THE ITEM

nice old picture-postcard of

DELFSHAVEN

Delfshaven is a borough of Rotterdam, Netherlands, on the right bank of river Nieuwe Maas. It was a separate municipality until 1886.

HOLLAND / NETHERLANDS / PAYS BAS

"KERK"

PILGRIM FATHERS CHURCH

The Old or Pilgrim Fathers' Church is a church located in Rotterdam-Delfshaven, in the Netherlands.

The history of the Old or Pilgrim Fathers' Church goes back as far as 1417, when the Roman Catholic church of St Anthony was consecrated on this site. The oldest known depiction of the church dates from 1512. In 1574 during the Reformation, the church came into Protestant hands and was altered to suit its new function.

In 1608 a group of English Dissenters fled to the Netherlands. They had left the Church of England a few years before and founded their own religious community.

After living in Leiden for eleven years, they decided to become Pilgrims and cross to America, where they might worship God in their own way and still be Englishmen. The Speedwell left Delfshaven, on 21 July 1620, bound for America. According to the chronicles the Pilgrim Fathers knelt down in prayer on the quay near the church. Much later, American visitors gave the church its third name, Pilgrim Fathers' Church.

The most radical rebuilding took place in 1761. At this time the church was heightened considerably (3.6 metres (12 ft)) and was given its present facade with the bell-shaped gable.

In the nineteenth century the building with the text Eben-Haëzer ('helping stone') in its gable, was erected behind the church. The Stichting Oude Hollandse Kerken (Foundation Old Churches in Holland) acquired the church in 1992. A large-scale restoration was completed in 1998. The main user of the Pilgrim Fathers Church remains the Reformed Church Delfshaven. Besides the church activities, the Pilgrim Fathers Church is rented for concerts, lectures, weddings and exhibitions.

(WIKIPEDIA)

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COLOURS / TEXT / ILLUSTRATION

front-side:

black-and-white photo

divided back-side:

the necessary text/lines printed in black

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THE PUBLISHER:

E. & B.

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SIZED:

8,8 X 13,9 CENTIMETERS

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CONDITION:

 reasonable to good, postally used with a 5 ct. NEDERLAND-STAMP, stamped ROTTERDAM 1913, bit rubbed, dirty and discoloured, corners and edges lightly bumped, some lightly cracked bends, small paper-damage on left-bottom-corner and back-side

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KEYWORDS:

POSTCARDS / ANSICHTSKARTEN / CARTES POSTALES / TARJETA POSTAL / HOLLAND / ROTTERDAM / DELFSHAVEN  / KERKEN / CHURCHES / PILGRIM FATHERS

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