Nieuwe Kerk
The Nieuwe Kerk is a 15th-century Gothic church on Dam Square, next to the Royal Palace. Dutch monarchs are inaugurated here; it no longer holds regular services and is used for exhibitions.
A church this size should have a tower. It was planned, the foundations were dug, and then the city decided it had something better to spend the money on. It is standing right next door.
The “new” church is six hundred years old. By 1408 the Oude Kerk could no longer hold the town, so the bishop of Utrecht allowed a second parish. A banker, Willem Eggert, gave the land beside his house and paid for the building.
It burned more than once. The worst fire, in 1645, started when plumbers working on the roof left their fire pots unattended, and it took everything but the walls. The city rebuilt it in the old Gothic manner at exactly the moment it was planning the enormous town hall beside it, and the two projects competed. The churchmen wanted a tower taller than anything in Holland. More than six thousand piles were driven for it and the base began to rise. Then the town hall swallowed the budget, and the tower was quietly dropped. Amsterdam chose its merchants over its ministers, and you can still read that decision in the skyline.
Inside, the place of honour, where the high altar stood before the Reformation, is occupied by the tomb of an admiral. Michiel de Ruyter, who sailed up the Medway in 1667 and burned the English fleet at anchor, lies there in marble.
Since 1814 every Dutch monarch has been sworn in here. They are not crowned: the crown sits on a table beside them, and the king or queen takes an oath to the constitution.
What to look for
The missing tower
Look for the highest point. It is a thin spire over the crossing, not a tower. The unfinished stump of the real one stood at the west end until it was pulled down in 1783.
Shops against the walls
As at the Oude Kerk, small buildings lean on the church. The city has always been short of ground and nothing here was allowed to stand idle.
Its neighbour
Compare the church with the palace beside it. They were under construction at the same time, one in the old Gothic manner and one in the new classical one.
Key facts
- Founded
- Permission granted 1408, consecrated 1409
- Rebuilt
- After the fire of 1645
- Royal inaugurations
- Every Dutch monarch since 1814
- Buried here
- Admiral Michiel de Ruyter, poet Joost van den Vondel
- Address
- Dam, Amsterdam Directions
Close by
The bigger picture
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The dates, names and figures on this page were checked against published references. These are the records for this place. The story is Lookstory’s own telling of them. Last updated October 2026.