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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