1885 NZVoorburgwal (Christiaan le Blansch)

The Makelaers Comptoir or (in modern

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

spelling) Makelaarskantoor, the "

broker A broker is a person or firm who arranges transactions between a buyer and a seller for a commission when the deal is executed. A broker who also acts as a seller or as a buyer becomes a principal party to the deal. Neither role should be confu ...

s' office", is a 17th-century

guildhall A guildhall, also known as a "guild hall" or "guild house", is a historical building originally used for tax collecting by municipalities or merchants in Great Britain and the Low Countries. These buildings commonly become town halls and in som ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

, at the corner of

Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal The Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal () is a street in the centre of Amsterdam. The street runs north-south without intersecting major streets other than the intersection with Raadhuisstraat at its halfway point, right behind the Royal Palace. On the eas ...

and the alley Nieuwe Nieuwstraat. It is one of the few remaining guildhalls in Amsterdam. The building has held ''

rijksmonument A rijksmonument (, ) is a national heritage site of the Netherlands, listed by the agency Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed (RCE) acting for the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. At the end of February 2015, the Netherlands ...

'' status since 1970. It is not open to the public, but is rented out occasionally for small events such as meetings, lunches and dinners. In 2009 the building was opened to the public during '' Open Monumentdag''.

History

The Makelaers Comptoir was constructed in 1633-1634 to serve as a guildhall for the

guild A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular area. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradesmen belonging to a professional association. They sometimes ...

. These brokers served as intermediaries between buyers and sellers trading in coffee, tobacco, grain and other goods that were brought to Amsterdam from all corners of the world during the

Dutch Golden Age The Dutch Golden Age ( nl, Gouden Eeuw ) was a period in the history of the Netherlands, roughly spanning the era from 1588 (the birth of the Dutch Republic) to 1672 (the Rampjaar, "Disaster Year"), in which Dutch trade, science, and Dutch art, ...

. The brokers' guild was founded in 1612 and had its headquarters in the former home of a spice trader called Hendrick Opmeer. About a year later, in 1614, the guild decided to tear down the house and replace it with a new building in the same location. Construction started on 5 March 1633, and on 1 November 1634 the building was complete. The Makelaers Comptoir was built in Amsterdam Renaissance style, which was very popular at the time. The architect was probably the carpenter Peter Mychielsen. The two-floor building had a red brick facade with blocks of natural stone. The

stepped gable A stepped gable, crow-stepped gable, or corbie step is a stairstep type of design at the top of the triangular gable-end of a building. The top of the parapet wall projects above the roofline and the top of the brick or stone wall is stacked in a ...

was richly decorated with ornate side-pieces (''klauwstukken''),

scrollwork The scroll in art is an element of ornament and graphic design featuring spirals and rolling incomplete circle motifs, some of which resemble the edge-on view of a book or document in scroll form, though many types are plant-scrolls, which l ...

and decorative vases. The front entrance is framed by a

pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedimen ...

-shaped gate with two Ionic

pilaster In classical architecture Classical architecture usually denotes architecture which is more or less consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or sometimes even more specifically, from the ...

s. The

cartouche In Egyptian hieroglyphs, a cartouche is an oval with a line at one end tangent to it, indicating that the text enclosed is a royal name. The first examples of the cartouche are associated with pharaohs at the end of the Third Dynasty, but the fea ...

above the gate reads "1633", the year construction on the building started. In 1739, 1836 en 1937, the building underwent renovations. During the 1836 renovation, the stepped gable was replaced with a

clock gable The clock gable ( nl, klokgevel), also known as Dutch clock gable, is a gable or facade with decorative shape characteristic of traditional Dutch architecture. The top of the gable is shaped like the cross-section of a church bell. It was mostly us ...

and oil was applied to the facade, changing the red brick to a dark brown colour. In 1937, however, the original situation was restored, although the Latin inscription '' Soli Deo Gloria'' over the front door was replaced with ''Vrijheid is voor geen geld te koop'' ("liberty is not for sale at any price"). In 2002, the building was sold to the historic preservation society at the symbolic price of 1

euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...

. Restoration of the building followed during the period 2003-2004.

Interior

The interior is well preserved because the building never had any other owner than the brokers' guild. The ''voorhuis'' (front part of the house), with its checkered black-and-white marble floor, is considered the best-preserved in Amsterdam.Vereniging Hendrick de Keyser
(Dutch) The 18th-century fireplace in the guild director's chamber has been preserved, with a

mantelpiece The fireplace mantel or mantelpiece, also known as a chimneypiece, originated in medieval times as a hood that projected over a fire grate to catch the smoke. The term has evolved to include the decorative framework around the fireplace, and c ...

dating to 1760. The fireplace also features a painting by

Philips Vingboons Philips Vingboons (or ''Vinckboons'', ''Vinckeboons'', ''Vinckbooms'') ( – 2 October 1678) was a Dutch architect. He was part of the school of Jacob van Campen, that is, Dutch Classicism. Vingboons was especially highly regarded in his native c ...

showing the Amsterdam bourse, the . The walls are decorated with the coat-of-arms of guild directors. An image of a rose was carved out and gilded on one of the ceiling beams in the ''voorhuis''. The rose, symbolizing confidentiality and discretion, indicated that everything discussed in the room was below remained ''

sub rosa ''Sub rosa'' (New Latin for "under the rose") denotes secrecy or confidentiality. The rose has an ancient history as a symbol of secrecy. History In Hellenistic and later Roman mythology, roses were associated with secrecy because Cupid ga ...

'' (confidential). A number of brokers' staffs are still present in the Makelaers Comptoir. These staffs, bearing the city's coat of arms, were carried by brokers as a form of identification.

Sources

Gemeente Amsterdam, Bureau Monumenten & Archeologie
(Dutch)

(Dutch) *

References

{{Coord, 52, 22, 31, N, 4, 53, 33, E, region:NL, display=title Rijksmonuments in Amsterdam Guildhalls in the Netherlands Buildings and structures completed in 1634 1634 establishments in the Dutch Republic