Lunch at the Stedelijk Museum- 2016

It got to be about 12 and we went out for lunch.

Statue of a shepherd near the canal

I decided to go to the museum cafe. This is the building opposite the church. In addition to the library, this is where the museum is and also an Art Center

Stichting Bibliotheek Kennernerwaard


Museum building - Cafe on left


Table flowers

There was some language barrier but we eventually got a cheese sandwich, a tomato based soup and tea for 25.5€


Cheese sandwich


Part of the shop next to the cafe

Then I thought the rain had stopped so we started out, but the rain started again so we decided to go through the museum.


On the wall of the lobby

But first I showed the lady at the desk the copy of the Polaroid of the cheese market that Daddy took. She said her colleague was the "Cheese Father" and would like to see it. So he came and he identified the two men and said that they were both dead (which isn't a surprise as they would be well over 100 years old today). He asked me to bring the photo tomorrow as they would be interested. This was a good tip.

The exhibit was on the -1 floor. That is it was in the basement. There was an elevator. One of the exhibits is the 'Portrait of Alkmaar' which presents the "DNA" of Alkmaar. Alkmaar is full of history and wonderful old architecture. In a thousand years Alkmaar grew from a settlement with ten farms to a proud city with 100,000 inhabitants. In the portrait hall are five themed islands showing important or typical objects. Each theme island is introduced by a special Alkmaarder (in a video). There are numerous portraits, cityscapes and landscapes of the area



Painting of the town


View of town and country


Portrait of Dirck van de Reemister and cabinet


China display


Officers of the Old Civic Guard in Landscape 1613

There is no other painting of civic guardsmen on a day out. In the distance is Alkmaar's Great Church, and the artist is in the center with his wife.

Officers of the old Civic Guard 1657. Standing proudly in the center the captains Jacob Baert and Cornelis Groot

The main part of the museum was called THE VICTORY!!! Alkmaar is very proud of the fact that they were the first Dutch city to withstand the Spanish siege during the Eighty Years' War. There was a seven week siege which ended on October 8, 1573 This eventually led to the creation of the independent Republic of the United Netherlands and the heyday of the Golden Age.

Explanation of the victory

I found the exhibit a little confusing - there were arrows to follow on the floor, and we got to TV screens where we heard from various participants such as Jacob, Catholic farmer Dirk, Protestant dweller Cornelia, and Spanish soldier Juan. Passages from the diary of Nanning Foreest theatrical visualizations, paintings of the siege, letters, musket balls, armor and artillery - including a gun from approximately 1570

Weapons of the time


Battle painting

This is what one of the presentations said:

Part of the video presentation

The retreat
"In the early morning on the eighth day of the month, all the Spaniards left. And so the siege of Alkmaar which had lasted for seven weeks and which had cost the Spaniards huge sums of money and material damage and would be to their everlasting shame and discredit, was lifted.

Part of the video presentation

By contrast, God brought the city of Alkmaar prestige in their joyous victory and celebrated triumph, so the city might justifiably and honourably be counted among the foremost cities of Holland."

There is also a display of a 2010 excavation in Alkmaar where archaeologists discovered skeletons in mass graves - including a skull with bullet hole.

Two skeletons from a small mass grave 1573

But I couldn't really tell where the end of the exhibit as the arrows seemed to be circular.