- Goudkantoor
The Goudkantoor (English: Gold Office) is a building built in
1635 and located on Waagststraat near the Grote Markt (Main Square) in Groningen,Netherlands . Originally it was built as an office for the receiver of taxes of the province of Groningen when it was called "Collectehuis".The text on the building, Date Caesari quae sunt Caesaris (
Latin ) (English: Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's) refers to the original function. Thecoat of arms of the city of Groningen is located on the building.The name Goudkantoor goes back to
1814 -1887 , when the "Waarborgbureau voor Goud- en Zilverwerken" was located in the building.Gold andsilver could get ahallmark so people could prove it was real.Prior to
World War II the Northern Ship Transport Museum was located in the building. Just before the liberation of the city, in April1945 , the entire collection was transferred to a building on the north side of the Grote Markt, because the owners of the museum were afraid that the Goudkantoor would get damaged during the liberation, but in fact it was one of the few buildings that wasn't heavily damaged, because fire-fighters saved it from burning down. [cite web|url=http://www.noordelijkscheepvaartmuseum.nl/historie.html|title=Historie Noordelijk Scheepvaartmuseum]After the war, the museum was located in the building again for a short time and later it was used as an information centre (Het Stadjershuis) and as a tourist information centre. The Goudkantoor was restored during the construction of the Nieuwe Waagstraat and is currently a restaurant. [cite web|url=http://www.goudkantoor.nl/|title=Café Restaurant Goudkantoor]
References
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