Felix Meritis ("Happy through Merit")

It was built according to a winning design by the architect Jacob Otten Husly for the new

society called Felix Meritis established in 1776 for Music, Drawing, Physics, Commerce and

Literature in the modern neo-classical style. Husly had won a similar design contest for the

city hall of Groningen in the previous year.[2] The building itself was meant to exemplify the

Enlightenment ideals the society stood for. The classical temple façade with its colossal

Corinthian pilasters and pediment represent the society's five departments with five

sculptures representing the visual arts and architecture, literature, trade, natural sciences

and music. The interior includes original 18th-century features such as the central staircase,

the oval concert hall (renowned for its acoustics) and the domed roof - underneath which

there used to be an astronomical observatory.

The inauguration of the Felix Meritis building on 31 October 1788, painted by Adriaan de Lelie

On 31 October 1788 the building of the same name opened its doors. The society focused

on the promotion of arts and sciences in a broader sense than the artists collectives popular

at the time. Husly was himself a board member of the Amsterdam city drawing academie

"Stadstekenacademie", that had close contacts with the Oeconomischen Tak van de

Hollandsche Maatschappij der Wetenschappen (economics branch of the Hollandsche

Maatschappij der Wetenschappen, which met in the Trippenhuis). The society was

abolished in 1888.

The Felix Meritis Hall of Physics during an electricity demonstration with leiden jars and an

electriseermachine, engraved by Reinier Vinkeles in 1794 after a drawing by Jacques Kuijper and

Pieter Barbiers in 1791.

Felix Meritis’ oval concert hall was the main music hall in Amsterdam until late into the 19th

century and enjoyed a great international reputation. Many famous musicians performed

there, including Robert and Clara Schumann, Camille Saint-Saëns, Johannes Brahms and

Julius Röntgen. The orchestra of Felix Meritis was regarded as the best of the Netherlands

and accompanied many Dutch premieres, directed by conductors such as Johannes

Bernardus van Bree. Thus, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and Berlioz’s Symphonie

fantastique had their Dutch premiere in the concert hall of Felix Meritis. The small hall of

the Concertgebouw is a replica of this concert hall.

Reinier Vinkeles (1741-1816) after a drawing by Noach van der Meer Jr. (1741-1822), Concert Hall in

the Building of Felix Meritis Society in Amsterdam, 1791

Reinier Vinkeles (1741-1816), Audience in the Building of the Felix Meritis Society in Amsterdam,

1794. Engraving.

Cross section of the Felix Meritis House

Three of the 5 façade sculptures representing Music (bottom) Drawing, Physics (middle), Commerce

(top) and Literature