Nieuwe Kerk collects stories about Juliana: “Your Majesty, kids are always girls”

The Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam is preparing a major exhibition about Queen Juliana, who was inaugurated there almost 75 years ago. Stories are collected all over the country about encounters with the then queen. And of course a stop in Julianadorp should not be missed.

Nieuwe Kerk collects stories about Juliana: “Your Majesty, kids are always girls” – NH Nieuws

“It was a festive day in Julianadorp. The Queen was coming! I was a member of the Cultural Association and we had a present: two goats,” says 91-year-old Guurtje Maats-Rijkers. She met the princess in 1969. “Juliantje came and looked very happy. There were many people, many distinguished gentlemen. And we stood there with those two simple goats.”

Her story is recorded with cameras by Claire Schreiner of De Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam. She drove up to the Meeting Church in Julianadorp with a specially stickered Volkswagen bus. “It will be an exhibition about Juliana and her ideals. Next year it will be 75 years since she was inaugurated in De Nieuwe Kerk, so this is a great moment.”

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Guurtje Maats-Rijkers

“Juliaantje was very happy with the kids and she asked: ‘Are they brothers, madam?'” Ms. Maats-Rijkers continues about her meeting. “Then I said: ‘Your Majesty, brothers? They are kids and they are always girls’. Then she said: ‘Oh how stupid I am.’ Then we all laughed terribly. But she left very happy again. It was a celebratory meeting.”

“What really comes out is that she really was a woman of the people. I hear that from most people. She was very accessible and was averse to protocol,” says Claire Schreiner of De Nieuwe Kerk about the stories she told. get inside. “But she also had her ideals and wanted to make the country more modern. And people are very honored to have met her.”

Stories

A selection is made from all the stories that come in for the exhibition that will start this fall. “It has often been a special moment for people. We collect real stories from eyewitnesses. These will become a major part of the exhibition, in addition to stories from historians. We really look back on her period as queen. The exhibition will open on 15 October. “

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