Ode to Haesje Claes | Credit where credit's due

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Haesje Claes. Benefactor in Amsterdam. Her name has been singing around town for centuries in relation to the Burgerweeshuis (Civic Orphanage of Amsterdam). Haesje literally has the debatable honor of being the founder of this orphanage. In contrast, her role in the foundation of the Oudemannenhuis is indisputable.

Alleged founder

Claesdr. was born in Amsterdam on December 8, 1475. She is the daughter of Claes Jacobsz. and his wife Haze. Haesje marries the widower Claes Jacobsz., namesake of her father, and lives with him 'In't Paradys' in the Warmoesstraat. At the current number 148. Whether this marriage was blessed with children is not known. Both spouses belong to the upper class of Amsterdam. Presumably Haesje is the sister of Gerbricht Claes, wife of the equally wealthy German banker Pompeius Occo, who lives in 'het Paradys' at the beginning of Kalverstraat. There is no shortage of money. The pious Haesje reaches a respectable age. Shortly before 1544, she dies. She is buried in the chapel of the Friars Minor on the Nieuwezijds Achterburgwal. When in 1581, shortly after the Alteration, the convent church is demolished, her remains are transferred to the New Church.

Haesje's name is often mentioned in the same breath with the Civic Orphanage, of which she is the alleged founder. In the centuries that follow, opinions about this vary. Her contribution to the establishment of the Oudemannen- en Vrouwenhuis, also located on Kalverstraat, is black and white. This cannot be tampered with.

Yes Haesje?

The Amsterdam Museum owns an equally questionable portrait of Haesje. It is encased in a black frame that bears the name of the painter Frans Pourbus II, born in 1569. A portrait that, if indeed by his hand, cannot have been painted to life. On the back of the panel are two bills pasted, in two different handwritings. The older one mentions Haesje as the founder of a charitable institution: 'Haasje Klaas daughter in 't Paradise, out being.... foundress of a God house and other Love gifts'). The second mentions the donation of this portrait to the Civic Orphanage: 'This Portrait was given by the Lord Pieter van Winter Nicolaas Simons Son, former Regent of the Civic Orphanage of the City of Amsterdam to this Institution as a Gift on March 3rd, 1802.' The portrait, like the person portrayed, appeals to the imagination. An engraving made after this portrait by Jacobus Houbraken (1698-1780) has the caption: 'Haasje Klaas daughter, in 't Paradys; Foundress of 't Burger Weeshuys, J. Houbraken, after the origin'. The 'origin' hangs for a long time in the Regentenkamer, under the clock and now rests in the museum's depot. The identification of the portrayed may have been fueled by early literature. Historians such as Johannes Isacus Pontanus (1571-1639) and Jan Wagenaar (1709-1773) are to be credited.

No Haesje?

Haesje as a foundress? Opposition comes from Johan ter Gouw (1814-1894) also city historian in Amsterdam. He claims that a special connection between Haesje and the orphanage has not been proven. In his History of Amsterdam from 1886, he refers the 'legend' of 'Stichteresse van het Burgerweeshuis' without pardon to 'the realm of fables'. Later historians take Ter Gouw to heart. Her part in Amsterdam history is limited to the Oudemannenhuis across the street.

Still Haesje?

Haesje is now foundress finished. That is, until Isabella van Eeghen (1913-1996), deputy archivist in Amsterdam, dives into the archives for her research on the painter Cornelis Anthonisz. She repeatedly encounters Haesje in documents relating to the ins and outs of the still young orphanage. For example, “Haes Paradise” and the orphanage mother receive discounts at auctions held at the house in the 1930s. For Miss Van Eeghen, her findings are reason enough to believe that Haesje Claes was indeed involved in the foundation. Because she has incorporated her research into publications not related to the orphanage, possible credit for Haesje is still some time away.

Anyway Haesje!

Regardless, Haesje is and remains the foundress of the Old Men and Women's Home. There is no historical pin between them. In 1601, Amsterdam's first senior citizens' home moved to the Nieuwezijds Achterburgwal. After the residents vacate their old quarters and the building is rented out for some time, in 1632 it joins the orphanage that settled in the former Sint Luciënklooster in 1580. The old men make way for young men.

It is not inconceivable that the portrait was donated to the Civil Orphanage to commemorate the origins of the boys' home. After all, Haesje was thus indirectly involved in the creation of this wing and part of the Civil Orphanage. Was Haesje therefore retroactively or unknowingly named a foundress?  And has this, for those who do not go along with Ter Gouw nor Miss Van Eeghen, unraveled the mystery of “Haesje Claes”?

Could it be that simple?

Literature

Amsterdams Burgerweeshuis, R. Meischke, 1975

Claes, Haesje (1475-voor 1544), Els Kloek, Digitaal Vrouwenlexicon, Huygens Instituut

Historische Beschrijvinghe der seer wijt beroemde Coop-stadt Amsterdam, Ioh. Isacius Pontanus, 1614

Amsterdam in zijne opkomst…, 1762-1768, Jan Wagenaar