Page 7 - Issues131-133
P. 7
The 101st KLM miniature house is
a replica of the 800-year-old
building "Die Mariaen" (now known
as "De Moriaan") in ’s-
Hertogenbosch in the southern
province of Brabant in the
Netherlands.
"De Moriaan" is one of the oldest
brick buildings in the Netherlands. It
was built in ’s-Hertogenbosch (also
known as Den Bosch) over 800
years ago by members of the local
nobility who settled in the new city,
which had been granted a city
charter in 1184. The enormous, 5-
metre-high cellar was accessible at
the rear from the quays of the inner harbour. Above this semi-underground commercial
space was a huge hall, which was doubtlessly also used for trade.
This year’s house
Delftware miniature – No.
102 in the series –
portrays Amsterdam’s
stunning Tuschinski
Theatre and was revealed
during a celebration held
inside the theatre on Oct.
7. Local dignitaries and
many of KLM’s most
frequent fliers were there,
as was Femke Halsema,
the mayor of Amsterdam,
who received the first
house, in keeping with
KLM’s tradition.
Opened in October 1921 by Polish immigrant Abraham Icek Tuschinski and recently named
the world’s most beautiful cinema in the world by British Time Out Magazine, the theatre is
an opulent mixture of several architectural styles, including art nouveau, art deco, and
elements of the Amsterdam School. Now owned by Pathé, everything in the theatre has
been refurbished, from the carpeting and the ornamental lamps to the historic wall and
ceiling murals and the original Wurlitzer organ.
On the subject of KLM houses a collector pointed out to me that some have the date on the
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