"P.J.H. Cuypers in Amsterdam" a Amsterdam Travel Page by OlafS

In 1865 architect P.J.H. Cuypers left his hometown Roermond. He had been caught in a major dispute about his plans for the restoration of a church there, in which former employees turned against him. On advice of his French friend E.E. Viollet-le-Duc and future brother-in-law J.A. Alberdingk Thijm he moved to Amsterdam, where he set up a new office. During his period in Amsterdam Cuypers changed the look of the city. The new catholic self-confidence resulted in the construction of new churches, of which Cuypers built six in this city alone. Three of these churches were demolished in the 1960's-'70's.
In 1894 Cuypers returned to Roermond, where he continued his career until his death in 1921 at the age of 94.

Cuypers's first church in Amsterdam was the O.L.V. Onbevlekte Ontvangenis, nicknamed 'De Posthoorn'. He started working on it in 1860, when he was still in Roermond. The building is unusually tall, in order to be visible over the surrounding houses. Iits style was influenced by the Romanogothic churches of the Rhineland (especially the Munsterkerk in Roermond) and to a lesser degree, the Ile-de-France.
The church is now an office-building.

Cuypers soon became involved in real-estate. He bought a piece of land and designed a new street, the Vondelstraat, in which he built his own house.

In 1870-1880, in the middle of the Vondelstraat, Cuypers built a church, officially called Heilig-Hartkerk but better known by its name of Vondelkerk.

In 1876 work started on one of Cuypers' best-known designs, the Central Station. In his design he used many references to 17th-century Dutch Renaissance style, thus inventing neo-Renaissance. In 1889 the station was finally finished. In the meantime Cuypers faced the reactions of fanatical protestants who were outraged that a catholic, a subhuman in their eyes, was commissioned for such a major project "of national importance".

In the same style, but much more controversial, was Cuypers' design for the Rijksmuseum. This colossal building contained many references to the catholic faith, which again enraged the protestants. King Willem III, who was an extremely intolerant man, refused to set foot "in that monastery". However, nobody could ignore Cuypers' importance, who had become the national expert on historic architecture.
Cuypers was also involved in the acquisition of exhibits, and used fragments of old buildings in his design for the garden. He even built an entire building using old fragments. In a wing of the museum he set up his office, which also encompassed a school for craftmanship.

In 1884 Cuypers built the St. Dominicus, a neo-Gothic church. It was built on a small piece of land that was filled as effectively as possible; the front is diagonally positioned, the nave is wide, the transepts do not extend, the choir is rectangular and partly built inside the presbytery. A tower was unfinished because a permit for its construction was never given.