AMSTERDAM
Achievement of Amsterdam 1555
In the Oude Kerk of Amsterdam
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Amsterdam
has a long and eventful history. The origins of the city lie in the 12th
century, when fishermen living along the banks of the River Amstel built a
bridge across the waterway near the IJ, which at the time was a large saltwater
inlet. Wooden locks under the bridge served as a dam protecting the village
from the rising IJ waters, which often flooded the early settlement. The
mouth of the river Amstel, where the Damrak is now, formed a natural harbor,
which became important for trading-exchange from the larger koggeships into
the smaller ships that sailed the merchandise deeper into the hinterland. The
oldest document referring to the settlement of "Aemstelredamme"
(Amsterdam) 'dam in the river Amstel' comes from a document dated 27 October
1275 CE. Inhabitants of the village were, by this document, exempted from
paying a bridge toll in the County of Holland by Count Floris V An
important year in the history of Amsterdam was 1275. While Aemstelland fell
under the administrative jurisdiction of the Prince-Bishopric of Utrecht,
Count Floris V of the County of Holland (1256-1296) -the hindland of
Aemstelland, granted traders, sailors and fishermen exemption from tolls.
This "Gift Letter" document, dated 27 October 1275, is the oldest
recorded usage of the name "Aemstelredamme" - Amsterdam. This meant
the inhabitants from the vicinity of Aemstelredamme acquired a right to
travel freely through the County of Holland without having to pay tolls at
bridges, locks, and dams. This was the very start of the later richness of
the young evolving city: by not having to pay tolls, traders could sell
merchandise, shipped to Aemstelredamme harbour from everywhere (Scandinavia,
Denmark, Germany), at a more competitive price in Amsterdam and the
hinterland. After the murder of Count Floris V in 1296, Amstelland again
belonged to the Sticht. By 1327, the name had developed into Aemsterdam. The text
of the privilege reads: Florens, grave van hollant, doen
condt ende kenlic alle luden, dat wij onzen luden van Amestelledamme
overmidseen versettinghe hoirre scade die wij ende onze lude hem ghedaen
hebben Soe gheven wij hem tollenvrij te varen mit horen eyghen goeden wair
dat zij doir onzen lande varen of keren. In oirconde der wairheyt soe hebben
wij dezen brief besegelt mit onzen zegele. Gegeven tot Leyden des sonnen
dages voir sinte Symons ende juden dach apostelen int jare ons heren MCC ende
LXXV."
After
Amsterdam had been granted city rights in 1275, there was a need for a seal
to be able to conclude and seal agreements as a legal entity. The seal
depicted here comes from a stamp dated 1654. On board a cog ship, two men
stand on either side of the mast, each holding the banner bearing the
municipal coat of arms depicting three Andrew's crosses. |
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The
oldest city seal in Amsterdam dates from the first half of the fourteenth century.
It shows a ship with in the mast a coat of arms with a lion, the coat of arms
of Holland. Shipping was the most important activity in Amsterdam, and the
ship is also central in later stamps. Even the new city stamps from the
Golden Age go directly back to the medieval predecessor
First seal of Amsterdam used between 1338 and 1402. (GA Amsterdam arch. Gasthuizen (342), reg.nr 51. dd.
27.XII. 1393). Snall
ship (hulk) with the coat of arms
of the count of Holland in the mast. The figure means: “admiral of Holland”
and refers to the toll privilege granted by Count Floris V to the “people who
live near the dam in the Amstel”. The levying of tolls on shipping traffic
was a count's right that was then (partly) outsourced by Floris V to these
'people'. The collection of import duties and excise duties was later always
a task of the admiralties.
The coat of arms of the city of Amsterdam
is: Gules, a pale Sable charged with three crosses saltire Argent
A marker with the arms of Amsterdam First quarter 14th century Found in 2008 when digging
the Damrak for the metropolitan.
Seals of the city of Lubeck and others: Stavoren,
Amsterdam (8x), van Amstel, Persijn (..). This print originates from Jan Wagenaar: ‘Amsterdam, In Zyne Opkomst, Aanwas, Geschiedenissen, Voorregten, Koophandel, Gebouwen, Kerkenstaat, Schoolen, Schutterye, Gilden En Regeeringe.' Published Amsterdam 1760 - 1767.
