Nederland 2026, 4: Maassluis and the Kuyper Library

After I had become accustomed to the UTC +2 time zone, the next few days were exceedingly full, as we moved in quick succession from one event to the next. Wednesday, 18 September was the first of these work days. In the morning we drove to the village of Maassluis, the birthplace of Abraham Kuyper, one of the key influences on my own thought. Unlike Leiden, with its frenetic youthful energy, Maassluis is fairly quiet, with a population of around 35,000. Located in the province of South Holland, it lies to the west of Rotterdam along the Scheur River, a branch of the Meuse at the Rhine delta. 

Here are some photographs of Maassluis:

For this journey Floris Wagenaar was my host, and we first visited the Kuyper Library (Kuyperbibliotheek & Onderzoekscentrum). It would be nice to say that it was located in the house where Kuyper was born, but that's not the case. The Kuyper Library is located in this building, seen from behind on the canal side:

 

The library itself is located in a small room adjacent to much larger main rooms, which appear to be used by other groups for other purposes. Ton Sels is the curator of the library, and he was a most gracious host during our visit. Here are some photographs of the books and various memorabilia contained in the library:

 

 

This chair belonged to Kuyper. Guests were seated here during visits with him. It's in excellent condition and, remarkably, has never been reupholstered.

In front of Kuyper library building

The following was given to Kuyper in recognition of his role in the Doleantie of 1886, an event that led four years later to the formation of the Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland, now part of the Protestantse Kerk in Nederland since 2004.

The first issue of De Standaard, the daily newspaper Kuyper edited from 1872 until shortly before his death in 1920.

From Maassluis Floris and I drove the more than 70 kilometres to Utrecht, where I would be speaking at the Theologische Universiteit, the subject of my next post.

Next: Nederland 2026, 5: Theologische Universiteit Utrecht 

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