Zuiderkerk   Southern Church

Renaissance style

The design of the church in Amsterdam Renaissance style is by Hendrick de Keyser , who was also buried in the church in 1621. A memorial stone was placed on top of his tomb in 1921.

De Keyser designed the church as a pseudo-basilica with a central nave and 2 lower side aisles, 6 bays long, with Tuscan columns, timber barrel vaults and dormers.

The top gables facing north and south and crowned by balustrades remind us of the Noorderkerk and the Westerkerk. However, the rectangular shape of the windows is unique to the Zuiderkerk.

Monet

French Impressionist painter Claude Monet painted the church during a visit to the Netherlands. There is some confusion about the date of this painting, but it was probably one of 12 paintings made by Monet in 1874 during a visit to Amsterdam. The composition is centred on the church spire, with the Groenburgwal canal leading up to it in the foreground.

Rembrandt

Three of Rembrandt's children were buried in the Zuiderkerk, which is very near to Rembrandt's house in the Jodenbreestraat.

According to local legend, he painted the Night Watch in the church because his own studio was too small, but that is a highly disputed claim.

Ferdinand Bol, one of Rembrandt's most famous pupils, was buried in the Zuiderkerk in 1680.

During WW II

The Zuiderkerk was used for church services until 1929. During the final (1944-1945) winter of World War II, known as the Hongerwinter ("Winter of Hunger") in the Netherlands because food was so scarce, the church was in use as a temporary morgue because people were dying faster than they could be buried.

Tip

From the bridge in the Staalstraat you can take a magnificent picture of the church tower and beautiful canal houses of the Groenburgwal. This must have been exactly the same place where Monet was standing.