Three seals of the City of Amsterdam and two
counter-seals. 1419 The
knight on the aft of the ships bears the arms of the count of Holland from
the House of Avesnes (1299-1354) The arms
of Amsterdam first occur on the counterseals of the city The arms on the
dexter counterseal is covered with the Imperial crown of Maximilian I granted
1489
Seal of Amsterdam Polychromized version.
Munttoren Amsterdam (1938-‘39)
Polychromized achievement of the Amsterdam seal Accijnshuis Oude Brugsteeg, Amsterdam (1637-1638) Old Excise House,
Oudebrugsteeg. Built in 1637-1638 in classicist style. It is not known who designed this structure; it is attributed to
both Jacob van Campen and Pieter de Keyser. In the Excise House, the
five-member board of excise masters collected the excise duties (import
duties) that had to be paid for shiploads of, for example, grain, beer, wine,
peat, coal and spices. It was the only city college that was not located in the city hall (now Paleis op de Dam). The
brick front and side walls have Ionic sandstone pilasters for decoration. The
two doors on Oudebrugsteeg have a natural stone frame. Above each door are
two carved lions with above the left door the Amsterdam city seal (a cog
ship) and above the right door the coat of arms of the city with the three
Andrew's crosses. (wikipedia) |
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The crosses
saltire are of the first greek letter of the name of Christ: C, in itself an abbreviation of the
Chistogram XP.
At the beginning of the fourteenth century they were the badge of
office of an abbot. As such it was used in Ireland and Scotland where it is
known a the cross of St Patrick and the cross of St Andrew Therefore they may
refer to the abbey of Egmond which was the burial abbey of the counts of Holland,
lords of Amsterdam. As the crosses saltire also occur in the arms of
Ouderkerk a/d Amstel, Amstelveen and the Persijn family which may also
have been granted by the count of Holland and may refer to the Egmond abbey,
the abbots of which may have been the confessors of the counts of Holland. The
combination of white crosses on a black ground are the colors of religious
authority, in that sense it was also used by the prince archbishop of
Cologne/Koeln: Argent, a cross Sable. Egmond
Abbey had a strong relationship with the counts of Holland St.
Adelbert's Abbey is the oldest abbey in Holland, founded at the beginning of
the 10th century by Count Dirk I of West Frisia as a wooden nunnery. Dirk I
donated the property of the nearby church, which it had received on 15 June 922
from the West Frankish king Charles the Simple, for the aid against
rebellious vassals. Dirk I had the body of Adelbert exhumed from the church
of Egmond and reburied in the nunnery. According to the Vita S. Adelberti
(985), Adelbert himself would have instructed the nun Wulfsit to do this. The
abbey developed in the Middle Ages into an important religious and cultural
center in West Frisia and then Holland, with an extensive library. The noble
house of Egmont originated from the advocati (guardians) of the abbey. Count
Dirk II had the wooden nunnery replaced by a stone building and monks came
over from the reformed Sint-Pietersabdij in Ghent. After the death of her
husband Floris II in 1121, Countess Petronilla of Saxony had the building
demolished and replaced by a much larger church. She made her chaplain
Ascellinus abbot. In 1129, however, it was necessary to replace this abbot by
Wouter from St. Peter's Abbey in Ghent, who had to put things in order. In
1143 the main altar of the new abbey church was consecrated by the Bishop of
Utrecht, in the presence of Count Dirk VI and his wife, Countess Sophia. |
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A more
accepted theory is that the crosses are derived from the arms of the Persijn
family. That theory reads as follows: Historians
have long assumed that the coat of arms was derived from the coat of arms of
the Waterland family of Persijn, which owned a lot of land in and around
Amsterdam in the Middle Ages. Between 1280 and 1282 a Jan Persijn was lord of
Amsterdam. Other possessions of the Persijn family, Amstelveen
(Nieuwer-Amstel) and Ouderkerk a/d Amstel (Ouder-Amstel), carry similar coats
of arms that also show great similarities with the Persijn family coat of
arms.
