Demolition Holy Stead
From 1590 it was used for worship by the Netherlands Reformed Church (Nederlands Hervormde Gemeente) who, in order to break completely with the past, renamed it Nieuwezijds Chapel and demolished the fireplace in the ‘holy corner’. In the 19th century the chapel suffered more and more from decay, for instance, the leaded window with the picture of Maximilian had to be replaced by normal glass, and the pillars sagged. From 1898 the chapel was no longer needed for worship. It was a decision which has always been deplored, since the chapel was also important historically for Amsterdam.
“Between Rokin, Wijde Kapelsteeg, Kalverstraat and the Enge Kapelsteeg was from 1347 to 1908 the Nieuwezijds Chapel or Holy Stead, founded for the glory of the Miracle of Amsterdam. Two of the numberless pilgrims were the emperors Maximilian and Charles V. The column, preserved by the municipality was erected again in 1988 by the institution ‘Amsterdam Versierd’ in order to be an everlasting memorial of the first development and prosperity of the town.” A niche (Dutch: nis) has been carved into the stone, referring to the fireplace where the miracle took place in 1345.
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After the Alteration when the chapel was first used as a storehouse, it was already falling into disrepair.
The Catholics wanted to buy it back and protested loudly when, in 1908, it was nevertheless demolished. The Protestant church council considered the worship of the Host as superstition which could only be extirpated by demolishing the place.
A few elements of the chapel have been preserved. An old entrance gate from the 16th century has been used again in the Enge Kapelsteeg and the turret was placed on another Roman Catholic church De Papegaai (the parrot) in the Kalverstraat. Fragments of the chapel were found in Frankendaal, some were moved to another park in the north of Amsterdam before then being built into a column in the Rokin. At present, however, this column has been removed for some years in connection with the construction of the subterranean North-South line. On the plaque at the bottom of this column we read this text:
A smaller Nieuwezijds Chapel was built where the Holy Stead had stood, and put to use in 1912. This chapel was surrounded by shops. From 1974 it was no longer used for Protestant worship. For a short while it functioned as a mosque. Starting mid 2005 this former church is in use by the Amsterdam Dungeon.
(Gedachte is in English: thought) whereas the expression: ‘ter gedachtenis aan’ means in memory of. Perhaps you see the play upon the words in ‘GedachteNis’ a front-stone showing a niche in memory of the fireplace in the form of a niche, where in 1345 the miracle took place.