The Hofje van Bakenes or Bakenesserkamer is a
hofje
{{inline refs needed, date=May 2012
A hofje (diminutive of 'hof', 'court') is a Dutch word for a courtyard with almshouses around it. Hofjes have existed since the Middle Ages.
A hofje provided housing for elderly people (mostly women). T ...
in
Haarlem
Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English) is a city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Holland. Haarlem is situated at the northern edge of the Randstad, one of the most populated metropoli ...
,
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
, located between the Bakenessergracht and the Wijde Appelaarsteeg. In the Middle Ages "kamer" or "room" meant house. Usually the houses within a hofje consisted of just one room.
History of the foundation
The hofje was founded from the legacy of Dirck van Bakenes (or Dirc van Bakenesse) in 1395. This makes it the oldest hofje in the Netherlands. The earliest mention of it in town records is from the History of Haarlem by
Samuel Ampzing in 1628, who claims to have copied the ''stichtingsbrief'' or letter of foundation (since lost). In the records of the ''Hofje van Gratie'' (torn down in 1960 to make way for the new wing of the
Haarlem Public Library
The Stadsbibliotheek Haarlem (Haarlem Public Library) is a collective name
for all public libraries in the Haarlem area of the
Netherlands. The first ''public'' library of Haarlem opened in 1921 at the
cloisters of the Haarlem City Hall where ...
), their stichtingsbrief from 1554 claims to be governed ''in the same manner by the Haarlem council as the Hofje van Bakenes.'' Further records from the Haarlem archives show that the straw roofs were replaced by tiled ones in 1610, and a major restoration was conducted in 1657, which appears to be the proper date of the current buildings. Originally 13 houses for 20 women, one house was redesigned as a regent's room in 1663. This is also the date of the keystone with the rhyme
''Ingang vant Gesticht/ van Dirck van Baekenes/ voor Vrouwen acht en/ twee mael ses''
Translation:
''Entrance of the foundation of Dirck van Baekenes for ladies eight and two times six''
:This has two meanings
:m = (8 + 2) * 6 = 60 is the minimum age for ladies to be eligible for living there
:n = 8 + (2 * 6) = 20 is the number of people who ''could'' live there
Address: Wijde Appelaarsteeg 11
References
* ''Deugd boven geweld, Een geschiedenis van Haarlem, 1245-1995'', edited by Gineke van der Ree-Scholtens, 1995,
* ''Haarlems hofjes'', Dr.
G. H. Kurtz, Schuyt & Co C.V., Haarlem, 1972,
* ''Door gangen en poorten naar de hofjes van Haarlem'', L. Peetorn and L. van der Hoek, Stichting Uitgeverij Barabinsk Leiden, 2001,
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hofje Van Bakenes
1395 establishments in Europe
Hofjes
Rijksmonuments in Haarlem