For tourists who visit the centre of Amsterdam, the Royal Palace on Dam Square seems almost inescapable. But not everybody is aware of the fact that the colossal building was never planned as a palace, let alone royal, but that it once was the Amsterdam town hall.
Its construction followed The Peace of Münster, a treaty between the Dutch Republic and Spain that was signed in 1648. It ended the Eighty Years' War and formally meant the start of independent Dutch Republic. For a commercial center like Amsterdam, traditionally served by free trade, this was memorable enough to replace the current - rather small - town hall with a monumental, classicist building.
The building project was huge: it took 17 years and cost 8,5 million guilders. The heavy structure, mainly built of marble and Bentheim sandstone, rested on 13,659 wooden piles, a number that Dutch schoolchildren had to learn by heart in earlier days. Not only the citizens, but also visitors from abroad, where stunned by the new town hall and praised it as ‘eighth wonder of the world’.
The costly ornamentation, inside and out, was determined by the formal functions of a city hall, but also celebrated the superiority and independence of the Republic in general and the city of Amsterdam in particular. Somewhat ironically, in 1806 the building, under French occupation, was destined to become the palace of King Louis Napoleon (brother of the emperor). Since 1813, it has functioned as the official residence of the Dutch royal family.
This cityscape by Gerrit Berckheyde (1638-1698) was made in 1672, only few years after the town hall was completed. His colorful painting underlines the mighty impression that it must have made on the people at the time. Berckheyde put them on the canvas in such a way that they virtually disappear against the backdrop of the impressive architecture. (To be continued)
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