Artikelen

• De architectuur van Gustav Cornelis Bremer

  From approximately 1910 to 1947 the architect ir. G.C. Bremer made an important contribution to Dutch architecture. For the greater part of that period, from 1924 to 1946, he was Government Architect. Bremer's oeuvre is quite divergent in character; it does not represent any clearly defined style or specific trend. The buildings executed by him comprise traditionalist elements as well as elements of 'New Realism', depending on what views the commission in question required of him. Indeed, Bremer did not play a part in the architecture debate between the representatives of 'New Building' and the traditionalists. This may well be one of the reasons why his work no longer attracts much attention from architectural historians.

  From 1910 onwards Bremer had an architects' firm in Arnhem, together with the architect A.R. Freem. From 1914 to 1915 he was temporarily appointed town architect of Arnhem. In 1916 he took up office with ‘Landsgebouwen’, the predecessor of the ‘Rijksgebouwendienst’ (i.e. a service of the Ministry of Housing and Construction). On January 1st 1924 Bremer was appointed Government Architect with the Rijksgebouwendienst, which had then just been established, where he was responsible for all new construction. Until his retirement on January 1st 1946 he remained in office there.

  Bremer had a preference for medieval architecture, both its form language and the underlying starting-points appealed to him. His view was that in medieval architecture there had still been room for the craftsman, and that the latter could be put on a par with the architect. Clear references, notably to Romanesque architecture, can also be traced in his buildings, although these often concern idiosyncratic interpretations, such as the frequent use of arches (in windows and portals), the use of natural stone as a building material and the intensive cooperation with artists, who made decorations for the buildings in the form of statues, murals and stained-glass windows.

  Some of Bremer's buildings show that his admiration for certain architects resulted in imitation. This is particularly evident with reference to Berlage (not only in his initial period, but continuing up to his last works) and also with reference to Oud and Friedhoff. As the person having final responsibility, Bremer has left his mark on the buildings executed by the Rijksgebouwendienst in the period until 1947. This is visible in several buildings, not built in his name, but nevertheless showing a close affinity with his work, such as the building for the National Giro Bank and the building for the Patent Office plus Post Office on the Willem Witsenplein in The Hague. With the Landsgebouwen/Rijksgebouwendienst Bremer mainly executed buildings for the Post Office Board - including post offices, telephone exchanges and amplifier stations - but also tax-collection offices, government buildings and a court-house. He also provided designs for laboratories and for the Wilhelmina bridge in Maastricht.

  It is not easy to define any sort of line in Bremer's oeuvre, to discover a constant or to recognize any order in his multiform designs. It is also difficult to place the various designs in a logical, chronological development. Neither does one design naturally evolve from another. Even within one and the same design he applied different styles. What appears to be characteristic of Bremer's work is the fact that it is homogeneous and heterogeneous at the same time. His conception is homogeneous, his style heterogeneous; the designs of his buildings are to a great extent determined by their purpose and environment. A list of fifty works by ir. G.C. Bremer is included in this article.

  From approximately 1910 to 1947 the architect ir. G.C. Bremer made an important contribution to Dutch architecture. For the greater part of that period, from 1924 to 1946, he was Government Architect. Bremer's oeuvre is quite divergent in character; it does not represent any clearly defined style or specific trend. The buildings executed by him comprise traditionalist elements as well as elements of 'New Realism', depending on what views the commission in question required of him. Indeed, Bremer did not play a part in the architecture debate between the representatives of 'New Building' and the traditionalists. This may well be one of the reasons why his work no longer attracts much attention from architectural historians.

  From 1910 onwards Bremer had an architects' firm in Arnhem, together with the architect A.R. Freem. From 1914 to 1915 he was temporarily appointed town architect of Arnhem. In 1916 he took up office with ‘Landsgebouwen’, the predecessor of the...

  From approximately 1910 to 1947 the architect ir. G.C. Bremer made an important contribution to Dutch architecture. For the greater part of that period, from 1924 to 1946, he was Government Architect. Bremer's oeuvre is quite divergent in character; it does not represent any clearly defined...

  M.-A.D. van Nieuwpoort

  145-155

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• De proosdij in Deventer

  The restoration of the former deanery, the house of the 'propositus' of Saint Lebuinus's chapter and church in Deventer, resulted in an interim report of the building-historical and archaeological investigations. This Romanesque building erected around 1130 (dendrochronological date) functioned as a gate of the immunity of the church, situated along the Carolingian border of the settlement. The gate lost its function in the course of the enlargement of the town during the late 12th century.

