St. Barbara Gasthuis

The St. Barbara Gasthuis was a hospital and later a hofje on the Jansstraat in Haarlem, Netherlands. All that remains is a former gateway.

The St. Barbara Gasthuis as it was originally in the Jansstraat, was founded with money from the legacy of Hugo van Assendelft

Chronogram under the old gable stone.

hofje

The gateway is on the west side of the street.

It was founded in 1435 by Hugo van Assendelft according to a chronogram written on the gate built in 1624 by Lieven de Key:

"OM dat WII oVt ende behoeftICh sChenen VerLaten
Heeft HVgo Van AffendeLf hIer gestICht tonfer baten"

The capitalized letters that are Roman numerals (the W is read as VV) results in a list of Roman numerals that when added up give the year of establishment of the hospital 1 x M + 3 x C + 2 x L + 6 x V + 5 x I = 1435. As the hospital functions in later centuries were consolidated at the St. Elisabeth Gasthuis, the former hospital became a hofje, which later was abandoned and became derelict. The old hofje was torn down in 1845, leaving the old gateway as a memorial.

• 
  gateway in 1964
• 
  gateway after restoration in 1984
• 
  Similar medieval hall of beds in Beaune

Address: Janstraat 54, Haarlem

Dutch Rijksmonument 19338

References

• Architectuurgids Haarlem, by Piet Roos, J. Bart Uittenhout
• Haarlems hofjes, Dr. G. H. Kurtz, Schuyt & Co C.V., Haarlem, 1972, ISBN 90-6097-027-6