Keizersgracht 143 is a canal house on the eastern side of the

Keizersgracht The Keizersgracht (; "Emperor's canal") is a canal in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. It is the second of the three main Amsterdam canals that together form the Grachtengordel, or canal belt, and lies between the inner Herengracht and outer Prinsengr ...

between

Leliegracht The Leliegracht (; Lily Canal) is a canal in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, between Herengracht (no. 148 and 169) and Prinsengracht (no. 124 and 241). The canal lies within the western Grachtengordel (canal belt) in the Jordaan neighborhood of the A ...

and Herenstraat in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

. It is a national monument of "very high value" ''(zeer hoge waarde) ''and "national distinction" ''(nationale kenmerkendheid)'' according to the Dutch Cultural Heritage agency.

Construction

It was built shortly after 1700. The façade and sculpted staircase dates to the 18th century while the door and white pediment at the top of the house are from the 19th.

Residents and Functions

*In 1855, Carel Tellinger (b. 1817, Naples) lived here. He was a co-founder of the Tanah Wangie-maatschappij, a trading company in the Dutch East Indies. *At some point between 1855 and 1864, the Boissevain family, a

patrician Patrician may refer to: * Patrician (ancient Rome), the original aristocratic families of ancient Rome, and a synonym for "aristocratic" in modern English usage * Patrician (post-Roman Europe), the governing elites of cities in parts of medieval ...

family of

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...

origin, acquired the house and various Boissevains lived there until 1930: **Henri Jean Arnaud Boissevain (1813–1891) lived here and worked here at his insurance brokerage "H.J.A. Boissevain and Sons", which moved here in 1859. ** Ursul Philip Boissevain (or Ursulus Philippus, U.Ph.Boissevain) (1855–1930), a professor of ancient history and Roman antiquities at the

University of Groningen The University of Groningen (abbreviated as UG; nl, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, abbreviated as RUG) is a public research university of more than 30,000 students in the city of Groningen in the Netherlands. Founded in 1614, the university is th ...

and member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, lived here. He was an author of historical works, especially active from 1898 to 1930. He lived here with his wife Wilhelmina Carolina Momma. **Walrave Boissevain ( Wikipedia article in Dutch) (1876–1944), a Dutch liberal politician, lived here from at least 1916–1924. *There is however evidence that a Ms. J. van Hattum also lived here in 1921. *In May 1931, Willem Cohen acquired the house. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

a Jewish resident Ms. Betje Cohen (1898–1942) was rounded up; she died in 1942 in Auschwitz. Two children who had been living at home survived. *In September 1946 Mr. Dirk van Laane (b. 1887) acquired the property *For some time during the 1940s and 1950s, the house was used for offices for the

cable radio Cable radio or cable FM is a concept similar to that of cable television, bringing radio broadcasting into homes and businesses via coaxial cable. It is generally used for the same reason as cable TV was in its early days when it was "community ...

service: the switchboard, technical service, and administration. *The Department of Securities Registration of the Council for Restitution ''(Afdeling Effectenregistratie van de Raad voor het Rechtsherstel)'' was housed here after that. Stichting Jokos, a Jewish foundation for restitution, was also here from its founding in 1958 until at least 1960. *During the 1960s and 70s the

Vrije Universiteit The Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (abbreviated as ''VU Amsterdam'' or simply ''VU'' when in context) is a public research university in Amsterdam, Netherlands, being founded in 1880. The VU Amsterdam is one of two large, publicly funded research ...

Amsterdam (Free University of Amsterdam) used the building. There are references in 1962 to a Botanical-Zoological Laboratory (''Botanisch-Zoölogisch Laboratorium'') here and later in 1967–1968 the Institute for Applied Linguistics (''Instituut voor Toegepaste Taalwetenschap''). *The building is currently a condominium

Interior

The entire interior of a main room dating back to 1710 including tapestries was removed in 1931 and is now on display in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...

at the

Gemeentemuseum Den Haag The Kunstmuseum Den Haag is an art museum in The Hague in the Netherlands, founded in 1866 as the Museum voor Moderne Kunst. Later, until 1998, it was known as Haags Gemeentemuseum, and until the end of September 2019 as Gemeentemuseum Den Haag. I ...

. The ceiling paintings look up into heaven where the Roman goddesses of wisdom (

Minerva Minerva (; ett, Menrva) is the Roman goddess of wisdom, justice, law, victory, and the sponsor of arts, trade, and strategy. Minerva is not a patron of violence such as Mars, but of strategic war. From the second century BC onward, the Rom ...

) and Justice (

Justitia Lady Justice ( la, Iustitia) is an allegorical personification of the moral force in judicial systems. Her attributes are scales, a sword and sometimes a blindfold. She often appears as a pair with Prudentia. Lady Justice originates from the ...

), are floating. The tapestries by Alexander Baert of

Oudenaarde Oudenaarde (; french: Audenarde ; in English sometimes ''Oudenarde'') is a Belgian municipality in the Flemish province of East Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Oudenaarde proper and the towns of Bevere, Edelare, Eine, Ename, H ...

show an imaginary nature scene. 18th century ceiling paintings remain in the front room on the ground floor.KennisInfrastructuur CultuurHistorie
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Former house number

In the

house numbering House numbering is the system of giving a unique number to each building in a street or area, with the intention of making it easier to locate a particular building. The house number is often part of a postal address. The term describes the num ...

system prior to 1875, the house had the number 199 in district RR ("RR 199"). In the house numbering system previous to that (before 1853) the house had number (''kleine nummer'') 324 in district 45.

External links

"Gobelinzaal", Gemeentemuseum Den Haag
retrieved 2010-06-26

References

{{coord, 52.3758, 4.8868, type:landmark_region:NL, display=title Rijksmonuments in Amsterdam