Oosterkerk, Hoorn

Eastern Church. Single-nave cruciform church (1519) with roof turret at the crossing, not oriented. The north facade with the nave was renovated in 1616 in Hendrick de Keyser style and forms a particularly rich part of the street wall at Het Grote Oost. Choir side visible from far away from the harbours with the roof turret enlarged in 1600. Entrance portal of sandstone in the north facade. Beautiful interior furnishings: Stained glass window from 1619 (restored in 1916). Pulpit XVIIa, baptismal fence with benches, bench from 1620, benches from 1622 and 18th century benches, draught portal 1619, spiral staircase XVIIa, bell lead case 1612, two copper crowns. In the organ case by JHH Bätz from 1764, CGF Witte placed a new instrument with Hoofdwerk and Rugwerk in 1871. Bell tower with chime consisting of a bell by Ricoldus Butendiic, 15th century, diam. 61 cm and a modern bell.

Three-aisled in neo-Renaissance forms. Symmetrically arranged, obliquely positioned facade on the axis. Entrance portal with segmental pediment, crowned by cross. Statue of a saint under canopy on pier. Large, horizontally divided central window in Renaissance forms, flanked by similar blind niches under gable with palmette. The flanking towers, built in three sections, have a door with divided fanlight in the lower floor with rusticated work, a Renaissance window with central column and a round light in the second section, which, by means of bevelled corners, transitions into the polygonal third section on a balustrade decorated with palmettes and obelisks, in which blind niches and sound holes. Dome-shaped covering with slates. Stairwells with straight moulding at the side and slate roofs running up to the towers. Light openings in Renaissance forms.

The Lutheran community in Hoorn actually dates back to 1628. Johannes Vyand(t), a German minister who had fled, held the first meeting for the Lutheran inhabitants of the city on 1 October of that year in the bakery of a certain Gerbrand on the Hanekamsteeg. A number of times after that, a space in the Munt was also rented for this purpose. On 15 October of the same year, the community was officially founded. From that time on, a building called 'De Roosenobel' was rented near the Noorderkerk. Soon, problems arose between the minister and the elders, which led to dismissal. Vyand(t), however, continued to preach on his own initiative, and this degenerated into a schism within the young community. The newly appointed minister soon also came into conflict with the church council. In 1632, a piece of land on the Tempelsteeg was purchased for fl. 1700, and construction of a church began. When the number of members increased, this church space was expanded with galleries in 1645. Halfway through the next century, there was an urgent need for a new church building, as the old church had become very dilapidated and the number of parishioners was increasing. Insoluble conflicts between the then minister and a number of church council members and the inability to secure the finances delayed the construction of the new church for years. During the term of office of Isaac Scholten (1766-1778), the plans for the new building were however revived. Various plans had been submitted regarding the architecture. Ultimately, the design by Jacob Hart dating from 1761 was chosen. The work was accepted on 1 April 1768 for fl. 20,300. The old church was demolished. On 2 July 1769, the new church at the Ramen could be consecrated. The three-aisled hall church with galleries above the side aisles is built of brick, while sandstone was used for the entrance and the frame of the central window above the entrance. On both sides of the facade are brick block pilasters. From these points the walls recede in a concave manner, while the central section projects forward. In this central risalit is the natural stone entrance with rococo crowning in which the inscription: "how lovely / are / Your dwellings, LORD Zebaoth! Psalm 84:2". The wooden barrel vault is decorated internally with carved rocailles in two shades of blue, with rosettes inside. Restorations of the church took place successively in 1825, in 1850, in the years 1922-1923, 1962-1964 and finally in the period 1994-1995. In the 1922-1923, due to the decline in the number of parishioners, the church space on the east side was shortened and the freed-up space was used for a new consistory room and meeting room. The rectory dating from 1773 was also sold at that time, as was the sexton's house with a swan in the fanlight of the front door, which was built at the same time as the church.