The New Church & Royal Mausoleum, Delft

[Marengo]

On Sunday the New Church is still used for religious services and closed for other visitors. The church can also still be used for wedding and funeral services. The rest of the time it can be visited and there are no religious services.

https://oudeennieuwekerkdelft.nl/bez...gemeente-delft

[Marengo]

Due to the restauration works the coffin of Queen Anna Pavlovna has been moved. Her remains will be laid in a new coffin, which will be placed on the original spot in the vault.

https://www.koninklijkhuis.nl/actuee...oud-grafkelder

[Duc_et_Pair]

Translation from the previous post:


"On 22 October one of the coffins was moved out of the Royal Vaults, to store the remains in a new coffin. It concerns the remains of Queen Anna Paulovna. The new coffin will be placed at the original location of the old coffin in the Royal Vaults in the Nieuwe Kerk in Delft.

The re-encasing will take a few days and will take place in Rotterdam. The activities are carried out by the 'Special Funerals' team of Monuta. The members of the royal family adhere to the fact that the remains of their ancestors are kept in a dignified and sustainable way in the Royal Vaults."


Anna Paulovna Romanova, Grand-Princess of Russia (1795-1865) was a daughter of Tsar Paul I of Russia and his wife Sophia Dorothea Augusta Louisa of Württemberg, better known in Russia as Tsarina Maria Feodorovna. When Anna was six years old, the Tsar was murdered and succeeded by her eldest brother, Alexander. In 1816 the Grand-Princess married the Prince of Orange (the later King Willem II of the Netherlands, Grand-Duke of Luxembourg).

[Somebody]

Originally Posted by Duc_et_Pair

The New Church in Delft (1496) has been extensively restored. At first sight there is no difference with before the restoration, but all the rooftiles, the leadwork, the pipings, the cement joints, etc. are as new again. Under the floor special installations have been made for TV-broadcasts of future royal funerals.

The most major change is that the ceilings are quite more clear now and that all the copper chandeliers have been removed. The architect thought that the 15th C "line of sight" should be free to experience the space.

The nave before (dark ceilings and chandeliers)

The nave after (clean ceilings and a free sight)

The ceiling of the choir before

The ceiling of the choir after

A new portal has been constructed inside the tower

The reception in the tower

The visitor centre (no more cluttering of tourists inside the church itself)

An orange carpet leads a multimedia-tour alongsode the epitaphs for members of the House Orange-Nassau

The entrance to the burial vaults is not visible, apart from a marble deckstone. For funerals the floor is opened.


It is a quite spartan looking church. It seems that the beauty lies in the unchanged original 15th C floorplan. In all these centuries it has not been cluttered with additions, fences, chapels, etc. It remained clean and empty.

More importantly imo (as a former attender of church services in the Nieuwe Kerk), the pews have been removed and been replaced by chairs which changes the experience and feel of the church. I wonder how it will be heated now as that was done by heating tubes at your feet integrated in the pews.

[Duc_et_Pair]

Originally Posted by Somebody

More importantly imo (as a former attender of church services in the Nieuwe Kerk), the pews have been removed and been replaced by chairs which changes the experience and feel of the church. I wonder how it will be heated now as that was done by heating tubes at your feet integrated in the pews.

Maybe floor-heating under the tiles? The had to dig anyway to enlarge underground space and to provide connectivity for TV broadcasts, all invisibly reworked under the floor.

What is your opinion on the new look?

[An Ard Ri]

Imagine what the Nieuwe Kerk looked like before the fire of 1536 and the iconoclasm of the reformation,I'd imagine it was a richly decorated church.

[Marengo]

The government will pay for the enlargement of the royal crypt in Delft. The decision was made in 2012 but the execution was delayed. The enlargement means that there will be space for 20 extra coffins.

The total costs are estimated at 3,6 million. The royal family will pay 300.000 Euros.

https://gpdhome.typepad.com/nieuwsbe...-in-delft.html

[An Ard Ri]

Is there limited space at the moment?

[Stefan]

Originally Posted by An Ard Ri

Is there limited space at the moment?

I think there are now 3 places left if i remember it correct from the funerals in 2002 and 2004. So that would mean for Princess Beatrix and King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima.

[Marengo]

In 2005 it was reported that there was only place for 2 more coffins. So that means the matter was urgent.

https://www.trouw.nl/nieuws/koninkli...-vol~b4774ae9/

The vault was supposed to be enlarged during the 2013 renovation of the church, but that was delayed until now.

[Marengo]

Rick Evers says that an employee of the church has claimed that for several months in 2013 there was a proposal on the desk of the King, while the church was already undergoing renovations. It would have been more cost effective to have enlarged the vault at that period. But no reply was ever given to that proposal.

He also has a map of the proposed extension. There will now also be a door incorperated in an outside wall of the church, so the vault can be entered from there.

https://twitter.com/RickEversRoyal/s...654601728?s=20

[SLV]

The archaeological excavation will be very interesting.

[An Ard Ri]

Originally Posted by SLV

The archaeological excavation will be very interesting.

Yes I was thinking the same and goodness knows what they will discover.

[Blog Real]

Here is a list of the people who are buried in the royal crypt:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nieuwe_Kerk_(Delft)

[rominet09]

For years I paid regular visits to that beautiful church, once it was possible to climb to the top (very hard physically but I did it) I have always dreamed of visiting the vault, but it was impossible.

[Duc_et_Pair]

Originally Posted by Marengo

The government will pay for the enlargement of the royal crypt in Delft. The decision was made in 2012 but the execution was delayed. The enlargement means that there will be space for 20 extra coffins.

The total costs are estimated at 3,6 million. The royal family will pay 300.000 Euros.

https://gpdhome.typepad.com/nieuwsbe...-in-delft.html

The Government finds it reasonable to pay 3,3 million Euro because "it befits the State to take responsibility to provide sufficient space in the royal vaults" and because "it brings justice to the value and the meaning of the kingship in our Constitution and society and will befit the royal dignity".

In essence the royal mausoleum was a gift of the States-General to Louise de Coligny, the widow of the assassinated Willem I of Nassau, Prince of Orange. Because the Nieuwe Kerk (1381) is a Grade 1 listed State Monument and the enlargement of the vaults is used as an opportunity to do archaeologic and historic studies and to improve other parts of this mediaeval church of national importance, it of course comes with a firm prize tag.

[An Ard Ri]

Prior to the reformation the Nieuwe Kerk was dedicated St. Ursula of Cologne ,following the Calvinist iconoclasm of 1572 it became known as the Nieuwe Kerk so's not to be confused with the Oude Kerk which was formerly St. Bartholomew's church which dates from 1246.

[Duc_et_Pair]

Originally Posted by An Ard Ri

Prior to the reformation the Nieuwe Kerk was dedicated St. Ursula of Cologne ,following the Calvinist iconoclasm of 1572 it became known as the Nieuwe Kerk so's not to be confused with the Oude Kerk which was formerly St. Bartholomew's church which dates from 1246.

That is why it is the Old Church (1246) and the New Church (1381) after removing of the patron saint.

[An Ard Ri]

Originally Posted by Duc_et_Pair

That is why it is the Old Church (1246) and the New Church (1381) after removing of the patron saint.

And other Calvinist cities followed suit Amsterdam ,the Hague and so on.

[lucien]

Originally Posted by An Ard Ri

And other Calvinist cities followed suit Amsterdam ,the Hague and so on.

A shame really.Such a boring lot.