Hofjes in Haarlem

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The Hofje van Noblet is one of the hofjes in Haarlem that is still in use the way the original founders wanted it in 1760.
The Hofje van Noblet is one of the hofjes in Haarlem that is still in use the way the original founders wanted it in 1760.

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 (Foundation Hofjes of Haarlem). 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.

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[edit] Hofje Management

What we would call 'social work' today was called charity work in earlier centuries. Hofjes in Haarlem are the remnants of charity work that were founded by defunct community structures that were divided by religious order and social class. The hofjes are managed by five boardmembers called regents. Any community structure in Haarlem, be it a guild or a hofje, had a group of five regents or regentesses. These groups of five can be seen in commemorative paintings whenever there was a change of boardmembers, such as Frans Hals' painting of the regents of the Poor men's almshouse and his painting of the regents of the St. Elisabeth Gasthuys. Many guilds kept hofjes for their own aging members. When the guilds were disbanded under the French occupation in 1794, the guild regents kept their role as hofje regents.

[edit] Hofje Wealth

It was the duty of the regents to care for the books and the behavior of the members. Many hofjes were quite wealthy, due to the high turnover of its members, who had to donate all of their possessions to the hofje in order to be accepted for living there. Other sources of income were lotteries, that were organized to build new premises or restore old ones. It goes without saying that there was a large descrepency in living conditions among the various hofjes, with each religious order competing to keep the most luxurious one. Today most of the surviving hofjes receive their income from housing rents.

[edit] Hofje origins

When talking of hofjes, most people refer to the name given to the buildings themselves, but the foundations they are based on may have moved premises several times since the original foundation date, and even changed their names. Hofjes in Haarlem were primarily the result of generous bequests by wealthy men or women in their own name, rather than from any group religious or municipal effort. Most hofjes were meant for elderly women, because there were far more poor aged women in the streets than poor aged men. However, after the iconoclasm of the Reformation in Haarlem in 1566, the Catholics (and their hofjes) were forced underground, and many became quite poor. When the 'Oudemannenhuis' opened in 1609, many of the poor men who were accepted were Catholics.


[edit] list of Haarlem hofjes (by year of foundation)

Photo of maquette of Haarlem as it was in 1822. Gray buildings denote 'items of interest'. The Teylers Hofje is shown in gray in the center, as is further to the right, the Diocese (Police station today). Across from the Diocese at the corner of the Nieuwe Gracht and the Spaarne, also in gray, is the smaller Hofje van Noblet (partially cut off). The Teylers Museum is also visible in gray with the large 'oval room' in the back of Teyler's house. The imposing entrance on the Spaarne was not yet built in 1822 and the museum entrance was Teyler's front door on the Damstraat. Between the high oval room and the Teyler's hofje is the Bakenesser gracht where the small white houses of the Hofje van Bakenes can be seen. Off to the upper left on the West side of the Spaarne on the Hage straat, the complex of the St. Jacobs Godshuis can be seen.
Photo of maquette of Haarlem as it was in 1822. Gray buildings denote 'items of interest'. The Teylers Hofje is shown in gray in the center, as is further to the right, the Diocese (Police station today). Across from the Diocese at the corner of the Nieuwe Gracht and the Spaarne, also in gray, is the smaller Hofje van Noblet (partially cut off). The Teylers Museum is also visible in gray with the large 'oval room' in the back of Teyler's house. The imposing entrance on the Spaarne was not yet built in 1822 and the museum entrance was Teyler's front door on the Damstraat. Between the high oval room and the Teyler's hofje is the Bakenesser gracht where the small white houses of the Hofje van Bakenes can be seen. Off to the upper left on the West side of the Spaarne on the Hage straat, the complex of the St. Jacobs Godshuis can be seen.


[edit] External links

[edit] References

  • Haarlemse Hofjes, Dr. Gerda H. Kurtz, Schuyt & Co. Haarlem 1972
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