  Within the medieval town plan the gate and the house played a central part. The old core of the building consists of thick, massive walls of natural stone imported from the Rhine area, such as: tufa, trachyte and a kind of limestone from the interior of Roman aqueducts. Not only the building materials, but also the architectural forms, including the five Romanesque windows, point to a German influence at that time. In the middle of the 13th century the vaulted rooms of the gate were extended with two vaulted bays, later on with a third, and functioned as a chapel until the Reformation.

  The archaeological excavations gave information on the early phases of the building, older activities on this spot, a wooden structure, ceramics (of the type of Dorestad W IVa) and glass down to the late 9th century. Very rare in this case was the complete stratification of the soil from the 9th century to the 12th century.

  The restoration of the former deanery, the house of the 'propositus' of Saint Lebuinus's chapter and church in Deventer, resulted in an interim report of the building-historical and archaeological investigations. This Romanesque building erected around 1130 (dendrochronological date) functioned as a gate of the immunity of the church, situated along the Carolingian border of the settlement. The gate lost its function in the course of the enlargement of the town during the late 12th century.

  Within the medieval town plan the gate and the house played a central part. The old core of the building consists of thick, massive walls of natural stone imported from the Rhine area, such as: tufa, trachyte and a kind of limestone from the interior of Roman aqueducts. Not only the building materials, but also the architectural forms, including the five Romanesque windows, point to a German influence at that time. In the middle of the 13th century the vaulted rooms of the gate were...

  The restoration of the former deanery, the house of the 'propositus' of Saint Lebuinus's chapter and church in Deventer, resulted in an interim report of the building-historical and archaeological investigations. This Romanesque building erected around 1130 (dendrochronological date)...

  Dirk Jan de Vries, Wijnand J. Bloemink, R.H.P. Proos

  156-165

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• Het Maastrichtse graf van de laatste Karolinger

  The notion that the Sint-Servaas church in Maastricht served as a burial chapel for the two last Carolingians in the male line, which idea is to be found, for instance, in the article by T.A.S.M. Panhuysen in Bulletin KNOB 1991, 15-24, is disputed in this article on the strength of historical source research. As far as Duke Otto (+1005/1006) is concerned, this is based on the error that Duke Karel van Lotharingen (+993) was considered to have been the last Carolingian.

  There are no archaeological data or historical sources supporting the view that Duke Otto was buried in Maastricht. On the other hand, it is beyond doubt that a burial monument for Duke Karel did exist in this church. This is evident from the reproduction in 1688 of a lead tablet dating from 1001, which was found in the crypt of the Sint-Servaas church in 1666. This tablet was lost.

  On June 16th 1988 the tomb and memorial cross of provost Humbert, dating from 1086, were excavated, on which mention is made of a 'sepulchrum' of Duke Karel. Since the text on the lead tablet dating from 1001 is hardly to be interpreted otherwise than as a reference to a cenotaph, and since the historical data make a burial of Duke Karel in Maastricht anything but likely, the interpretation of 'sepulchrum' as a 'memorial stone' is obvious.

  The notion that the Sint-Servaas church in Maastricht served as a burial chapel for the two last Carolingians in the male line, which idea is to be found, for instance, in the article by T.A.S.M. Panhuysen in Bulletin KNOB 1991, 15-24, is disputed in this article on the strength of historical source research. As far as Duke Otto (+1005/1006) is concerned, this is based on the error that Duke Karel van Lotharingen (+993) was considered to have been the last Carolingian.

  There are no archaeological data or historical sources supporting the view that Duke Otto was buried in Maastricht. On the other hand, it is beyond doubt that a burial monument for Duke Karel did exist in this church. This is evident from the reproduction in 1688 of a lead tablet dating from 1001, which was found in the crypt of the Sint-Servaas church in 1666. This tablet was lost.

  On June 16th 1988 the tomb and memorial cross of provost Humbert, dating from 1086, were excavated, on which...

  The notion that the Sint-Servaas church in Maastricht served as a burial chapel for the two last Carolingians in the male line, which idea is to be found, for instance, in the article by T.A.S.M. Panhuysen in Bulletin KNOB 1991, 15-24, is disputed in this article on the strength of...

  C.A.A. Linssen

  166-169

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• Een nieuw beeld van een oud gebouw. Opmerkingen over de St. Servaaskerk in Maastricht in de elfde eeuw

  Extensive archaeological research took place during the recent restoration campaign of the St. Servaas church in Maastricht. A number of spectacular findings, referred to before in publications of town archaeologist Panhuysen, shed new light on existing views on the building history of the church. The greater part of the results of the research into the building history are yet to be published. Since there seldom is immediate unanimity on reconstructions of building phases when such a complicated building history as the history of the St. Servaas church is concerned, the results so far of the various disciplines adopted with reference to a few essential parts of the building history will be compared here.

