Brouwershofje

Last updated March 16, 2019

The Brouwershofje is a hofje on the Tuchthuisstraat in Haarlem, Netherlands.

A hofje is a Dutch word for a courtyard with almshouses around it. They have existed since the Middle Ages.

Haarlem City and municipality in North Holland, Netherlands

Haarlem is a city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Holland and is situated at the northern edge of the Randstad, one of the most populated metropolitan areas in Europe. Haarlem had a population of 159,556 in 2017. It is a 15-minute train ride from Amsterdam, and many residents commute to the country's capital for work.

The Netherlands is a country located mainly in Northwestern Europe. The European portion of the Netherlands consists of twelve separate provinces that border Germany to the east, Belgium to the south, and the North Sea to the northwest, with maritime borders in the North Sea with Belgium, Germany and the United Kingdom. Together with three island territories in the Caribbean Sea—Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba— it forms a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The official language is Dutch, but a secondary official language in the province of Friesland is West Frisian.

History

The Hofje was founded by the Haarlem Guild of Beer brewers, one of the most powerful guilds in Haarlem. It was initially named the St. Maartenshofje after the patron saint of the brewers.^[1] It was intended as a charitable home for 22 poor people ("rechte arme huyszitten") who worked in the brewing industry. The Brewer's guild used the money for the hofje from a donation it received in 1472 by Jacob Huyge Roepersz and his sister Katharina, who donated a series of small houses (kameren) in the Gasthuisstraat (the Tuchthuisstraat used to be a northern extension of the Gasthuisstraat) for housing, and some land in Akersloot for rents. The donation made the requirement that the houses needed to be rebuilt if they were damaged by fire or any other reason.^[1]

Akersloot is a town in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Castricum, and lies about 9 km south of Alkmaar. Until 1 January 2002, Akersloot was a separate municipality.

The Roeper family was a brewers family, so the hofje was run by the 4 Brewer's guild vinders or aldermen, and the deacon, who became the 5 hofje regents. Though the foundation did not stipulate "women only", the hofje was used for brewer's maids too old or sick to work. In 1553 it was again enriched with a donation by Mr. Dierick Diericsen Bram, who stipulated in his will that the money from his annuity would go to the St. Elisabeth Gasthuis if money was paid out from his annuity for any other reason than for repairs and renovations on the hofje houses.^[1] The finances of this hofje were never very great, and in 1562 when the malt-makers (moutmakers) guild was merged with the brewers guild, the malt-makers were required to make a yearly donation to the St. Maartenshofje.^[1]

The hofje burnt down in the great fire of 1576, but there was only enough money from the rents to rebuild it years later in 1586, with a reduction in the number of houses to 8. The names of the brewers who attended to the rebuilding were listed in Samuel Ampzing's History of Haarlem and these were Jan Aelbertsz Ban, Matthijs Florisz, Matthijs Aelbertsz Ban, Barent Wiggertsz Kousebant, Klaes Aelbertsz Vooght, Frans Adriaensz, Kies & Gerbrant Kornelisz Burst.^[1] The original rules of the hofje had burned also, so a new set of rules was made up in 1597.^[2] Their dead were buried in two graves located the chapel of the H. Geesthuis (where now the Hofje van Oorschot is) until the 18th century, when they bought three graves in the St. Bavochurch.^[1]

Samuel Ampzing was a Dutch minister, poet and purist.

The Hofje van Oorschot is a hofje on the Kruisstraat 44 in Haarlem, Netherlands.

"Rechts houden"

The renovation in 1586 included building a blind wall on the street side with a doorway leading to the garden and the houses. The iron anchors on the brick wall are numbered 1586 on the north side of the door. This blind wall was to protect the hofje inhabitants from the strangers on the other side of the street; the inhabitants of the Tuchthuis. This was the Haarlem house of corrections. At the North end of the street a house still has a plaque which says Rechts houden, or keep to the right, which also means stay straight in the sense of conducting oneself with the proper behavior. Coming from the North, the hofje is on the right and the Tuchthuis was on the left. The old Tuchthuis is now a modern apartment building. The old gate to the Tuchthuis, which also had a blind wall on the street side, is now part of the Frans Hals Museum. In 1930 the hofje was renovated again in order to install modern plumbing and electricity, and at that time eight windows were cut in the blind wall to allow more light.^[1]

Hofje today

When the Brewers guild was disbanded (along with the other Haarlem guilds) at the start of the French occupation in 1795, the hofje was run by a city-appointed committee, and since 1811 after the departure of the French, the hofje has been run by the Haarlem city council. Monumentenzorg takes care of the houses, and the Plantsoenendienst takes care of the garden.

