Visit the Western Church this summer!
Western or St. Gomarus Church
The construction of this imposing house of worship – adorning the Top 100 Dutch UNESCO monuments – started around 1470 and would take about 50 years. Showpieces of ‘de Wester’ are the famous choir screen from 1542 and the organ case from 1549. This is considered one of the oldest and most beautiful organ cases in the Netherlands. If you take the spiral staircase in the south portal of the church, you will find yourself 400 years back in time. Here you will find the Librije of Enkhuizen. It is the only seventeenth-century town library in the Netherlands that has been preserved in its original location.
July 1 to September 10
Tuesday to Saturday: 1:30 – 5 p.m.
Sunday: check the website
What is there to do?
– Exposition From Saint Gommarus church to Westerkerk
– Exhibition The Enkhuizer Portrait 1572
– National 1572 exhibition
– Unique 1572-creation of the Westfries Archive
– Organ recitals & organ concerts
– Guided tour libry & historic church council chamber
The Enkhuizer Portrait
1572, in that year Enkhuizen chose The Prince of Orange, a time of revolt and discord. But… Who would you have been in 1572? A geus or a prince? Or perhaps a noblewoman, kenau or monk? The invitation to
make a historical self-portrait anno 1572 appealed to many artists and creatives from Enkhuizen. It has become a colorful collection of nearly 100 works of art.
From St. Gommarus Church to Western Church
When the Enkhuizers chose the Revolt and William of Orange in 1572, the Catholic St. Gommarus Church changed into the Protestant Westerkerk. It is a major transition. A new faith takes the place of the old. The church space, first full of color and gleaming with gold and silver, becomes austere and white. What disappeared, what remained and what was added? Search along in this special exhibition.
Commemorative year 1572 - 2022
In 2022, together with some forty other municipalities, we will commemorate the “Birth of the Netherlands. It will then be 450 years since the Netherlands revolted against Spanish rule. The years 1572 and beyond mark the beginning of a quest for freedom, tolerance, solidarity and diversity. The themes of then are the themes of now. They form a common thread in the festivities in this year of remembrance.
For more information and all Enkhuizer festivities surrounding the year of remembrance, visit www.enkhuizen1572.nl.