Looking at the name Mozes en Aäronkerk (Moses and Aaron church) many people think of a Jewish church or synagogue. But it has never been a Jewish church. Moses and Aaronchurch is a Roman-Catholic church situated in the ancient Jewish quarter of Amsterdam. The old Portuguese synagogue and the Jewish Historical Museum are very close by. A second most asked question is: Is this church still used as a church?  When you mean, should  there be a priest and a parish and Holy Mass on Sundays for this church to be a real church the answer is ‘no', but for us, employees of the ‘Mozeshuis' (Moseshouse) , who is in charge of this church for almost 30 years, it still is a church. The Mozeshuis  is responsible for the many different activities which take place here.

Mozeshuis, an Education Center for Adults

The Mozeshuis, located next to the church, is an Education Center for Adults.  We organize courses for unemployed people to help them to apply for a job and we  teach them, (and many others) basic computer skills. There is also a regular programme for people who retire from work accompanied by their partners. They can follow a course to close the years of hard work and to prepare together for the new period of life.   We offer courses for women to plan their careers or to learn new skills for better functioning in organizations. From 1987 onwards the Moseshouse has organized meetings for people who are involved with Aids and other long-lasting or fatal illnesses (Lering uit aids). We have issued some books about this topic (one in English called ‘Future with Aids'). In Summer there is a Summerschool, in winter a Winteracademy. Both offer a four weeks programme (one day a week) on  social issues. It involves speeches and discussions, but also little trips in Amsterdam to places where people normally don't go. Several hundreds of people participate. Elderly women form a majority among them.

For these meetings as the conference rooms of the Mozeshuis itself are too small we make use of the church.  But the Moses and Aaronchurch is still  a place for prayer. There are at regular times religious services, mostly Memorial-services or funeral services. The Moseshouse itself has a Christmas Eve tradition. Furthermore it is used for exhibitions and concerts and all kinds of symposia and meetings. We don't allow parties or shows to happen here. They would violate it's character as a church.

History of the churchbuilding in a wider perspective

The official Roman Catholic name of Moses and Aaronchurch is  Saint Anthony of Padua (Sint Antonius kerk) Saint Anthony was one of the first followers of St Francis of Assisi (1181-1224). As this name  refers to the Franciscan presence in Amsterdam, one could therefore say that the history of this church starts in 1304 when the first Franciscan friars settled here. One of their best known men was Father Jan Brugman. He was so eloquent in his speeches and sermons that ‘speaking like Brugman' became a saying in Dutch.  In 1462 it was his popularity, which made it possible for the Franciscans to stay in Amsterdam against the will of the Municipality, which thought that there were enough convents in the town. (Monks didn't pay taxes)

In 1578 some leading Protestant business men overthrew the Catholic Government and declared the city  Protestant, even when 95 % of the people at that time still were Catholics. Catholic services were officially forbidden and churches, such as the Oude Kerk (Old Church) and the Nieuwe Kerk (New Church) on Dam square were taken over. Priests were driven out of town. From that time until the 19th century the Catholic people of Amsterdam assembled in houses and warehouses where they built their churches to celebrate Mass.

A church called Moses

The Moses and Aaronchurch also started as a hidden church (not to be recognized as such from the street). In 1641 some leading Catholics bought a house in Breestraat (nowadays called Jodenbreestraat, Rembrandt lived there too ) where a little statue of Moses stood in front. There a Franciscan priest began to celebrate Mass. In 1691 when the parish had bought some more houses around ‘Moses',  like the adjacent house with the statue of Aaron, a far bigger church was built between Breestraat and Houtgracht (today's Waterlooplein). That's why the church got its ‘popular' name Mozes en Aäronkerk. It had a surface of 25 meters by 13 meters.  The middle part of the High Altar in the present church is from that Baroque church. The statues of Moses and Aaron are still to be seen at the rear wall of the church on the outside.

After the occupation of the Netherlands by the French (1795) freedom of faith was officially restored and Catholics in Holland were allowed to built churches again and so, on the same spot of the hidden church came the present building, which got the then popular Neo-Classical design. It was built by the  royal architect from Brussels Tilman François Suys who had studied in Rome. From the outside it looks like a Roman temple.    The construction lasted from 1839 until 1841. On the 26th of October 1841 the church was solemnly consecrated and dedicated to Saint Anthony of Padua.
Many decorations come from the hidden church. Suys enlarged the altar by two side- altars in the old Baroque style and made use of statues that were in the church already, like those of St. Francis (left) and St. Anthony (right). In the central high altar he placed statues of the four evangelists. This altar shows us the Assumption of Mary. Between St Peter (left) and St Paul (right) she rises into heaven where God, Jesus (with the cross) and the Holy Ghost (a dove in the middle) are already expecting her. On the very top there are Moses with the tablets of the Law or the ten commandments and Aaron, dressed as a priest. The painting of Christ rising from the grave is by an unknown 18th century master.  Originally the two framed paintings hanging besides the organ were in this altar too. They could be changed with the present painting in accordance with the church calendar. These two: the Crucifixion (left) and the Annunciation (right) were painted by the well known Amsterdam painter Jacob de Wit (1695-1754). He painted in the style of Rubens. Many of the almost 50 works he made for this church are now to be seen in museums. Jean Baptiste de Cuyper from Antwerp made the pulpit (1850) with scenes from the life of St Francis. Pierre Elysée van den Bossche, also a Belgian sculptor, worked nearly 20 years to complete (in 1921) the 14 stations of the cross.
The organ dates from 1871. It was enlarged to its present form in 1887. It was built by the Adema brothers from a design of Jean Marie Philbert, vice consul of France in Amsterdam and a close friend and admirer of the Paris organ builder Cavaillé Coll. It has a French Romantic character. There are three keyboards and a free pedal and 48 keys. It was restored in 1994.
Since 1969 the church is no longer in use as a parish church, but there are many activities.

May  1999