Noorderkerk

The Noorderkerk is a seventeenth-century Protestant church in Amsterdam’s Jordaan, beside the lively Noordermarkt square. The architect Hendrick de Keyser designed this church. Its octagonal plan forms a symmetrical Greek cross with four equal arms and corner annexes. A small central tower marks the centre of the building. Inside, large Tuscan pillars and a central pulpit express the church’s Protestant architectural character. The historic organ inside the church dates from 1849. The church began as a place for working people in the expanding northern Jordaan. Today, Dutch Reformed services still use the church. Concerts and community gatherings also make use of its interior, whose acoustics suit classical music. A plaque on the south face recalls the February Strike of 1941. The church became a national monument in 1970. Vincent van Gogh heard a sermon here, adding a documented connection to Amsterdam’s artistic history. The church has undergone restoration, including work on the tower and organ during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Its open interior supports worship, music, dinners, receptions, and community events.