North side of the Tuchthuissttraat with the northernmost corner of the hofje visible in the middle.
Brouwershofje from the Tuchthuisstraat.
Former entry to the Tuchthuis itself, which used to be located across from the hofje, but has been installed in the Frans Hals Museum.

The Frans Hals Museum is a museum located in Haarlem, the Netherlands.

Dutch Rijksmonument 19788

Related Research Articles

The Hofje van Noblet is a hofje in Haarlem, Netherlands.

The Frans Loenenhofje is a hofje in Haarlem, Netherlands, on the Witte Heren straat.

The Lutherse Hofje is a hofje in Haarlem, Netherlands.

The Hofje van Staats is a hofje in Haarlem, Netherlands, on the Jansweg 39, close to the Haarlem railway station.

The Hofje van Loo is a hofje on the Barrevoetstraat 7 in Haarlem, Netherlands.

The Teylershofje is a hofje in Haarlem, Netherlands with 24 houses.

Haarlem is one of the cities in the Netherlands that has a number of hofjes. Some of them are even still in use with boards of regents. Many of these are members of the Stichting Haarlemse Hofjes. The word 'hofje' just means small garden, because the hofjes are generally small houses grouped around a community kitchen garden with a water pump. Often they were attached to a larger field for bleaching linen or growing orchards, but today those fields have been long used for city expansion and only the central gardens can still be seen.

The Bruiningshofje is a hofje in Haarlem, Netherlands.

The Hofje van Willem Heythuijsen is a hofje in Haarlem, Netherlands. It was founded in 1650 by the testament of Willem van Heythuysen on the site of his summer residence outside the city walls of Haarlem on land that was considered Heemstede property until it was annexed in 1927. It is one of the few hofjes of Haarlem to be built outside the city walls. It has a 'T' shape and has a small open courtyard and a garden still intact.

The Vrouwe- en Antonie Gasthuis is a hofje on the Klein Heiligland 64a in Haarlem, Netherlands. It is open on weekdays from 10-17.00.

Willem van Heythuysen, was a Dutch cloth merchant and hofje founder in Haarlem and Weert. He is best known today for his portraits by Frans Hals, though he is remembered locally for his Hofje van Willem Heythuijsen bordering Haarlemmerhout park, which has been in operation for centuries.

The Proveniershuis is a hofje and former schutterij on the Grote Houtstraat in Haarlem, Netherlands.

The Hofje van Codde en Beresteyn is a hofje in Haarlem, Netherlands. The current building is from 1968 and is located on the J. Cuyperstraat, which is named for the architect who designed the Cathedral of Saint Bavo next door, Joseph Cuypers. This hofje is the wealthiest hofje foundation in Haarlem with the most modern facilities for its inhabitants. Poor (devote) Catholic women of Haarlem 60 years and older are still welcome to live there for free.

St. Elisabeth Gasthuis, Haarlem former hospital complex in Haarlem

The St. Elisabeth Gasthuis (EG) is a former hospital complex of buildings founded in 1581 in Haarlem on the Gasthuisvest. The last location of the hospital on the Boerhaavelaan retains its hospital function and is part of the Kennemer Gasthuis (KG) today. The hospital complex on the Gasthuisvest was built for the "Minnebroers" monastery and was reclaimed after the Protestant reformation in 1581 and given by the city council to the hospital. As a hospital during four centuries, the complex underwent many major renovations. The main facade dates from 1871.

The Coomanshof is a former hofje in Haarlem, Netherlands, on the Witte Heren straat.

Paulus van Beresteyn, was a Dutch lawyer in Haarlem, known best today for his portrait painted by Frans Hals in 1619.

Joseph Coymans, was a Dutch businessman in Haarlem, known best today for his portrait painted by Frans Hals, and its pendant, Portrait of Dorothea Berck. The former resides at the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford, the latter at the Baltimore Museum of Art. A portrait of the couple's son Willem is held by the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.

Tieleman Roosterman, was a Dutch cloth merchant and friend of Willem van Heythuysen who is best remembered today for his portrait painted by Frans Hals.

The Haarlem schutterij refers to a collective name for the voluntary civic guard of Haarlem, from medieval times up to the Batavian Revolution in 1794, when the guilds of Haarlem were disbanded.

References

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Kurtz, pp.37-44
↑ ordonnantien van de acht camers op Sincte Maertens hoffgen en geschreven op perkament

Haarlems hofjes, Dr. G. H. Kurtz, Schuyt & Co C.V., Haarlem, 1972, ISBN 90-6097-027-6

Coordinates: 52°22′46″N4°37′52″E / 52.37944°N 4.63111°E / 52.37944; 4.63111

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[Kurtz-1] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Kurtz, pp.37-44

[2] rdonnantien van de acht camers op Sincte Maertens hoffgen en geschreven op perkament