Leiden and the US

Located in the province of South Holland is the city of Leiden, where canals and waterways crisscross amidst old buildings steeped in charm. Far from merely picturesque, the city has a rich history - as the birthplace of Rembrandt, a nucleus of activity during the Dutch Golden Age, and the city that welcomed the Pilgrims prior to their famous voyage on the Mayflower in 1620.

CITY OF TOLERANCE

Leiden has been known as a city of tolerance for centuries. This reputation is, first and foremost, based on the university located within its walls. Founded in 1575, it’s the oldest university of the country and it has strengthened Leiden’s international orientation throughout its existence. Scientists from all over the world, from Descartes to Einstein, have come here to study religions, cultures and science and have contributed to countless innovations that are still influencing modern life. Leiden University is still the nucleus of an international network of scientists and of alumni, who all feel connected to Leiden. The university was gifted to the inhabitants of the city after the famous Relief of Leiden, an event that influences the city up to today. Ever since the year 1574, the people of Leiden celebrate an annual feast of gratitude on October 3th for their deliverance. It was here that the Pilgrim forefathers would have first seen such a celebration of thanksgiving—a tradition that they carried with them across the ocean, and which continues in the United States to this day.

CITY OF ORIGIN

Rembrandt van Rijn, the world-famous artist from the Dutch Golden Age, was born in Leiden. In the first quarter of the 17th century, Leiden was a bustling city with 24,000 inhabitants. Renowned painters, like Jan Lievens, Jan van Goyen and Rembrandt worked here at the time. The list of famous painters from Leiden continues with Jan Steen, Gerrit Dou and others, rightly giving the city its reputation of being the cradle of 17th century Dutch artistry. In 2012, Museum De Lakenhal added a new piece to its already rich collection of artworks from the Dutch Golden Age: Rembrandt’s The Spectacles Pedlar (c. 1624), a rare example from his early Leiden period.

In the 20th century, Leiden saw the rise of yet another world changing art movement. Theo van Doesburg founded magazine De Stijl in 1917. As a result, an artists’ group developed including among others Piet Mondrian, Bart van der Leck and Gerrit Rietveld. This group of painters, architects and designers aimed at autonomous universal art, intended for a new man in a new society. In 2017, exactly a century passed since De Stijl was founded. Museum De Lakenhal participated in this festive year during which De Stijl artists were put in the limelight.

CITY OF TRADE

Founded in 1874, Museum De Lakenhal has been located in the monumental ‘Laecken-Halle’ (Cloth Hall) throughout its existence. The Hall was built in 1640, when the city’s famous cloth trade was flourishing. This lavishly decorated city palace also had a practical purpose, serving as the industry’s headquarters: inside, the world-famous Leiden cloth was inspected and certified by attaching a hallmark ('lakenloodje'). For seven centuries, the identity of the city of Leiden was determined by the production of woolen cloth fabric. Eighty percent of the production was destined to be exported through Amsterdam, into the Far East and all the way to the Americas. Later, the attached leaden hallmarks have surfaced on all continents. In 1977, Krantz was the last cloth manufacturer in Leiden to close down.
Crafts and sustainability have recently reached top rank in civil society. Old techniques and fabric have achieved new esteem. To link up to this trend, Museum De Lakenhal will revive the history of Leiden Cloth. A new line of fabric will be manufactured, and it will bear the old quality hallmark. In the period of 2013 - 2019, a series of five assignments is commissioned to contemporary designers. Based on craft techniques, motifs and patterns, archive sources, documents and objects from the museum, they will develop contemporary fabrics that will be on sale in the museum shop as from 2019.

FIND YOUR ROOTS

Indeed, Americans can easily find roots in Leiden that continue to touch upon their lives. And it is in this storied city, along the banks of the Oude Vest canal, that we find Museum De Lakenhal.