The short answer
Joost van den Vondel (1587–1679) was a playwright and poet, generally regarded as the greatest writer in the Dutch language. He was a partner in a stocking shop on the Warmoesstraat, wrote the play that was ready for the opening of Amsterdam’s new theatre, and lived to 91. The Vondelpark took his name after his statue was placed there in 1867.
A shopkeeper’s son from Cologne
Vondel was born on 17 November 1587 in Cologne. In March 1597 the family settled in Amsterdam, on the Warmoesstraat, where his father kept a shop that sold silk, mainly stockings.
His father died in 1608 and his mother carried the shop on. When Vondel married Mayken de Wolff in 1610, he became a partner in the business.
The play for the new theatre
In the 1630s Amsterdam replaced its small wooden playhouse with a stone theatre on the Keizersgracht, designed by Jacob van Campen. Vondel had a play ready for its opening: Gijsbrecht van Aemstel, of 1637, with a subject taken from the history of Amsterdam.
It became a tradition. The play was performed every year on New Year’s Day and the days after, and the custom did not stop until 1968. The Dutch word for a theatre, schouwburg, was Vondel’s own invention.
When the city inaugurated its new town hall in 1655, the building that is now the Royal Palace, Vondel marked the day with a poem of 1,378 lines.
A desk at the pawn bank
In or shortly after 1641 Vondel became a Catholic, which caused controversy in a Protestant city. Then his son Joost went bankrupt, and the father took over his debts.
In 1658 he accepted a post at the Bank van Lening, the municipal pawn bank. He kept it until he was 80, and was then let go with his salary.
A grave that was cleared, and a statue
Vondel died on 5 February 1679, aged 91, and was buried in the Nieuwe Kerk on Dam Square. He had written his own mocking epitaph: “Hier leit Vondel zonder rouw, Hy is gestorven van de kouw.” Here lies Vondel, unmourned: he died of the cold. A medal struck for the funeral called him the country’s oldest and greatest poet. In 1698 the grave was cleared.
The park came much later. It opened on 15 June 1865 as the Nieuwe Park. The architect Pierre Cuypers, who lived in the street beside it, had been working since 1862 to have a statue of Vondel put up, and held Vondel festivals to raise the money. Once the statue stood there, people began to call the place the Vondelpark.
Where to find him
In the Vondelpark, look for a bronze man on a tall stone pedestal. He sits with a quill in his right hand and an open book in his left. The statue is by Louis Royer and the pedestal by Cuypers.
Where to see it
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