Arms Persijn Seal of Persijn on a drawing
on paper: The seals of several persons 1290-1297 By: T.H. Jelgersma. Coll. Kennermerland, Noord-Hollands Archief. [1] Jan Persijn Knight
Jan Persijn of Velsen (…26-12-1283), lord of Waterland and
Marken. In 1274 he protected Haarlem against its besiegers and recieved he
Lordship of Amserdam as a reward from John of Nassau bisshop elect of
Utrecht He was lord of Amsterdam
between 1280 and 1282
Amsterdam 14th
century/Waveren 1668/ Ouder Amstel 17th century/Nieuwer
Amstel 1815 Even if
that was only briefly, it is suspected that the coat of arms of Amsterdam
comes from this Jan Persijn. Other possessions of the Persijn family,
Amstelveen and Ouderkerk a/d Amstel, have coats of arms that are very similar
to the coat of arms of Amsterdam. They just have more St. Andrew's crosses.
It could be that the crosses were some kind of markings. Or that they were
used as a symbol of justice, you could see from the city coat of arms that
the lord of the city was the guarantor of justice. In that case, the meaning
of the symbol would go back to the old ecclesiastical meaning. That would
also explain that there are more cities in the Netherlands with the Andrew's
cross, such as Breda. |
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1489 The
Imperial Crown of of the Holy Roman Empire placed upon the escutcheon During
the Hoekse en Kabeljauwse Twisten in Holland in the 15th century, the Holy
Roman Emperor Maximilian I supported the bourgeoisie in the cities in their
fight against the nobility in the countryside During these wars Amsterdam
loaned large amounts of money to Maximilian I. In 1489, the emperor gave
Amsterdam the right to use his personal imperial crown in its coat of arms, out of gratitude for
these loans. When his successor Rudolf II created a new personal crown,
Amsterdam changed the crown accordingly. After the Reformation, the
Protestant Amsterdam continued to use the crown of the Catholic emperor. In
1804, the crown of Rudolf II became the Imperial Crown of the German Nation
of the Holy Roman Empire. The Imperial Crown can be found independently at
several locations in Amsterdam.
Het Rusland 61 (1608) The
supporters of the escutcheon are two golden lions rampant The compartment the lions stand on is a stone
pedestal. The lions were added to the coat of arms in the 16th century. |
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Napoleonic version
1811-1814 |
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Adopted
1811-06-03 |
Seal [2] |
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The achievement restored Drawing Hugo Gerhard Ströhl,
1899
A motto added 1947-03-29 Motto During the
1941 February strike in Amsterdam, non-Jewish people protested against the
persecution of Jews by the Nazi regime. The impressed Queen Wilhelmina wanted
to remember the role of the citizens of Amsterdam during World War II and
created a motto consisting of the Dutch words "HELDHAFTIG, VASTBERADEN,
BARMHARTIG", meaning "Valiant,
Steadfast, Compassionate". On 29 March 1947, Queen Wilhelmina presented
the motto as part of the achievement of Amsterdam. The motto
is written on a silver scroll. This scroll is positioned on top of the
compartment under the escutcheon. At the
same time the opportunity was taken to change te model of the crown into the
crown of Emperor Rudolf which was the
crown of Austria until the fall of the Habsburg monarchy in 1918.
The
Imperial Crown of Austria was made in 1602 in Prague by Jan Vermeyen as the
personal crown of Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II, and therefore is also known
as the Crown of Emperor Rudolf II. The crown was used as a private crown of
the Holy Roman Emperors and Kings of Hungary and Bohemia from the House of
Habsburg. In 1804 it became the official crown of the newly
constituted Austrian Empire. After 1867 it remained the imperial crown
of the Cisleithanian part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until 1918. |
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Blood Belt |
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Blood Belt, 1595 Amsterdams Historiach Such
blood belts were worn over the left shoulder by mayors, bailiffs and aldermen
from the middle of the sixteenth century when pronouncing and executing a
death sentence. They are long strips of red and black velvet on which silver
Andrew's crosses have been applied. A silver city coat of arms is attached to
the ends of the bands. Under the coat of arms the year 1595. As far as is
known, a total of ten blood belts have been preserved, six of which are in
the possession of the Amsterdam Museum.
