Oosterkerk: The Church of the Shipbuilders
Why is it significant?
Stop by the Wittenburgergracht and look at the church with its small, neat tower rising above the water. It is calm and plain, a Protestant church without fuss, sitting among houses that were once full of the noise of hammers and saws.
Key Facts
| Place | Oosterkerk: The Church of the Shipbuilders |
|---|---|
| Address | Kleine Wittenburgerstraat 1, 1018 LS Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| Geo Coordinates | 52.37000, 4.91930 |
| Part of Walk | Spice, Ships and Shadows: Amsterdam's Golden Age Harbour and the Dutch East India Company |
| Generated | Generated |
Stop by the Wittenburgergracht and look at the church with its small, neat tower rising above the water. It is calm and plain, a Protestant church without fuss, sitting among houses that were once full of the noise of hammers and saws.
This is the Oosterkerk, the Eastern Church, built between 1669 and 1671. Its architect was Daniël Stalpaert, the same city architect who designed the Admiralty storehouse you have just seen. It was built for a brand new population: the families of the three Eastern Islands, Kattenburg, Wittenburg and Oostenburg, which had been raised out of the water only a few years earlier to make room for shipyards, rope works and warehouses.
Picture the islands in their prime. Shipwrights in their hundreds, rope makers walking backwards along the rope walks, carpenters, caulkers, blacksmiths and sail makers, and sailors waiting for their next ship. This was the engine room of the Golden Age. The shipwrights of these islands had a nickname, the bijltjes, the little axes, after the tool of their trade, and they had a fierce reputation. In the political conflicts of the eighteenth century, they were famous as loyal and rowdy supporters of the House of Orange.
It was also a poor district, and it stayed that way. When the VOC collapsed and shipbuilding moved away, the islands slid into poverty, and much of old Kattenburg and Wittenburg was demolished and rebuilt in the twentieth century. The church survived the changes, and today it serves the neighbourhood as a place for concerts and community events.
Look at the scale of the houses around you. These were not merchants' palaces; they were homes for working families who never saw a share of the Company's profits. The Golden Age had two sides of the city, and you are now standing in the other one. Walk on east along the water to the last island, Oostenburg, where the Company built its own ships.