Statue of Laurens Jansz Coster, Bronze statue on Grote Markt in Haarlem, Netherlands
The Statue of Laurens Jansz Coster is a bronze figure about 10 feet (3 meters) tall standing on an octagonal decorated pedestal in the Grote Markt. The sculpture shows the figure holding a letter in one hand and clutching a book to his chest, with the base bearing inscriptions in Latin and Dutch that describe his role in printing history.
The monument was designed by Louis Royer and M.G. Tétar van Elven in 1856 to honor the alleged inventor of movable type printing in the Netherlands. It was erected to establish Dutch claims to this printing innovation against competing assertions from other regions.
The statue embodies Dutch pride in claiming a major printing innovation and represents how the Netherlands asserted its role in technological history. Visitors can sense this identity today through the monument's prominent placement on the main square, where it remains woven into the city's collective memory.
The monument sits on the central market square next to Sint-Bavokerk church and is easy to find and visit on foot. Visitors can read the inscriptions on the pedestal from ground level and walk around the sculpture to view it from different angles.
Local residents affectionately call this monument Lautje, showing how the city has integrated the statue as a landmark into everyday speech. This informal name bridges the formal national monument with the real life of Haarlem's community.
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