Johannes Vermeer was baptized in the Nieuwe Kerk on 31st October 1632.
Only the artist's Christian name,
"Joannes" was entered
in the baptismal register of the Nieuwe Kerk. The origin of the
name "Vermeer" is unknown.
Vermeer's
elder sister Geertruy was also baptized in the Nieuwe Kerk, on
15th March 1620. The Nieuwe Kerk was the scene of baptizings in
the Vermeer family, but they also buried their dead there.
Vermeer's paternal grandfather Jan Reyersz. was buried there on 2nd May 1597, his father Reinier Jansz. on 12th October 1652 and his mother Digna Baltens on 13th February 1670.
The Nieuwe Kerk was built in the course of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries on the east side of the Markt.
The Virgin Mary is said to have appeared on the site in 1351,appealing for a church to be built there.
A small church made of wood was first erected there, but the construction of a stone choir and transept was begun in 1383.
The
foundations of the tower were laid twelve years later and this
was completed a hundred years later. The church was first dedicated
to Mary and from 1400 to both Saint Ursula and Mary.
When Delft took the side of William of Orange in 1572, the building was ordained for protestant worship.
The church has suffered severely over the ages.The fire in 1536 destroyed a large part of the building and the iconoclasm of 1566, the powder explosion in 1654 and a stroke of lightning in 1872 have all left scars.
The memorial plaque of Berkhort
Willem the Silent
Sculptures Adorning the Tomb
of William the Orange
Stained Glass of Willem the Silent
Hata Stichting
Foundation