Blood Belt 1595 Amsterdams Historiach In the
bigger cities you had the Schout en zijn rakkers (bailiff and his rascals). The bailiff was a high-ranking police
officer and the rascals were his helpers. The rascals can therefore be
compared to the current police officers. The bailiff worked for the municipal
council and was mainly concerned with tracking down people who had something
up their sleeve. If he and the rascals caught a criminal, they would be taken
to court and they would decide what punishment would be imposed. |
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The chiefs of the Handboogdoelen (detail) |
The Kings sceptre of the Guild of St Sebastian
Begining16th cent [4] |
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The man on the left is Jan van de Poll, who was a colonel of the
bourgeoisie and became mayor in 1653. Van de Poll is sitting at the table and
has turned to the viewer. He holds the old king's scepter in his hand and a
Saint Sebastian, the patron saint of the Archery Guild, is depicted on the
back of his chair. His companion (the bailiff) has the blood belt in his
hands Description of the picture With a large
trophy in his hand, on the far left is Frans Banning Cocq, who had been
overman of these shooting ranges at least since 1648 and who had been
portrayed by Rembrandt in 1642 as captain of the Night Watch. Banning Cocq
had been a colonel, but because he was elected mayor in 1650, he had to
relinquish this position. The same was true of Jan van de Poll, who was a colonel of the
bourgeoisie at the same time as Banning Cocq and became mayor in 1653. Van de
Poll is sitting at the table and has turned to the viewer. He holds the old
king's scepter in his hand and a Saint Sebastian, the patron saint of the
Archery Guild, is depicted on the back of his chair. Behind the table sits
the brewer Albert Dircksz Pater, who holds the old chain of shooters with the
parrot in his hands. Pater had been overman of the Handboogdoelen since 1648
and would succeed Van de Poll as colonel. The printer Jan Willemsz Blaeu is depicted on the far right,
addressing Banning Cocq with a speaking gesture. Blaeu had been overman since
1651 and the only one in this group who had not been or would become neither
colonel nor mayor. Between Banning Cocq and Van de Poll, the goalkeeper
carries in the drinking horn of the old archery guild. In the cupboard behind
the officers are two silver tazzas, two lidded cups and a silver cup, and the
competition spoons are hung on strings. By showing the old silver holdings of
the militia, the officers would have wanted to emphasize their function as
administrators and to remind of the significance of the old militia. That
they were aware of this testifies to their task to "alle de schilderijen doen tyckenen in een boeck, met de namen der
schutters, haer qualiteyt en waepens’ have all the paintings typed in a
book, with the names of the archers, their ranks and arms" so that one
would always know who was presented here. [5] |
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The Mayors Collar |
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The
present mayor of Amsterdam wears a Collar of Office introduced by Royal
Decision of 16 November 1852 reading: De onderscheidingsteekenen, door den burgemeester te dragen, bestaan in een zilveren penning, hebbende eene middellijn van veertig strepen en vertoonende aan de eene zijde het wapen des Rijks, aan de andere dat der gemeente, of, zoo de gemeente geen wapen heeft, den naam der gemeente; de penning hangende op de borst, hetzij aan eene zilveren keten, hetzij aan een oranje zijden lint; de keten of het lint op beide schouders aan den rok of het opperkleed vastgehecht. The insignia to be worn by
the mayor consists of a silver medal, having a diameter of forty stripes and
showing on one side the coat of arms of the Kingdom, on the other that of the
municipality, or, if the municipality has no coat of arms, the name of the
municipality, the medal hanging on the breast, either on a silver collar or
on an orange silk ribbon; the collar or ribbon fastened on both shoulders to
the skirt or the robe. The
decision was ratified 1 january 1853. On the
escutcheons are the symbols of a fish, a staff of Mercury, an ear of wheat
and the shield of St Luke and on the other side the symbols of shipping,
industry, science and a goldsmith. |
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Dutch
police history begins in 1581, with the formation of the Republic of the
Seven United Netherlands. A simple police organization is created without clear
tasks and powers. In 1810 Napoleon annexed our country to the French Empire
and started to set up a police force. Cities can free up money for a bailiff;
for municipalities this is a constable. In 1813
the Netherlands regained its independence and a year later King William I
founded the Corps de Marechaussée.
