Memorial Stone for Barendina Marie Bijtelaar
Stichting de Oude Kerk erected this memorial stone in honour of Barendina Marie Bijtelaar (23 December 1898 – 24 October 1978). Bijtelaar was involved with the Oude Kerk from 1934. Of her own volition she started charting out all the gravestones and located the exact spot where Saskia van Uylenburgh was buried. She also conducted research into the church's tower, bells, and stained-glass windows and proved the date when the Oude Kerk was consecrated to be 1306. From 1951 onwards, her involvement assumed a more official form with her appointment as the church’s archivist.
As an artist she produced a great many drawings of gravestones as well as paintings of the church, which she bequeathed to the foundation on her death. When in the mid-1960s the restoration of the houses built against the Oude Kerk was completed, she was allowed to move into one of them. As it had previously housed a sexton's servant, it had its own passage to the church which the memorial stone is placed above. Bijtelaar could henceforth visit 'her' church day and night.
Period
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20th century
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Dimensions
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H. 40 cm, b. 25 cm
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Location
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Kooromgang
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Materials
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Stone
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Number of parts
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1
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