Nieuwjaarswens van de torenwachter van de Grote Kerk te Den Haag voor het jaar 1842 1842 - 1844

This printed broadside, made in the Netherlands in 1842, conveys New Year’s greetings from the tower watchman of the Grote Kerk in The Hague. These greetings, addressed to the King of the Netherlands, offer insight into the social hierarchy of the time. The watchman, a public servant, uses the occasion to express loyalty to the monarchy, reinforcing established power structures. The image of the Grote Kerk itself, a prominent religious and civic symbol, underscores the intertwined nature of church, state, and community. Such broadsides offer a glimpse into the cultural norms of the period. They reveal how ordinary people engaged with symbols of authority and participated in public rituals that reinforced social cohesion. To understand the full significance of this print, one might look into archives of municipal records of the period, as well as studies of Dutch popular culture in the 19th century, which would enable us to interpret the image in its full social and institutional context.