The Teisterbant club was the name of an artists' society 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 ...

that flourished between 1950 and 1973. In 1949 the Haarlem writer

Godfried Bomans Godfried Jan Arnold Bomans (2 March 1913 – 22 December 1971) was a Dutch author and television personality. Much of his work remains untranslated into English. Life and career Godfried Bomans was born in The Hague and grew up in and aroun ...

sent out a pamphlet inviting "art practitioners, art-lovers and those interested in art" to join his new society, which could hold its meetings in the basement of the restaurant "Brinkman" on the

Grote Markt, Haarlem The Grote Markt is the central market square of Haarlem, Netherlands. According to the 1911 ''Encyclopædia Britannica''; Buildings of interest *Frans Hals Museum - Hal *Grote Kerk, Haarlem *Haarlem City Hall *Statue of Johann Costerus *Archa ...

. The name was taken from the pseudonym of

Willem Bilderdijk Willem Bilderdijk () (7 September 1756 – 18 December 1831) was a Dutch poet, historian, lawyer, and linguist. Life Willem Bilderdijk was born on 7 September 1756 in Amsterdam in the Dutch Republic.Joris van Eijnatten,Bilderdijk, W., ''Bio- en ...

, a Haarlem writer who had believed he was descended from the Teisterbant family of the Duchy of the same name. The capital of medieval Teisterbant was

Tiel Tiel () is a municipality and a town in the middle of the Netherlands. The town is enclosed by the Waal river and the Linge river to the South and the North, and the Amsterdam-Rhine Canal to the East. Tiel comprises the population centres Kapel- ...

. Bilderdijk died in the house next door to Brinkman and the facade has a commemorative gable stone to Bilderdijk. At the opening of the club, in March 1950, Bomans's Teisterbant had managed to attract 180 members, among them

Lodewijk van Deyssel Lodewijk van Deyssel was the pseudonym of Karel Joan Lodewijk Alberdingk Thijm (22 September 1864, Amsterdam – 26 January 1952), a Dutch novelist, prose-poet and literary critic and a leading member of the Tachtigers The Tachtigers ("Eightier ...

(who died that year),

Mari Andriessen Mari Silverster Andriessen (4 December 1897 – 7 December 1979) was a Dutch sculptor, best known for his work memorializing victims of the Holocaust. Born and died in Haarlem, Andriessen is buried at the RK Begraafplaats Sint Adelberts in Bl ...

Harry Mulisch Harry Kurt Victor Mulisch ( ; 29 July 1927 – 30 October 2010) was a Dutch writer. He wrote more than 80 novels, plays, essays, poems, and philosophical reflections. Mulisch's works have been translated into over thirty languages. Along with Wi ...

and

Anton Heyboer Anton Heyboer (; 9 February 1924 – 9 April 2005) was a Dutch painter and printmaker. Biography According to the informational booklet "Anton Heyboer: Timeless Work", he was born on the small island of Pulau Weh in the north of Sumatra as the ...

. The club organized literary evenings, film evenings, music evenings and chess competitions. The club was disbanded soon after Bomans died. In September 2009, the "New Artists Society Teisterbant" was established that also holds its meetings in Restaurant Brinkman. Because the basement rooms no longer exist since a major reconstruction of the housing block, the new group must meet upstairs.

References

* ''De keldergang der heren'', by

Louis Ferron Louis Ferron (born Karl Heinz Beckering; 4 February 1942 – 26 August 2005) was a Dutch novelist and poet. Biography Louis Ferron was born in Leiden out of an adulterous relationship between a married German soldier and a waitress from Haarlem ...

, Bussum, Unieboek/De Haan, 1981 * ''Bomans en Teisterbant'' in Jaarboek Haerlem 1971, by Jan Brants, Haarlem, Schuyt & Co., 1972 History of Haarlem Dutch artist groups and collectives