  The memorial cross of provost Humbert (+1086), which was excavated from his tomb in the church, is of major importance for the interpretation of a building phase in the latter half of the eleventh century. My views on the interpretation of the text differ with Panhuysen's, whose translation, in my opinion, is more complicated than necessary. The parts of multilateral walls excavated in the transept have been provisionally interpreted by Panhuysen as the northern and southern enclosures of a transept with gallery, belonging to the church which was consecrated in 1039. What presents a problem, however, in this reconstruction is the fact that the connections to nave and side aisles and to the choir aisles have not been established.

  The existing transept must date back to the building phase under provost Humbert (1051-1086), whereas here yet another phase preceded it, of which little is known. Evidently, the transept with gallery has only functioned for a few decades. So far, the hypothesis of a change of plan with respect to the nave arcade (approximately 1020), formulated on the basis of building traces, has not been contradicted yet from the side of building historians; l shall therefore stick to this hypothesis for the time being. The system of alternating pillars and columns is supposed to have been soon replaced by the still existing pillar arcade.

  The text of Humbert's memorial cross also draws attention once again to the possible example for the eastern part of the St. Servaas church. As Humbert was also provost of the Cathedral Chapter in Luik, it seems to me more likely that the Saint-Lambert in Luik served as an example and not the Cologne Cathedral. The historical connections of the Servaas Chapter with other church institutions surely ought to play a part in the reconstruction of building phases.

  Extensive archaeological research took place during the recent restoration campaign of the St. Servaas church in Maastricht. A number of spectacular findings, referred to before in publications of town archaeologist Panhuysen, shed new light on existing views on the building history of the church. The greater part of the results of the research into the building history are yet to be published. Since there seldom is immediate unanimity on reconstructions of building phases when such a complicated building history as the history of the St. Servaas church is concerned, the results so far of the various disciplines adopted with reference to a few essential parts of the building history will be compared here.

  The memorial cross of provost Humbert (+1086), which was excavated from his tomb in the church, is of major importance for the interpretation of a building phase in the latter half of the eleventh century. My views on the interpretation of the text differ with...

  Extensive archaeological research took place during the recent restoration campaign of the St. Servaas church in Maastricht. A number of spectacular findings, referred to before in publications of town archaeologist Panhuysen, shed new light on existing views on the building history of the...

  Lex Bosman

  170-176

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• De 'strenge stijl' van Alessandro Pasqualini

  The architecture of the fortress engineer Allessandro Pasqualini - an Italian working in the Netherlands during the second quarter of the sixteenth century - is characteristic of the 'austere' Renaissance. This notion is reserved for a group of buildings in the Netherlands of this period, designed by Italians. Pasqualini applied the classical orders as consistently as possible in various building types. In this respect he differed radically from his mannerist Dutch contemporaries, who used classical elements in a very free and inventive fashion.

  Pasqualini's sources for his classical architecture were, however, very limited. He drew extensively on the illustrations in Cesariano's edition of Vitruvius, but these examples did not provide him with all the answers to the problems he had to deal with. In the church tower of IJsselstein and the chapel of the Gulik castle he showed himself rather successful at adapting the examples of Cesariano. The gable of the church of St. Elizabeth in Grave confronted him with problems he could evidently not cope with. Besides, he appears to have been ignorant of older and contemporary Italian Renaissance architecture. Nevertheless, even in this gable we can discern his attempts at a strict application of the classical rules as derived by him from Cesariano.

  The architecture of the fortress engineer Allessandro Pasqualini - an Italian working in the Netherlands during the second quarter of the sixteenth century - is characteristic of the 'austere' Renaissance. This notion is reserved for a group of buildings in the Netherlands of this period, designed by Italians. Pasqualini applied the classical orders as consistently as possible in various building types. In this respect he differed radically from his mannerist Dutch contemporaries, who used classical elements in a very free and inventive fashion.

  Pasqualini's sources for his classical architecture were, however, very limited. He drew extensively on the illustrations in Cesariano's edition of Vitruvius, but these examples did not provide him with all the answers to the problems he had to deal with. In the church tower of IJsselstein and the chapel of the Gulik castle he showed himself rather successful at adapting the examples of Cesariano. The gable of the church of St....

  The architecture of the fortress engineer Allessandro Pasqualini - an Italian working in the Netherlands during the second quarter of the sixteenth century - is characteristic of the 'austere' Renaissance. This notion is reserved for a group of buildings in the Netherlands of this period,...

  Eymert-Jan H.P. Goossens, Gerrit Vermeer

  177-181

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