The Nieuwe Kerk (; en, New Church) is a Protestant church in the city of

Delft Delft () is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. It is located between Rotterdam, to the southeast, and The Hague, to the northwest. Together with them, it is part of both the Rotterdam–The Hague metropolitan ...

in the Netherlands. The building is located on Delft Market Square (Markt), opposite to the

City Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually house ...

(Dutch: ''Stadhuis''). In 1584,

William the Silent William the Silent (24 April 153310 July 1584), also known as William the Taciturn (translated from nl, Willem de Zwijger), or, more commonly in the Netherlands, William of Orange ( nl, Willem van Oranje), was the main leader of the Dutch Rev ...

was entombed here in a

mausoleum A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be consi ...

Hendrick Hendrick may refer to: People * Hendrick (given name), alternative spelling of the Dutch given name Hendrik * Hendrick (surname) * King Hendrick (disambiguation), one of two Mohawk leaders who have often been conflated: ** Hendrick Tejonihokarawa ( ...

and

Pieter de Keyser Pieter de Keyser (c.1595 – 15 September 1676 (buried)) was a Dutch Golden Age architect (''bouwmeester'') and sculptor. He followed in the footsteps of his father Hendrick de Keyser and completed a number of Hendrick de Keyser's buildings a ...

. Since then members of the

House of Orange-Nassau The House of Orange-Nassau (Dutch: ''Huis van Oranje-Nassau'', ) is the current reigning house of the Netherlands. A branch of the European House of Nassau, the house has played a central role in the politics and government of the Netherlands ...

have been entombed in the royal crypt. The latest are

Queen Juliana Juliana (; Juliana Louise Emma Marie Wilhelmina; 30 April 1909 – 20 March 2004) was Queen of the Netherlands from 1948 until her abdication in 1980. Juliana was the only child of Queen Wilhelmina and Prince Henry of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Sh ...

and her husband

Prince Bernhard , house = Lippe , father = Prince Bernhard of Lippe , mother = Armgard von Cramm , birth_date = , birth_name = Count Bernhard of Biesterfeld , birth_place = Jena, Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, Germany , death_date ...

in 2004. The private royal family crypt is not open to the public. The church tower, with the most recent recreation of the spire which was designed by Pierre Cuypers and completed in 1872, is the second highest in the Netherlands, after the

Domtoren The Dom Tower (Cathedral Tower, Dutch: ''Domtoren'') of Utrecht is the tallest church tower in the Netherlands, at 112.5 metres (368 feet) in height. It is considered the symbol of Utrecht. The tower was part of St. Martin's Cathedral, als ...

in Utrecht.

History

The New Church, formerly the church of

St. Ursula Saint Ursula (Latin for 'little female bear', german: link=no, Heilige Ursula) is a legendary Romano-British Christian saint who died on 21 October 383. Her feast day in the pre-1970 General Roman Calendar is 21 October. There is little inform ...

(14th century), is the burial place of the princes of Orange. The church is remarkable for its fine tower and chime of bells, and contains the splendid allegorical monument of William the Silent, crafted by Hendrik de Keyser and his son Pieter about the year 1621, and the tomb of Hugo Grotius, born in Delft in 1583, whose statue, erected in 1886, stands in the marketplace outside the church. The tower was built 1396-1496 by Jacob van der Borch, who also built the Dom in Utrecht during the years 1444-1475. Rijksmonument report The monument for Hugo de Groot was made in 1781. The mechanical clock has 18 bells by Francois Hemony from 1659 and 30 modern bells. In the church tower there is a bell from 1662 by Francois Hemony with a diameter of 104 centimeters. In the tower there are also bells no longer in use, including 13 from 1659 by Francois Hemony, 3 from 1678 by Pieter Hemony, 3 from 1750 from Joris de Mery, and 1 from Gillett and Johnston from 1929. FabritiusViewOfDelft

The Kerk appears in the golden Age painting by

Carel Fabritius Carel Pietersz. Fabritius (; bapt. 27 February 1622 – 12 October 1654) was a Dutch painter. He was a pupil of Rembrandt and worked in his studio in Amsterdam. Fabritius, who was a member of the Delft School, developed his own artistic style ...

, A View of Delft. In 1586, Flemish scientist Simon Stevin used the church's tower to conduct an experiment on gravitational forces. Image:Delft, straatzicht met nieuwe Kerk op achtergrond vanaf Koepoortbrug foto4 2009-05-22 11.08.JPG, Nieuwe Kerk from Koepoortbrug File:Delft, de toren van de Nieuwe Kerk RM11872 vanaf de Oude Langendijk foto4 2016-03-13 12.49.jpg, Nieuwe Kerk in street view File:Delft - Church in the evening sun.jpg, The church in the evening sun

Recent discoveries

In September 2021, archaeologists announced that the remains of around 200 people had been discovered during the expansion of the royal burial chamber at Nieuwe Kerk.

People buried in the royal crypt

Delft, centrum met de Nieuwe Kerk RM11872 foto4 2014-03-09 11

Eleven people are buried in the old vault:The years between parentheses are the years in which the persons are interred in the vault. *

(1584) *

Louise de Coligny Louise de Coligny (23 September 1555 – 9 November 1620) was a Princess consort of Orange as the fourth and last spouse of William the Silent. She was the daughter of Gaspard II de Coligny and Charlotte de Laval. Biography Louise was born at ...

(1621) * Maurice of Nassau, Prince of Orange (1625) *Elisabeth, daughter of Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange (1630) *Isabella Charlotte, daughter of Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange (1642) * Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange (1647) *

Countess Catharina Belgica of Nassau Catharina Belgica of Nassau (31 July 1578 – 12 April 1648) was a countess of Hanau-Münzenberg by marriage to Philip Louis II, Count of Hanau-Münzenberg. She was regent of Hanau-Münzenberg during the minority of her son from 1612 until 1 ...

