HAARLEM, harlem. The capital of the Dutch Province of North Holland, situated on the Spaarne, 11 miles west of Amsterdam (Map: Netherlands; C 2). It is an extremely clean and well-built city, situated amid very picturesque environs intersected by canals, and full of inter esting Dutch houses. The principal church is the Groote or Saint Bavo's Kerk, a fifteenth-century cruciform edifice, with a tower 260 feet high and an organ with 5000 pipes, 60 stops, and 3 key boards—one of the largest instruments of its kind in the world. In front of the church is a statue of Coster, the alleged inventor of printing. In the Groote Markt is the meat market, a brick and stone building dating from the beginning of the seventeenth century, and considered to be of great architectural merit. The town hall, a for mer palace of the counts of Holland, remodeled in 1620, contains a small collection of paintings by Dutch artists, including eight large canvases by Frans Hals. In the same building are also the town library, and a collection of weapons, glasses, and instruments of torture associated with the early history of Haarlem. Among other interesting ,buildings may be mentioned the Pavilion, a château in Italian style, now the seat of the Society for the Promotion of Industry, and containing an industrial art and a colonial museum, the latter consisting of an extensive collection of the products of the Dutch colonies, notably those of the Dutch East Indies. The educational institutions of Haarlem include a gymnasium; a seminary for teachers; the Teyler Museum with its numerous scientific collections and an extensive library; the episcopal museum with a collection of Dutch ecclesiastical antiqui ties. There are also two theatres and the oldest
printing house in Holland. The town contains numerous homes for the aged, known as hozjes. Although of less industrial importance than in former times, Haarlem still has a number of large industrial establishments, notably textile mills. One of the oldest and most extensive in dustries is the cultivation of flowers, Haarlem exporting bulbs to many European countries. There are a horse-car line for local purposes and an electric railway for interurban traffic. Popu lation, in 1890, 64,069.
Haarlem grew up around a castle, and obtained municipal rights in 1245. It rapidly developed into an important city. In 1492 it was seized by the peasantry, and upon its being recovered by the Imperial Statholder, Duke Albert of Sax ony, it was deprived of its privileges and bur dened with heavy taxes. In 1559 it became the seat of a bishop. Haarlem took a prominent part in the revolt of the Netherlands, and as a result was besieged in 1572 by an army of 30,000 men under Don Frederica, a son of the Duke of Alva, and after an heroic resistance of seven months capitulated to the Spaniards, who, regard less of their promise of mercy, avenged themselves on the city and its inhabitants in the most cruel way. In 1577 it was freed from the rule of Spain by the Prince of Orange, and became a part of the Netherlands.