Het raadhuis

Opposite the entrance of the tower stands the town hall dated 1652, that was constructed from a plan of Pieter Pieterszoon van Saerdam. Underneath the original heraldic figure of the Bailiwick Waterland one can read the slogan of the ancestors of Waterland:

Eendracht doet cleyne
saecken bloeyen
In maght en oock in
welstand groeyen

Meaning: Unity can flourish small things. Grow in power and in prosperity.

Beside mayors and town councils of Ransdorp, also Deputies of the Union of Waterland did have conferences here in this Town Hall

Rembrandt

Ransdorp is honoured that Rembrandt van Rijn visited the village many times. He was delighted to be in favour of ‘the cuddly peasant girl from Waterland’ Geertje Dircx.

In the period between Saskia van Uylenburg and Hendrickje Stoffels, Geertje was the housekeeper and as a ‘dry min’ (a nanny without suckling) raised Titus, motherless son of Rembrandt.
Rembrandt visited and drew the truncated tower several times during the visits he and Geertje brought to Pieter Dircx, brother of Geertje. He was a constructor of boats in the ‘Bloemendaler’ area in Ransdorp.