"Stinking Rich" in Haarlem

After picking up our car and being somewhat discombobulated by having to drive on the “wrong” side of the road, we set out with no plans other than to stop whenever we wanted to explore.  Our first stop was only eight miles from Amsterdam, but, since we never got underway til mid-morning, it wasn’t long before it was time to stop for lunch!

Haarlem has a unique claim to fame.  A recent study found the Dutch to be the most content of the Europeans, and those folks living in Haarlem were found to be the happiest in the Netherlands.  

As we were soon to learn, the steeple of the church marked the center of town, so we parked and headed there.  We were delighted to find - as had happened for hundreds of years - an open-air market in progress. While we all were shopping for scarves, shoes, and whatever, Ron found a hardware store.  In this store, he found a coffee pot!  The pot was only $15.00 and cups were about $2.00, so just for the two of us it would only take 5 cups of coffee at 4 euros each to pay for itself!  Best decision of the entire trip.  Bill and Verda left it in the last hotel room as a gift to one of the housekeeping staff.

St. Bavo’s church was a good way to learn about medieval history.  According to Rick Steves’ guide, the church was named after St. Bavo, a local nobel who frequented seventh-century Red Light Districts during his youth. In the late 1500’s, the St. Bavo church became Protestant, and was then called the Great Church since Protestants were anti-saint.  In medieval times the church was the focal point of the everyday lives of the people of the town.  Since we were there on a market day, and the church sits right on the square, it was easy to see how, during cold or rainy weather, the market was simply moved inside the church. The base of the church is given over to lots of small shops where you can buy the well-known fries, served with mayo instead of catsup, jewelry, souvenirs, gelato, or even get a haircut.  The church owns the shops and rents them out, thus establishing itself as an economic participant in the community.

As you enter the church you feel the chill - the stone floors, stone walls and colored windows keep any warmth out.  After a while your neck starts hurting from looking up so much and you look down to notice the shape and size of the stone slabs beneath your feet, and you see names and dates engraved on them. Gives one pause to realize you are walking on the graves of people buried centuries ago. 

“Only those with piles of money to give to the church could be buried in a way that gave them an advantage in the salvation derby.  But even though the dead bodies were embalmed, they stunk.  Imagine being a peasant sitting here, trying to think about God . . . and thinking only of the stench of well-fed bodies rotting.  And the phrase “stinking rich” was born.” (Steves, p. 205)  It was the custom of the time in Europe to bury parishioners inside the church rather than a cemetery outside the church. 

St. Bavo’s church is the proud owner of a Christian Muller organ, one of the best in the world with 5,000 pipes.  Amadeus Mozart played this organ when he was only 10 years old, in 1766.  Handel played St. Bavo’s in 1740, the year before his famous Messiah debuted.  Albert Schweitzer also performed on this spectacular organ. 

Just to the left of the organ is a piece of furniture that has survived since the 15th century.  This is what I love about visiting Europe - it’s impossible to feel very important when you see things like the bench where the church gave the city’s poor their daily bread and lard over 500 years ago.  When you see this bench, the prayer, “give us our daily bread” takes on an entirely new meaning.

Even though the rich are buried here, one man was respected enough to be sculpted for all eternity on a wooden panel on the wall.  He was the Dog Whipper.  Back when the church was the site of the marketplace on rainy days, this man’s job was to keep the dogs out of the church, no doubt to keep them from running off with precious food.

After a pleasant lunch at an outdoor cafe just outside the church we continued on to tulip country.