|
|
|
Heraldic Symbols of Amsterdam
|
|
|
The official seal of Amsterdam shows a little ship (a
kogge
or cog) with two knights and a dog. According to a medieval story,
the two men were caught by a storm, prayed to be saved, and decided to
stay on the place where they landed. The three banners you see show a second
heraldic symbol: this is the emblem of the lords of Aemstel, the noblemen
who were responsible for the country along the river Amstel. Once, they
had been servants (ministeriales) of the bishop of Utrecht, but
they attempted to become independent, were forced into vassalage by the
count of Holland, and were ultimately expelled to Brabant, where the family
lives to the present day. On this seal, the shield of the white knight
has the weapon of Holland.
|
|
|
Although the castle of the lords of
Amstel was a little upstream, at Ouderkerk, they cared about the town
at the mouth of the river as well. Before
1275, they built a dam, which is commemorated in the name of the city:
Amsterdam does -as you already suspected- indeed mean "dam in the
Amstel". The city still uses the
three crosses of the Van Aemstel family. This is the office of the Old
West Municipal District.
|
|
|
The third symbol is the imperial crown, shown here on
the pinnacle of the Westerkerk (West Church). The crown was awarded to
Amsterdam in 1488, because the Habsburg crown prince, Maximilian, had been
healed from an illness after visiting the Holy Chapel of Amsterdam. When
Maximilian became emperor in 1508, the princely crown was immediately replaced
by the imperial one. Sometimes, Amsterdammers say that they are living
"under the emperor's crown", but the expression is unfortunately becoming
obsolete.
|
|
|
The imperial crown on the Westerkerk is actually not the correct one.
It is the Rudolphian crown, named after
the emperor Rudolph II (1576-1612), and now in the Schatzkammer in the
Hofburg in Vienna. The real crown of Maximilian
was less pointy and was surrounded by fleur-de-lys. The sculptor who made
this part of a bridge has tried to combine both crowns. The monument
also includes the crosses of the Van Aemstels and the abbreviation SPQA,
Senatus
Populusque Amstelodamensis, Neo-Latin for Council and People of Amsterdam.
This bridge was built in the 1930's, too early for the final element to
be added: the motto, Heldhaftig - Vastberaden - Barmhartig,
'Heroic, Resolute, Compassionate'.
|
|
 |
Those words were added after the Second World War, during which the
Amsterdammers had surprised the German occupiers by a big strike
to prevent the deportation of the Jews. It was violently suppressed, and
in spite of all heroism, resolution, and compassion, most Jews were taken
away and killed. (Anne Frank is only one of them.) Many elder Amsterdammers
feel a bit ashamed of the motto, beautiful words not backed up by sufficient
deeds, and the owner of this pub replaced the device with the name of his
establishment.
|
©
Jona Lendering for
Livius.Org,
2006
Revision: 29 Dec. 2007 |
|
|
