The story of Satan's Church is a special and remarkable story that you will not soon forget. It all started with Maarten Joost Lamers, a young entrepreneur who founded a new concept in the Red Light District. He not only opened a sex museum and a sex theatre, but also started prostitution. This all ran smoothly, but as with all businesses that go well, taxes had to be paid eventually. To escape these high costs, Lamers decided to found the Satan's Church.
The idea of the Satan Church comes from America and was conceived by Anton Szandor Lavey. According to Lavey, there are no gods and therefore no Satan. There is no life after death, so the Satan Church is actually a kind of counter-reaction to already existing beliefs. Since church denominations in the Netherlands do not have to pay income tax, this was a clever way for Lamers to avoid tax.
Although Lamers claimed that the Satan Church was founded for religious purposes, journalist Henk van der Meyden soon found out that sex and money were actually the main thoughts in this "community". During the "Black Mass" on 6 December 1971, Van der Meyden reported extensively on this. Many wonderful stories circulated about what went on in the church, but it seems that the church had been set up by Lamers for purposes other than preaching "Satanism".
The building that once housed the Satan Church is now home to a banana bar. If you are curious about what kind of things happened at the Satan Church, you can visit this bar. But be warned, the story of the Church of Satan will not let you off the hook anytime soon.
Sources. Photos: Photo 1: This photo is from the book *Plaats Delict*, which presents a compelling selection of images from the police archives of the 1960s, 70s, and 80s. Photo 2: With gratitude to the Stadsarchief Amsterdam for making the attached photographs publicly accessible and preserving the city’s history for all.
