The 15th century Schreierstoren is a tower that was originally part of the city wall of Amsterdam. I twas built in 1487. The ship on the weathervane is very appropriate because in 1595 Cornelis Houtman left here for the East Indies in 1595. And this is where Henry Hudson set sail for North America in 1609 on his third voyage and founded New Amsterdam (Manhattan).
The name Schreierstoren has many stories. One is that women would go there to cry over lost husbands, those who were gone to sea for war, fishing, or exploration like Henry Hudson. The English translation is incorrectly told to be "Weeper's Tower" or "Tower of Tears". However the name in Old Dutch translates to "Sharp Angle Tower" because the now extinct wall once made a sharp turn at this tower.
The weathervane is a two dimensional gilded ship. It cannot represent Henry Hudson's ship De Halve Maen (The Half Moon) because he left Amsterdam in 1609, and this tower was built in 1487.
This tower is now a cafe and bookshop, located at Prins Hendrikkade 94.
For the truly curious:
Schreierstoren at Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schreierstoren
"The true story behind Amsterdam's Schreierstoren":
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To cite/link to this blog post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "The Schreierstoren, Amsterdam, The Netherlands for Weathervane Wednesday", Nutfield Genealogy, posted May 28, 2025, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2025/05/the-schreierstoren-amsterdam.html: accessed [access date]).
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