Koninklijke Hollandsche Maatschappij der Wetenschappen

The Koninklijke Hollandsche Maatschappij der Wetenschappen (Royal Holland Society of Sciences and Humanities), located on the east side of the Spaarne in downtown Haarlem, Netherlands, was established in 1752 and is the oldest society for the sciences in the country.

Under the direction of Martin van Marum, a proper museum was established with zoological specimens located there on display for the public, as a forerunner of the modern Naturalis in Leiden.

[1] Van Marum also kept a small garden for public viewing in the summer months, filled with special plants, located in the Bakkerstraat.

The house was built in 1794 by the architect Abraham van der Hart for Catharina Cornelia Hodshon, a wealthy heiress and regentess of the Wijnbergshofje.

After she died, the house came into the hands of the Amsterdam banker Adriaan van der Hoop, and it was purchased for the society in 1841.

Commemorative print to celebrate the founding of the Dutch Society of Science in 1752, featuring the prize medal Johann Georg Holtzhey designed for them; engraving by Simon Fokke
Hodshon house in Haarlem