Schreierstoren, the Weeping Tower

In front of you is the Schreierstoren, often translated as the 'Weeping Tower'. It is the last defensive tower of the medieval city wall, completed around 1487, when the harbour began right here.

1The legend of the weeping women

According to tradition, this is where sailors' wives said goodbye to their husbands as they set off for the Indies, voyages lasting years from which many never came back. Their tears are said to have given the tower its name, because in Dutch 'schreien' means to weep.

The story is backed up by a stone: a tablet dated 1569 shows a grieving woman pointing at a departing ship. Some versions tell of a wife who went mad with grief as she watched her husband sail away. The poet Vondel already mentioned the tower in the 17th century.

But the tower's old name was Schreyhoeckstoren: the tower of the sharp corner.

2What the records say

Historians explain the name differently. In old Dutch, 'schrey' meant 'sharp, angled', and the tower stood exactly where the wall made a tight angle. Over time the word got mixed up with 'schreien', and the legend of the weeping women was born, reinforced by the tablet. A stone above the street sign still recalls the old form, 'Scrayer Houck'.

Nobody doubts that farewells at the harbour were dramatic. What is missing is proof that they gave the tower its name.

3What to look out for

• The 1569 tablet, with the woman and the ship.
• The stone with the old name, above the Prins Hendrikkade sign.
• The angle of the street, which still follows the line of the old wall.