Resemblance, coincidence and difference

2 Feb 2002

When 250 years ago a Swiss young man, by the name of Valentijn Giezendanner, decided to leave the Toggenburg Valley in Switzerland to find his fortune abroad, he ended up in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Knowing he had to find a bond in his new country he introduced himself, with a letter from home, in   the Nieuwe Kerk (New Church), where he married his bride, Else Must, in January 1758. 

Close by, he and his new wife lived around the corner of Dam square. Not exactly in a palace, but from the street, into a smaller street, into a little alley and finally into the smallest alley one could imagine, not wider than a door. There they lived, with all their children, in one single room. Baptisms of the children was also done in the New Church, but also in the old Church.

Today His Royal Highness Prince Willem Alexander, Prince of Orange married his Maxima in the same church. Though I'm very sure the ambiance was very different, it provided a welcome opportunity to introduce you to some facts about the church.