(1648) *

Amalia of Solms-Braunfels Amalia may refer to: People *Amalia (given name), feminine given name (includes a list of people so named) *Princess Amalia (disambiguation), several princesses with this name Films and television series * ''Amalia'' (1914 film), the first ...

(1675) *Three unidentified bodies. 35 people are buried in the new vault: * William II, Prince of Orange (1651) *Eldest stillborn daughter of William IV, Prince of Orange (1736) * William IV, Prince of Orange (1751) *

Anne, Princess Royal and Princess of Orange Anne, Princess Royal and Princess of Orange (12 January 1759) was the second child and eldest daughter of King George II of Great Britain and his consort Caroline of Ansbach. She was the wife of William IV, Prince of Orange, the first heredi ...

(1759) *George Willem Belgicus, son of Princess Carolina of Orange-Nassau (1762) *A stillborn child of Princess Carolina of Orange-Nassau (1767) *Eldest stillborn son of William V, Prince of Orange (1769) *Willem Georg Frederik, son of William V, Prince of Orange (1896) * Princess Pauline of Orange-Nassau (1806) * William V, Prince of Orange (1806) *Frederika Louise Wilhelmina, daughter of William V, Prince of Orange (1819) * Princess Wilhelmina of Prussia (1822) * Prince Ernest Casimir of the Netherlands (1860) *Willem Frederik Nicolaas Karel, son of Prince Frederick of the Netherlands (1834) * Wilhelmine of Prussia (1837) * William I of the Netherlands (1844) *Willem Frederik Nicolaas Albert, son of Prince Frederick of the Netherlands (1846) *

Prince Alexander of the Netherlands Prince Alexander of the Netherlands, Prince of Orange-Nassau (William ''Alexander'' Frederick Constantine Nicholas Michael, nl, Willem Alexander Frederik Constantijn Nicolaas Michiel, Prins der Nederlanden, Prins van Oranje-Nassau; 2 August 181 ...

(1848) * William II of the Netherlands (1849) * Prince Maurice of the Netherlands (1850) *

Anna Pavlovna of Russia Anna Pavlovna of Russia (russian: Анна Павловна ; nl, Anna Paulowna ; – 1 March 1865) was a queen of the Netherlands by marriage to king William II of the Netherlands. She was a Russian patriot who upheld a strict royal etiquette ...

(1865) *

Princess Louise of Prussia Princess Louise Marie Elisabeth of Prussia (; 3 December 1838 – 23 April 1923) was Grand Duchess of Baden from 1856 to 1907 as the wife of Grand Duke Frederick I. Princess Louise was the second child and only daughter of Wilhelm I, Germa ...

(1870) * Amalia of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (1872) *

Sophie of Württemberg Sophie of Württemberg (Sophie Friederike Matilda; 17 June 1818 – 3 June 1877) was Queen of the Netherlands as the first wife of King William III. Sophie separated from William in 1855 but continued to perform her duties as queen in public. Sh ...

(1877) * Prince Henry of the Netherlands (1879) *

William, Prince of Orange William, Prince of Orange (Willem Nicolaas Alexander Frederik Karel Hendrik; 4 September 1840 – 11 June 1879), was heir apparent to the Dutch throne as the eldest son of King William III from 17 March 1849 until his death. Early life Prince Wi ...

(1879) * Prince Frederick of the Netherlands (1881) *

Alexander, Prince of Orange Alexander, Prince of Orange (Willem ''Alexander'' Karel Hendrik Frederik; 25 August 1851 – 21 June 1884), was heir apparent to his father King William III of the Netherlands from 11 June 1879 until his death. For a span of 116 years, from the ...

(1884) *

William III of the Netherlands William III (Dutch: ''Willem Alexander Paul Frederik Lodewijk''; English: ''William Alexander Paul Frederick Louis''; 19 February 1817 – 23 November 1890) was King of the Netherlands and Grand Duke of Luxembourg from 1849 until his death in 18 ...

(1890) *

Emma of Waldeck and Pyrmont Emma of Waldeck and Pyrmont (Adelheid Emma Wilhelmina Theresia; 2 August 1858 – 20 March 1934) was Queen of the Netherlands and Grand Duchess of Luxembourg as the wife of King-Grand Duke William III. An immensely popular member of the Dutch R ...

(1934) *

Prince Hendrik of the Netherlands Duke Henry of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (german: Heinrich Wladimir Albrecht Ernst; nl, Hendrik Vladimir Albrecht Ernst; 19 April 1876 – 3 July 1934) was Prince consort of the Netherlands from 7 February 1901 until his death in 1934 as the husband o ...

(1934) * Wilhelmina of the Netherlands (1962) *

Prince Claus of the Netherlands Prince Claus of the Netherlands, Jonkheer van Amsberg (born Klaus-Georg Wilhelm Otto Friedrich Gerd von Amsberg; 6 September 1926 – 6 October 2002) was Prince consort of the Netherlands from 30 April 1980 until his death in 2002 as the husband ...

(2002) * Juliana of the Netherlands (2004) *

Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld (later Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands; 29 June 1911 – 1 December 2004) was a German nobleman who was Prince consort of the Netherlands from 6 September 1948 to 30 April 1980 as the husband of Juliana of t ...

(2004)

References

External links

Nieuwe Kerk Delft
{{Authority control Churches in South Holland Protestant churches in the Netherlands Rijksmonuments in Delft Towers in South Holland 1396 establishments in Europe Burial sites of the House of Orange-Nassau