That corps had twelve hundred employees and is part of the armed forces. It
performs military tasks for the armed forces and non-military tasks for the
national police. In 1858, in
addition to the Marechaussee, the National Guard Corps (Korps Rijksveldwacht) was created with fourteen hundred
employees. This force focuses on public order in the countryside. In addition
to the two forces, there are also a municipal police (eleven thousand
employees), police troops (sixteen hundred employees) and the municipal
police force. In the
Second World War there was a "Reichskommissar für die Niederlände".
The entire police force then numbers about twenty thousand people. After the
war this service is dissolved. To restore and monitor public order, the
government decided in November 1945 to establish a new police organization. A
distinction is made between the municipal police (for designated
municipalities) and the National Police Force for the rest of the country. This
division disappeared in 1994: after a major reorganization, the national and
municipal police were merged into 25 regional police forces and the National
Police Services Agency (KLPD). Each force works autonomously. This situation
will last until 1 January 2013. From that day on, the police will form a
single organization, subdivided into ten regional units, the National Unit
and the Police Services Center. From now on, one police chief will direct the
police. |
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Police Heraldry |
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The
achievement of the police force of Amsterdam consists of the arms of
Amsterdam with imperial crown and supported by two lions.
Police Headquarters.
Oudezijds Achterburgwal 185 Spinhuis. As part of a new office building,
the Spinhuis remains. a) the corner building on the O.Z. Achterburgwal, with
a four-window facade under a sandstone frame with a pediment. Festoons;
hipped roof. b) In a modern wall in the Spinhuissteeg a carved gate with
relief by Hendrik de Keyser (1607). |
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Achievement of Amsterdam by Hildo Krop Police headquarters,
Marnixstraat
The motto reads: T GEZAG DAT RUST BEHOEDT IN STAD EN STAAT / WAAKT RUSTLOOS TEGEN D’ONRUST VAN HET KWAAD the authority that
protects rest in city and state / watches restlessly
against the trust of evil In
February 1939 the tender took place for the superstructure, which was to be
completed a year later as police headquarters. Due to the German invasion of
the Netherlands in 1940, construction was delayed, the building was almost
ready in August 1941 and was therefore completed during the occupation period
during the war. In September 1941, Commissioner Tulp could enter the new
building It has
four floors with window strips in steel profiles and a lot of brick, divided
into three wings. Originally, the floors next to stairs were accessible by
paternoster lift, but later this had to make way for an ordinary lift for safety
reasons. Around a
courtyard of 40 by 40 meters was a cell building, a garage for the motorcycle
police, stables for the mounted police. There are also shooting ranges, a
carpenter's workshop, heating room, weapons rooms, storage areas and air raid
shelters. Although a large part of the facade extends along the Marnixstraat,
the public entrance was at what was then the Verlengde Elandsgracht. |
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Police
Services |
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Maintaining
public order was done by the civic
guard (schutterij). This consisted
of armed civilians who could be summoned in the event of an insurrection and,
if necessary, restore order by force. In 1394
Amsterdam had a civic guard of 75 men. Two more were founded between 1413 and
1481. The three civic guards were named longbow archers, crossbow archers and
arquebusiers (kloveniers) respectively after the weapons they used. In
September 1580 a reorganization took place: in addition to the three civic guard
companies, eleven civilian barracks were set up, which, together with the
civic guard companies, came under a single colonel-general. In the long run
these two systems merged: in 1620 there were twenty civilian levies or
companies, all belonging to one of three bases: longbow. arch-. or
Arquebusiers hall From 1650
a subdivision into regiments was introduced: an orange, a yellow, a blue, a
white and a green regiment. There was also a purple regiment from 1672 to
1681. This division remained in principle until 1795. |
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Crossbow
Archers |
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Collar
of the Guild of St. George- or of
the Guild of the crossbow archers 1510 - 1530 Amsterdams
Historisch Museum
inv.nr. KA 13963 |
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Longbow
archers |
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The arms of the Longbowmen’s
Guild (1733) Singel 421, Amsterdam The arms are: Quarterly: 1&4: Or, a bend Gules charged with
three birds Argent, shot by a single arrow Sable; 2&3: Gules a square
cross between four smaller crosses Or. (St. Sebastian) |
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The arms are between four
smaller coats of arms of the chiefs of the longbowmen's shooting range.
