The Teylers Stichting (English: Teylers Foundation) is a Dutch foundation founded with the heritage of the Dutch 18th century cloth merchant and banker Pieter Teyler van der Hulst to support the people in need and encourage worship, science and art (ter ondersteuning van behoeftigen en ter aanmoediging van godsdienst, wetenschap). [1]
When Teyler deceased in 1778, he was without children or direct family, and specified in his testament how his money was to be spent. He left money for several individuals, the church and the general benefit as described above. Claims have been made by alleged family members that the testament was supposed to be limited in time to 100 years, after which the remaining money were to be transferred to the Teylers family. No claims of such have been recognized in court.
The Stichting was founded by five friends of Teylers, who were his executors and the first directors. The first replacing director (board member) of the Teylers Stichting was Adriaan van Zeebergh, the pensionaris of the city of Haarlem, a powerful civil servant position at the time. He replaced Barnaart, who died in 1780.
The foundation is governed by five directors, which are appointed via Co-option. The first directors were five of Teylers friends:
The directors traditionally meet in the "Grote Herenkamer" (Large Boardroom) at the Teylers Fundatiehuis (English: Foundation House), a room adjacent to the Oval Room of Teylers Museum. The current (2008 [1] ) directors are:
The Teylers Stichting was responsible for the Teylers Museum, the Teylers Hofje and two societies: the Teylers Eerste Genootschap (Teylers First Society) which focuses on theological questions and the Teylers Tweede Genootschap (Teylers Second Society) which focuses on scientific questions. The Stichting is also responsible for the Teylers Chair at Leiden University. The actual management of the museum was left to a kastelein and later the museum director (not to confuse with the directors of the foundation).
In 1981 the governance of the Museum was transferred to a separate foundation on the request of the government, so that they could help fund it through subsidies after its recognition as museum of national importance. [4] This separate foundation became the Stichting tot Beheer en Instandhouding van Teylers Museum (Foundation for management and conservation of Teylers Museum), and the Teylers Stichting still appoints two of the six members of the Supervisory Board of that foundation. The Teylers Stichting still does own the actual buildings.
As determined in the testament as well, the Stichting is established in the Fundatiehuis.
The complete archive of the Teylers Stichting is still intact and available. The early years (1778–1827/1828) in the archive have been digitized and are available online on the website of the Teylers Museum. [5] This includes the minutes of the directors' meetings and the receipts of materials and museum pieces that were bought. From these receipts it can be reconstructed what the activities of the Teylers Stichting have been in the past.
The archive has been stored in a special room in the Fundatiehuis, as specified in the testament, which was provided with a special lock with five keyholes. Each of the directors would get one of the five different keys, and the lock was designed in such a way that it could not be opened or closed without at least three of the five keys - irrespective which.
Teylers Museum is an art, natural history, and science museum in Haarlem, Netherlands. Established in 1778, Teylers Museum was founded as a centre for contemporary art and science. The historic centre of the museum is the neoclassical Oval Room (1784), which was built behind the house of Pieter Teyler van der Hulst (1702–1778), the so-called Fundatiehuis. Pieter Teyler was a wealthy cloth merchant and banker of Scottish descent, who bequeathed his fortune for the advancement of religion, art, and science. He was a Mennonite and follower of the Scottish Enlightenment.
Martin(us) van Marum was a Dutch physician, inventor, scientist and teacher, who studied medicine and philosophy in Groningen. Van Marum introduced modern chemistry in the Netherlands after the theories of Lavoisier, and several scientific applications for general use. He became famous for his demonstrations with instruments, most notable the Large electricity machine, to show statical electricity and chemical experiments while curator for the Teylers Museum.
Pieter Teyler van der Hulst was a wealthy Dutch Mennonite merchant and banker, who died childless, leaving a legacy of two million florins to the pursuit of religion, arts and science in his hometown, that led to the formation of Teyler's Museum. This was not the value of his entire estate. He also founded Teylers Hofje in his name, and made important donations to individuals in the Mennonite community.
Cornelis Hofstede de Groot, was a Dutch art collector, art historian and museum curator.
Adriaan van der Willigen was a Dutch writer of plays and travelogues who is mostly remembered today for his comprehensive list of painter biographies.
The Oval Room in the Teylers Museum was the first part of the museum that was opened in 1784. It could be entered through the garden of the fundatiehuis, the former home of Pieter Teyler van der Hulst. The building has an oval shape built around its centerpiece, a mineralogical cabinet. The Oval Room consists of two floors; the ground floor with its display cabinets and a gallery of books that connects to the Teylers Library. On top of the room, on the roof, the astronomical observatory used to be a landmark that could be seen for miles along the river Spaarne. The gallery and observatory are longer accessible to the public, though the gallery can be seen from the ground floor.
The Fundatiehuis is the former family home of Pieter Teyler van der Hulst on the Damstraat 21 in Haarlem, Netherlands. After his death it became the seat of the Teylers Stichting and through its front door, visitors could reach the Oval room.
Jacobus Barnaart was a Dutch merchant and one of the five first directors of the Teylers Stichting.
The Teylers astronomical observatory is an astronomical observatory built in 1784 on the roof of the Oval Room of the Teylers Museum in Haarlem.
Teylers Eerste Genootschap, also known as the Godgeleerd Genootschap is one of the societies founded within the Teylers Stichting as a result of the will of the Dutch 18th-century merchant Pieter Teyler van der Hulst.
Teylers Tweede Genootschap, also known as the Wetenschappelijk Genootschap is one of the two societies founded within the Teylers Stichting with the purpose to promote and award prizes for research. They were the result of the testament of the Dutch 18th-century merchant Pieter Teyler van der Hulst. The Second Society is focused on art and science, while the First Society is focused on theology.
The Eerste Schilderijenzaal, or Painting Gallery I, is one of two art gallery rooms in Teylers Museum and is the oldest art gallery for contemporary Dutch art in the Netherlands. It was built onto the back of Teylers Oval Room in 1838. It was the young museum's first exhibition space for paintings and could be entered through the Oval Room, which was itself located behind the Fundatiehuis, the former home of Pieter Teyler van der Hulst.
The Tweede Schilderijenzaal, or Painting Gallery II, is one of two art gallery rooms in Teylers Museum. The Tweede Schilderijenzaal was built in 1893 as an extension of the first gallery.
The Instrument Room is a room in Teylers Museum which houses a part of the museum's Cabinet of Physics: a collection of scientific instruments from the 18th and 19th centuries. The instruments in the collection were used for research as well as for educational public demonstrations. Most of them are demonstration models that illustrate various aspects of electricity, acoustics, light, magnetism, thermodynamics, and weights and measures. The rest are high-quality precision instruments that were used for research.
Klaas Sybrandi, also spelled as Sijbrandi, was a Dutch Mennonite minister, author, translator and involved with several societies and foundations.
Johannes Enschedé was a Dutch printer, owner of Royal Joh. Enschedé and collector.
The Teylers Coin and Medal Room, or Numismatisch Kabinet, is a small display room in Teylers Museum that was designed in 1888 and furnished with special display cabinets in 1889.