New Church
The Nieuwe Kerk—“New Church”—rises on Dam Square beside Amsterdam’s Royal Palace, and its story turns on a single shift: it began as a Catholic parish church and later became one of the city’s great Protestant landmarks. When the Oude Kerk grew too small, the bishop of Utrecht granted permission for a second church; construction started in 1380 and finished in 1408. It was consecrated in 1409 to St. Mary and St. Catherine, with first masses held in 1410. Fire has repeatedly shaped this building. The city fires of 1421 and 1452 damaged it, and in 1645 it burned down almost entirely—after which it was rebuilt in Gothic style. In 1578, it became a Dutch Reformed church, and major renovations followed in 1892–1914, adding neo-Gothic details, then again in 1959–80. …
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