Zuiderhofje

The hofje was founded in 1640 by Jacques van Damme and his wife Elisabeth Blinckvliedt, and is owned by the Mennonite church of Haarlem.

This branch was primarily Flemish in origin, and their church De Olijblock was located on the Klein Heiligland street, near their orphanage, Het Doopsgezinde Weeshuis.

The orphanage archives date back to 1634, and its location adjoined the former hofje Blokshofje, that can still be seen, but was sold by the Mennonite church in 1970.

In 1598 a scandal over a bankruptcy caused a schism in the Haarlem Mennonite church, and in 1620 a controversy arose over the question whether a man could fondle his betrothed's breast before marriage.

In the archives of the Bruiningshofje a sum of 150 Carolus guldens is recorded for this purpose, received from Lysbeth van Blenckvliet.

Her gifts on her death were quite substantial, and are the reason that the hofje was to last for so many centuries, despite later upheavals in the Haarlem Mennonite community.

In 1672 the Haarlem Mennonite community was split in two and the Zuiderhofje had to give up a third of its wealth to the Gemeente van Vollenhove.

In 1683 the Vlaemsche Block, now merged with the Waterlandsche Gemeente, moved to a new church building in the Frankestraat, where the Haarlem Mennonite community still resides today.

After a glorious period in the 18th and early 19th centuries, thanks to rich donations by regents, the hofje slowly declined.