this spot around 1213. A stone church replaced it, and in 1306 the bishop of Utrecht consecrated it to Saint Nicolas, patron saint of sailors. The Oude Kerk is Gothic, and the nave is a hall church with three aisles. Since 2012 it has also been a centre for contemporary art. Artists are invited to make installations for this one space, so what you find inside changes from season to season.

Seven centuries of building and losing

The church kept growing for 250 years. Chapels were added, the aisles were lengthened and the tower was raised. The 70-metre spire dates from the 1560s. Then, on 23 August 1566, the Beeldenstorm began here. A mob smashed altars, paintings and saints' statues. Only what hung too high to reach survived, including the painted ceiling.

In 1578 the city turned Calvinist and the church became Reformed, as it still is. The remaining altars and images were removed. The building did not stay purely sacred. Merchants held their exchange here from 1584 until 1611. The church also housed the marriage registry and the city archives.

Rembrandt knew the church. His children were christened here, and his wife Saskia van Uylenburgh was buried here in 1642. Every 9 March, at 8:39 in the morning, the rising sun briefly lights her tomb. The organist Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck is buried here too. He took over the organ at fifteen, and he played in this church for most of his life.

Another story belongs to the 1345 Miracle of Amsterdam. A dying man brought up the Host, and it would not burn in the fire. The relic was kept in this church and vanished during the Reformation. The Mirakelkolom on the Rokin remembers the miracle.

What to look for

Start by looking up. The ceiling is the largest medieval wooden vault in Europe. Its oak planks, from Estonia, date to 1390. They are known for their sound, and you will hear it when music is played.

Then look down. The whole floor is gravestones, about 2,500 of them, covering some 60,000 Amsterdammers. The church was built on a cemetery, and burials continued inside until 1865. Names, dates and carved symbols wear smooth under your feet.

Some smaller things are easy to miss. The Mary chapel has stained glass from 1555 that escaped the iconoclasts, probably because the chapel sits so far back. An oak screen from 1681 closes off the choir. A line above it speaks of the "misuse of God's church" being undone in 1578. The Vater-Müller organ, from 1724 and later enlarged, is regarded as one of the finest Baroque organs in Europe. Its restoration was finished in 2019.

If Rembrandt is your reason for coming, find the small exhibition in the Holy Sepulchre. It is a quiet corner, close to Saskia's grave. After the street outside, you will notice how still it is in there.