Discover the Oude Kerk

What strikes you when entering the Oude Kerk today is the impressive emptiness. Or as writer Milan Kundera wrote: "Through this gigantic hall has passed the Great March of history. In the church, only the high, bare, white walls, the columns, the vault, and the windows of the old Gothic style remained. The church has been cleared out like a gymnasium." The famous writer refers here to the Reformation, the major European church reform, which in 1566 led to uprisings in the Low Countries. Everywhere, church interiors fell victim to looting and destruction during this so-called Iconoclasm. After the Protestant takeover of the city government in 1578, the church interior was further simplified. Yet, traces of the Catholic past can still be found. For example, the remnants of paintings on the wooden vaults and the colourful stained glass windows in the Mary Chapel.

In the Oude Kerk, you find art and craftsmanship from various periods. Look up to the medieval paintings on the wooden vaults of the church, and look down: the floor is covered with tombstones. The grave of Saskia van Uylenburgh, Rembrandt's wife, can be found under the small choir organ on the side. In various places in the church, you'll see work by contemporary artists who engage with the building and its history. Visit the Holy Sepulchre with the red stained glass window (2018) by Giorgio Andreotta Calò and admire the pictorial light in the photographic work, #0095 [Inside] (2017), by Misha de Ridder.

In the Oude Kerk restoration work is on going. You'll always find scaffolding somewhere. This past spring, two stained glass windows in the north aisle of the church were reinstalled after being absent for many years. As a result, the Oude Kerk can now be seen without scaffolding for the first time in a long while. Read more here about current and recent restorations.

Our programme is supported by the Amsterdam Fund for the Arts and the Mondriaan Fund.