The R.C. orphanage Gouda

by Bert Hermans · Gouda, NL

In 1889 Catholics in Gouda bought a house that they converted into an orphanage. They did that because, if they lived in the public orphanage, they wouldn't be the r.c. cemetery to be buried. The R.C. orphanage was built by the Gouda architect C.P.W. Dessing. Many Gouwenaars know it as the former Maria Kindergarten. The architectural style has the characteristics of the Dutch Renaissance. It has imitation plaster, corner blocks, decorative brickwork in the arched fields above the windows, diamond heads as a continuation of the cartouche above the door and a spout gable with shoulder pieces. The facade says Anno 1884. That is not correct. This year belongs to a building across the street: Lage Gouwe 64. That used to be the R.C. Boys School - also designed by architect Dessing. In the period from 1894 to 1929, a total of 69 children lived in the orphanage, cared for by German nuns. One of the orphans does not call them 'Sisters of Love', but 'bitches of Mercy'. In 1931 a Roman Catholic kindergarten is opened at Hoge Gouwe 31. The board of the R.C. Institution of Charity is having it radically renovated. The name Maria Kindergarten has been used since 1952. The painting is painted with oil on panel and has two French doors. Behind the doors on a canvas (also painted with oil paint) a corridor can be seen in which a group of orphans stands on the left and a boy crouched on the floor on the right. Bert himself is the latter and luckily he was spared the orphanage.