Kliniek, Rhijngeesterstraatweg 13

English translation

The text above is the record as published by the Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed, in Dutch. The English below is a machine translation made by TreeAlive, not by the Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed; it has not been checked by a person. Where the two differ, the original is the record. Report a translation error: privacy@treealive.com

Description

Introduction: Main building of the Sanatorium for Nervous Diseases 'Rhijngeest', later called Jelgersmakliniek, located in the northern part of the country estate Rhijngeest. The clinic was built in chalet style with Art Nouveau influences in its detailing and was equipped at the time with all manner of modern facilities and hygienic adaptations. The symmetrical layout of the clinic was tailored to the separate treatment of male and female patients.

Description: Symmetrically laid out whitewashed main building with contrasting brickwork accents on a brick plinth, consisting of a basement, three storeys and an attic storey under a composite roof covered with red cross tiles and terracotta ridge ornaments. The building has projecting central and corner risalts, respectively with a stepped gable and a half-hipped gabled roof, spanning three bays in width and recessed building sections four bays wide. The attic storey has vertical whitewashed wooden boarding in the gable tops, marked at the lower edge with a red brick dentil course. The façades are articulated by tall sash windows and composite windows, accentuated by red-painted frames and brick window surrounds. Below the windows are brick sill courses and recesses in brickwork in which ventilation grilles are mounted above the windows. The central entrance section is provided with natural stone steps and bollards, a double panelled door with Art Nouveau detailing and a stone lintel supported by consoles. The arched windows above are filled with stained glass. In the apex of the stepped gable is a relief bearing the coat of arms of Leiden in the wooden foreground. Against the recessed building sections are wooden verandas, set between brick buttresses, with ornate riveted wrought-iron railings and an upper balcony which, like the rounded small balconies on the second storey, is provided with wrought-iron railings in the same style. Access to the verandas and bay windows is via natural stone steps. In the side façades, large windows are installed at the level of the corridors; narrow climbing windows mark the stairwell. The rear façade, closed off by a straight wooden moulding supported by small consoles, is soberly executed and has corner risalts (closed with stepped gables) and a three-sided central risalt. The contrasting detailing of the front and side façades is repeated, as evident in the slightly arched windows (transoms, sill courses), the buttresses against the recessed building sections, the natural stone steps of the central risalt and the decorative finish of the chimneys. The internal structure on all storeys is determined by two perpendicular axes of symmetry, around which tall, light rooms - varying in size and decoration according to their original function per storey - are arranged. The axes intersect in a central octagonal void with a lantern light. On the ground floor, along the north-south axis are the main entrance with porter's lodge and octagonal vestibule and in its extension the former professor's room; along the long wide corridor on the east-west axis are the former conversation and dining halls on the front side, the former laboratory spaces on the rear side. At the end of the corridors are two spacious staircases with straight-flight stairs provided with a wainscot rail. In the void is a slender, octagonal, wooden and iron structure in Art Nouveau style. On the storeys the wooden balustrade is provided with decorative iron spindles, which are also installed in the staircases. Above these, the openings were filled shortly after construction for safety reasons with ornately flowing iron grilles ending in fine leaf forms and decorated with rosettes. In the common halls, which are accessible from the corridor through arched double panelled doors, wooden panel wainscoting is installed below the windows. The spaces are connected to each other through a wide frame in which two coupled folding panelled doors are incorporated, provided with moulding. The separation of the halls and the bay windows, as well as the separation of the void and vestibule, is marked by ornamental mouldings, along the walls decorated with fluting and provided with consoles. Against the ceilings plasterwork with stylized floral motifs. Glazed doors provide access to the veranda. In the corridors, entrance section and verandas the original tile floors are present. The original layout has also been well preserved on the storeys. The rooms for patients were located on the first and second storeys and are likewise provided with wainscoting, simple plaster mouldings against the ceilings. On the attic storey were the rooms for nursing and domestic staff. Nearly all rooms still possess the original panelled doors, the corridors on all storeys are provided with wainscot rails. Further on the storeys are some washstands, including a ceramic washstand on cast-iron consoles. The stained glass in Art Nouveau style of the entrance section is repeated in the windows above the doors of the centrally located rooms of the professor and nursing staff. Valuation: The Jelgersmakliniek, built as a Sanatorium for Nervous Diseases, with well-preserved interior and exterior and interior components is of general interest by virtue of its architectural-historical, typological, cultural-historical, situational and ensemble values. The building is the main component of the sanatorium complex and is of particular importance by virtue of its socio-medical significance as the first university clinic, established on the initiative of G.J. Jelgersma.