Huis met de trappen - Grootehoutstraat Haarlem

Trou Moet Blycken is a historical

chamber of rhetoric Chambers of rhetoric () were dramatic societies in the Low Countries. Their members were called Rederijkers (singular Rederijker), from the French word 'rhétoricien', and during the 15th and 16th centuries were mainly interested in dramas and l ...

over 500 years old and currently a gentlemen's club located in the middle of a busy shopping area on the

Grote Houtstraat The Grote Houtstraat is a shopping street in Haarlem that connects the Grote Markt, Haarlem, Grote Markt to the Houtplein in the direction of the Haarlemmerhout woods. History The street runs along one of two old parallel roads running through the ...

Haarlem Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English language, English) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the Provinces of the Nether ...

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

History

Huis met de trappen -Pieter Biesboer praat met bezoeker

Though the society probably goes back earlier in time, the earliest document from the archives shows that it definitely was mentioned by name in 1503, so this has been historically used as the year of establishment, most recently for the 500 year anniversary in 2003.Website of Trou Moet Blycken This was not the only chamber of rhetoric in Haarlem; The Haarlem painters Job Adriaenszoon Berckheyde and

Salomon de Bray Salomon de Bray (1597 – 11 May 1664) was a Dutch Golden Age painter and architect. Biography De Bray was born in Amsterdam, but established himself in Haarlem before 1617, where he is registered as being a member of the schutterij that ye ...

were members of the chamber called 'De Wijngaardranken'. The club has kept most of its rich archive and paraphernalia and often collaborates with local institutions such as the

Frans Hals Museum The Frans Hals Museum (formerly ''Stedelijk Museum van Haarlem'') is a museum in the North Holland city of Haarlem, the Netherlands, founded in 1862, known as the Art Museum of Haarlem. Its collection is based on the city's own rich collection, b ...

, the Historisch Museum Haarlem and the to display some of their rich cultural artifacts of theater life in Haarlem and of the broader low countries of the 17th-century. Most notable is the lottery and rhetoric contest that the club hosted in 1609 which involved several chambers of rhetoric who brought their "blazoen" (

blason Blason is a form of poetry. The term originally comes from the heraldic term "blazon" in French heraldry, which means either the codified description of a coat of arms or the coat of arms itself. The Dutch term is , and in either Dutch or French, ...

) with them as a gift, and these are still on display in the meeting hall. The club leaders commissioned a written version of the various acts held at the 1609 international contest that was written by

Zacharias Heyns Zacharias Heyns (1566 – 1630) was a Netherlands printer and engraver from the Dutch Republic. Heyns was born in Antwerp as the son of the schoolmaster Peeter Heyns, who was known for his French schoolbooks and translations from Dutch to French ...

and published in 1607.Const-thoonende juweel, by de loflijcke stadt Haerlem
Heyns' record of a competition among 12 chambers of rhetoric from various Dutch cities, held by Trou at what is now the

Proveniershuis The Proveniershuis is a hofje and former schutterij on the Grote Houtstraat in Haarlem, Netherlands. The complex of buildings surrounds a rectangular garden taking up a city block that is on the Haarlem hofje route. Unlike hofjes that were mean ...

, including his own contribution for the "Wit lavender" group The front of the building is decorated with pelicans, symbolizing the blazoen of the chamber itself, a pelican feeding its young.

Rijksmonument A (, ) 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 had 61,822 l ...

report File:Haarlem-Kleine Houtstraat 37.jpg, The seat of the society from 1609 until 1880. The pelican gable stone in the middle shows the

of the club. File:RM513378 Haarlem - Grote Houtstraat 1.jpg, The

Verweyhal The Verweyhal is an exhibition space next to the Vleeshal on the Grote Markt, Haarlem. The Verweyhal was built in the 19th century as a gentlemen's society of the former drama society, later a cultural social club, Trou moet Blycken. In the se ...

was built for the society from 1876–1880, but they couldn't afford to keep it and moved to the present location instead. File:Huis met de trappen -herdenkingsbord 500jaar Trouw moet Blycken.jpg, A commemorative plaque from 2003 shows the old-fashioned names for the club's board members; Emperor, Prince, Fiscaal, Flag bearer, Vinders and a Factor File:Rederijker blazoen Haarlem De Pelikaan - Trou Moet Blycken.jpg, Blason of Trou Moet Blycken painted by

Frans Pietersz de Grebber Frans Pietersz de Grebber (1573 – c. 1649) was a Dutch Golden Age painter. Life and career Frans Pietersz de Grebber was born and died in Haarlem. He belonged to the ancient De Grebber family originally from Waterland, and was the son of P ...

File:Huis met de trappen -Pieter Biesboer onder de Blazoen geschilderd door Jan Nagel - Trouw moet Blycken.jpg, Pieter Biesboer and the Blazoen of Trou Moet Blycken painted by Jan Naghel.

References

External links

* {{Coord, 52, 22, 41, N, 4, 37, 56, E, display=title, region:NL_type:landmark_source:nlwiki Rijksmonuments in Haarlem History of Haarlem Chamber of rhetoric Dutch artist groups and collectives