Hofje van Guurtje de Waal is a hofje

Hofje

A hofje is a Dutch word for a courtyard with almshouses around it. They have existed since the Middle Ages.A hofje provided housing for elderly people . They were privately funded, and served as a form of social security...

 in Haarlem

Haarlem

Haarlem is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Holland, the northern half of Holland, which at one time was the most powerful of the seven provinces of the Dutch Republic...

, Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

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History

It was founded in 1616 by Guerte Jansdochter de Wael, daughter of a rich textile trader, for poor women of the Dutch Reformed faith. She died in 1632. Originally 6 small houses, it was expanded to 8 houses in 1661 when the gateway was built with the family coat of arms. This coat-of-arms is fairly unusual, featuring the Dutch Lion with its head cut off, spouting blood. It has been supposed that this shows anti-orangist political sympathies.

Until 1853 governance by female regents was handed down from mother to daughter. From that time on it was governed by the city council and slowly declined. In 1985 the complex was remodelled into 4 modern homes. Since then it is technically no longer a hofje and is managed by a Haarlem house-rental agency.

Address: Lange Annastraat 40