Restorations

Because Amsterdam is built on stilts, many of the city’s monuments, including the Oude Kerk, struggle with subsidence. The Oude Kerk is the city’s first stone building and therefore built on the oldest piles. Two different foundation systems under the building put pressure and tension on the walls, causing cracks to appear. Consequently, this has also damaged the Lady Chapel’s east-side stained-glass windows, which our restoration studio is now repairing. 

Standing in the Mirror Room you find yourself in a multicoloured eighteenth-century painting full of flowers and birds. It is one of the Oude Kerk’s most elegant side rooms due to the colourfully painted wallpaper covering all the walls and doors. Commissioned by the Oude Kerk, extensive research into the history and condition of the eighteenth-century canvas was first carried out in 2020 by the Oude Kerk’s restoration architect Ben Massop and conservators Ruth Jongsma (Bureau for Colour Research & Restoration) and Astrid van den Berg (paintings restoration). After the survey, the wallpaper was restored in public by a group of conservators under Jongsma’s guidance. Visitors could follow the restoration process themselves. We also organised several meetings between the conservators and the public where explanations were given about the restoration. The restoration was completed in autumn 2022.

Since 14 February 2023 has the mirror reopened to the public again.