Het Oost-Indisch Huis
Long before the Golden Age, Hoorn was an important trading city. The inhabitants of the city were active in herring fishing, the Baltic trade and trade in France and Portugal. From the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the North Holland port city became indispensable for international trade, shipping and shipbuilding. A branch of the Dutch East India Company was established here.
When the VOC was established, the Hoornse 'chamber' of the trading company still lived in the old Geertenklooster in the Nieuwstraat. In 1676 a mansion in the Muntstraat was purchased: the East Indian House. From that moment on, there was the day-to-day management of the trade company of Hoorn. This office acted under the central administration of the VOC, the Heren XVII. Hoorn equipped its own ships for trade in the Indies and sent delegates to the central administration.
The exterior of the East Indian House still reminds us of earlier times: in the triangular pediment on the façade, four little angels (putti) hold the monogram of the Hoorn VOC.