Stadhuis (Town Hall)

The Stadhuis of Enkhuizen is a town hall built between 1686 and 1688, in the decades when the town's great days as a herring and trading port were already behind it. It stands on the Westerstraat, in the old centre, and its dignified facade is an example of Dutch classicism, the restrained style that spread through the Republic after the Amsterdam town hall, now the Royal Palace on the Dam, set the model. The architect was Steven Vennekool, a pupil of Jacob van Campen, who designed the Amsterdam building, and the link with the capital is clear in the symmetrical front and the pediment.

By the time the town hall was built, Enkhuizen had passed the peak of its prosperity. In the first half of the seventeenth century, the town was one of the main ports of the Zuiderzee, with a fleet of herring busses and a chamber of the East India Company, and its merchants had grown rich. The silting of the harbour and the shift of trade to Amsterdam brought a slow decline. A new town hall was therefore a statement of pride and a status symbol, intended to show that the town still mattered and had the means to build in the latest style.

Outside the building stands a bronze cannon, which tradition links with the town's wars against privateers from Dunkirk, who preyed on Dutch shipping in the seventeenth century. Such trophies were displayed with pride in front of civic buildings and reminded citizens of the dangers of the sea and the courage of the town's seamen. The entrance leads to the Blue Hall on the ground floor, which is used for exhibitions and can be visited on weekdays during office hours.

The rooms on the first floor are the most interesting, but they are open to the public only rarely, notably on Open Monument Day in September. They include the Wittezaal, the White Hall, the mayor's room, the wedding room and the Weeskamer, the orphans' chamber, where the town's regents oversaw the property of orphans, and the furnishings and paintings reflect the civic life of the Golden Age. Check the schedule if you want to see them, and ask at the tourist office about guided visits.

The town hall is close to the harbour, the Drommedaris tower, the Grote Kerk and the Zuiderzee Museum. It suits visitors interested in architecture and civic history, and it fits well into a walk through the centre. The exterior can be admired at any time, and the Blue Hall is free to enter.