Heraldic signboard of Frans Banninck Cocq, Lord of
Purmerland and Ilpendam, Artus Quellinus (I) Ascribed
to), ca. 1655
On the sinister upper corner
are the arms of Jan van de Poll, and in
the dexter the arms of Albert Dircksz
Pater and Jan Willemsz Blaeu |
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Arquebusiers / Kloveniers |
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Collar of the Amsterdam Arquebusiers guild,
anonymous, ca. 1500 - ca. 1524 Gilded silver, l 80,0cm × d
40,0cm × d 2,5cm Some
links of this collar are decorated with claws, a symbol of the Amsterdam Arquebusiers guild. The winner of the shooting
competition of the Arquebusiers - the archer king - got to wear the collar
for a year. The names of two winners were attached to the collar in the 17th
century. |
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Banners |
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A
collection of banners of the civic guard was donated to the Rijksmuseum in
1888 but these were lost in the following hundred years because they were
stored incompetently.
Civic Guard of Amsterdam, 1620 The ensign with a banner of
the Arms of Amsterdam [6]
Civic Guard of Amsterdam, 1623 The ensign with a banner of
the achievement of Amsterdam [7]
Civic Guard of Amsterdam, 1648 The ensign with a banner
showing the Virgin of Amsterdam with coat of arms [8]
Banner of the Blue Regiment. 18th century Coll Rijksmuseum Amsterdam [9] |
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Night Watch |
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Maintaining public order was also done by the night watch.. The real night watch was usually not dressed as beautifully as the men in the famous painting. Night watchmen had the arduous and thankless task of ensuring that civilians could sleep safely during the night hours. The intention was that they would patrol the streets to prevent the crooks' guild from breaking into the decent citizens. They did not have firearms, they usually carried a large stick and often a so-called clapper. This was a kind of wooden handle with a hammer attached to it. That stem was swung back and forth like a bell, creating a clattering sound. The night watchman walked through the streets and called out what time and whether everything was quiet. Another name for these men was therefore clapper.
Night watchman with sper and clapper
Clapper |
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Badges and
Headdress |
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Night watchman, 1840 ca Spear, lantern and tall hat
Police officers, 1810 ca Cocked hat, stick and sabre
Police officer, 1844 Tall hat with badge, stick
and sabre
Constable of Amsterdam 1900ca
1855-1880
Helmet 1898-1913
1917-1932 kepie In the
beginning of the 19th century the coat of arms of Amsterdam was on the
headdress of the officers of the
municipal police. At the end of that century a copper emblem of the
achievement was on the front of the police helmets. These helmets were abandoned
in the beginnig of te 20th century because they were too hot and heavy and
replaced by a cap ensigned of the arms of Amsterdam.
World War II
Chief of Police post-war -1964 |
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Badge 1964-1994 |
Star 1964-1994 |
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VIGILAT UT QUIESCANT He watches that they may rest
Badge 1994 |
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Korps Landelijke Politiediensten |
National Police Services Agency |
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The Korps
landelijke politiediensten (KLPD; (National Police Services Agency, lit. '"national
police services corps"') was the national police force in the
Netherlands from 1993 until 2013, responsible for specialist missions that
benefited from a centralized approach. The KLPD
was independent from the regional police forces; but like them, it was subordinate
to the Dutch Ministry of the Interior and had a staff of approximately 4,500.
The KLPD operated both at national and international level from its HQ in
Driebergen nearUtrecht. The agency also maintained the national most wanted
list. Since
January 2013 there is a single Korps Nationale Politie (National Police Corps), divided in ten regional units and a
central unit.
Waakzaam
en Dienstbaar watchful and obliging present
logo and motto |
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©
Hubert de Vries 2021-04-03
Heraldry of the World