Amintiri din Groeningen / Memories of Groeningen

Being in The Netherlands on business, I was invited by a colleagur to visit Groeningen. The first thing I set eyes was the Museum of Art, built after the plans of Alessandro Mendini. A modern building, contrasting with the traditional Dutch style.

The core of the little town are the students. I saw sone lying in the park, drugged, but the most of them were on their ways to the classes. The houses are small, some of them with the traditional “gable’. I couldn’t ignore the  specific cheese in the shop windows.

I was impressed by the large number of churches in such a small town. Martini Church, built in 17th century, has the biggest baroque organ in SV Europe. Near the river Aa, the little church of the fishermen, Sf. May and St. Nicholas, consacrated in 1226, has now a gothic aspect.


I also walk throught the Princenhof inner court. It is a 400-500 yrs. old building, which once belonged to a monk order. Then it was inhabited by Maurits Prince and Duke  Lodewijk, before to become a military hospital during the 19th century.


The Provincienhuis has an older part, which is now the St. Martin school, while other part became in the 17th century part of the House of the Province.

In the center of the town, in the Big Market (Groote Markt), I saw  the Goudkantor renovated in 1996. It used to be the taxes collecting point and then the office were the gold was verified.


At last I visited the university, one of the oldest in The Netherlands. There are 27000 students and 1500 postgraduate students learning and living in a modern campus. What I visited was the Rector’s Office building. It has a monumental stair, with a nice stainglass window and a magnificent Senate Hall where the portraits of all the rectors are kept.


Aflata cu treaba in Olanda, am fost, timp de o zi, si oaspetele unui coleg din Groeningen.

Mi-a placut oraselul acesta universitar de cum l-am vazut. De la gara, am dat imediat ochi cu cladirea muzeului de arta moderna si arta veche chinezeasca, proiectat de arhitectul Alessandro Mendini. El face nota discordanta cu restul cladirilor, tipic olandeze, care amintesc de Amsterdam dar intr-o varianta redusa.

Muzeul de Arta
Restul strazilor, cu cladiri pe un nivel, multe dintre ele cu celebra “furculita” olandeza, au intregit imaginea unui oras mic, vitalizat de populatia studenteasca. E drept ca unii dintre ei dormeau in parcul orasului, drogati, dupa cum mi-a spus colegul. Trebuiau doar lasati in pace si atunci erau pasnici. In rest, biciclete si biciclisti peste tot. Desigur, n-am putut trece cu vederea vitrinele incarcate cu gustoasele branzeturi olandeze.
 una din strazile principale ale orasului

Groeningen pastreaza insa si cateva cladiri vechi, marturie a trecutului sau istoric. Cu un turn de 97 m inaltime, se inalta in centru Biserica Martini, construita in secolul al XII-lea. Atat turnul cat si biserica au fost reconstruite in perioade diferite, ceea ce vedem acum datand din secolele XIV-XV. Inauntru se afla cea mai mare orga baroc din sud-vestul Europei.

 Martini Kerk

Pe malul raului Aa, se poate vedea o mica biserica construita pentru pescari. Initial, aici a fost doar o capela, apoi biserica a fost consacrata in 1226 si, in 1246, dedicata Sf. Maria si Sf. Nicolae, patronii marinarilor. Ceea ce se vede astazi este o reconstructie in stil gotic.

Aa Kerk
Undeva, in spatele altei biserici, colegul ne indruma sa vedem o gradina care tine de Princenhof, o casa veche de 400-500 de ani, care a apartinut initial unui ordin calugaresc. Apoi a fost ocupata de Printul Maurits si de Ducele Lodewijk. In secolul al XIX-lea a fost spital militar, iar acum acolo sunt locuinte.
 Prinsenhof (curtea printului)
Provinciehuis sau Casa Provinciei are o parte mai veche, acum scoala Sf. Martin si una care, in secolul al XVII-lea a devenit parte a Casei Provinciei. Fatada mai recenta (1916) este construita in stil neo-renascentist.
 Provinciehuis
 scoala Sf. Martin
In Groote Markt (Piata Mare) se afla Goudkantor, construita in 1635 ca si loc de colectare a taxelor. Apoi acesta a devenit Biroul Aurului, locul unde se verifica aurul. Casa este restaurata in 1996, in culorile rosu, ocru, auriu si albastru.
Goudkantor

Toate acestea le-am vazut pe fuga, in drum spre ceea ce era obiectivul meu in ziua aceea, Universitatea din Groeningen. Este un frumos exemplu de arhitectura nordica, inspirata dupa Primaria din Bremen. Ea a fost fondata in 1614 si este una dintre cele mai vechi universitati din Olanda. In 1906 cladirea centrala a ars complet, fiind reconstruita in stil neo-renascentist, dupa planurile arhitectului Vrijman.

Avand in prezent cca. 27000 de studenti si 1500 doctoranzi, universitatea se mandreste cu un campus modern. Eu am vizitat insa cladirea centrala, veche, a Rectoratului, care pastreaza cu mandrie, in Sala Senatului universitar, fotografiile tuturor rectorilor sai. Multi studenti straini invata acum la aceasta universitate prestigioasa, care are noua facultati.

 fatada Rectoratului universitatii, oglindita intr-o cladire moderna a sa
 pe scara principala
in Sala Senatului, galeria rectorilor

Comments

Amintiri din Groeningen / Memories of Groeningen — 22 Comments

  1. Traveling Hello Hawk,

    I’m glad you’re conscience and in the Netherlands in the province of Groningen 🙂 I saw pictures of the provincial government. I read that you go to the Museum of Art and you have been surprised that so many churches 🙂

    I love to read how a country thinks about us.

    Greetings, Helma

  2. Hello, Helma! I liked my stay in Holland very much, even if it was office related. This means I had different meetings during the day but during the weekend I was able to travel.As I had meetings in Groeningen and Utrecht, I managed to see a little bit. I also visited Amsterdam in 2 private travels (one of them for Keukenhof).

  3. This was a nice tour of Groeningen. If I was ever there, it would have been as a child. What I particularly like is the new large windows that still fit the old architecture styles perfectly. Super reflection shot, too. AND you have me craving for good old Dutch Gouda now!

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