The Ideals of Pieter Teyler

Like his father, Pieter Teyler van der Hulst (1702-1778) was a successful silk merchant; from 1763 onwards, however, he became more active in the financial world. As a typical representative of the Enlightenment, Teyler had a wide range of interests in the arts and sciences, which he valued as ways of enriching society and humanity in general. He built up collections in both fields. He also took a keen interest in theology. In 1728 he married Helena Wijnands Verschaven. In 1756, shortly after his wife's death, Pieter Teyler drew up his last will and testament.

Teyler's Bequest
In his will, Pieter Teyler wrote that his considerable fortune of two million guilders (roughly 80 million euros) should go to a new foundation, and named five of his friends to serve as its directors. One of the primary goals of the new foundation was to promote theology, the sciences, and the arts. Teylers Foundation is still active in these areas, for instance through the essay contests that are set annually by the two learned societies that have been part of the foundation since 1778. Charity and poor relief are also part of the mission of the Teylers Foundation. 

After the death of Pieter Teylers in 1778, the ownership of his house on Damstraat and his collections of books, and items of natural history, numismatics, and draughtsmanship passed to the Foundation. In 1779, the Foundation's first directors commissioned the young architect Leendert Viervant to design a 'Books and Art Room' behind the Foundation House (Fundatiehuis, where Pieter Teyler had lived). The result was the Oval Room, which opened to the public in 1784. Before long, the minutes of the Foundation's meetings started to refer to this room as the 'museum', a concept that was still quite new at the time. In this way, the first museum of the Netherlands was born. And it is still there.