Amsterdam - Wailing Tower

(Local Name: Schreierstoren) On the corner of Prins Hendrikkade and Geldersekade, near the main station, stands the Wailing Tower, a fragment of the medieval city wall. It was the office of the harbor-master until 1960 when he moved into the Port Administration building. The tower has stood empty since that time. There is some controversy about the real meaning of the name: a gable stone bearing the date 1569 shows a woman crying which gave rise to the idea that this was where the sailors' wives took leave of their husbands when they were about to go back to sea. A second version suggests that the name stems from the fact that the tower stands astride (schrijlings) a wall called the Kamperhoofd. In 1927 a bronze plaque was placed on the tower to commemorate Henry Hudson who set off from here on 4 April 1609 in his ship "De halve Maan" (Half Moon) on a journey which was to end in the founding of New Amsterdam (New York).