The telescope was invented by either Janssen or Lipperhey. The committee of the Philippus Lansbergen observatory had access to a study that will be published by "Het Zeeuws Genootschap" in the spring of 2008. This study shows that the two opticians lived very close together. Practically, they were neighbors. In this article, we will look at both locations in more detail.

Middelburg is a historic town, which has city rights since 1217. The city was build on an elevated area in the middle of the island of Walcheren. Initially, there was a stronghold in the center, which can still be recognized by looking at the lay-out of the streets around the abbey. The center was cut in half by a long straight street, called "de Lange Burg". After the dramatic bombardment by the German army on May 17th 1940, the local authorities decided to change the lay-out of the streets.    

Janssen's house was on the "Groenmarkt" (number 1 on the photograph) and Lippershey's house was in the "Kapoenstraat" (number 2). Both houses no longer exist. Until 1940, the "Groenmarkt" was a wide square and the "Kapoenstraat" was a small street with majestic houses on both sides. Nowadays, the "Groenmarkt" is no longer a square and the "Kapoenstraat" was degraded to an ugly little street. 

The house of Janssen was in between two buttresses against the "Nieuwe Kerk". In the 16th and 17th century, it was very common to build houses against churches. Because of the thick walls of the church, people saved construction materials. Janssen was born in The Hague, probably as a son of a peddler. He moved to Middelburg as "cramer", so he was also a peddler like his father. Much later he presumably became an optician. He was a colorful figure who had huge bills at the local landlord. He also frequently visited the court of justice because of his participation in bar-fights and his reluctance to pay bills. He lived right next to the entrance of the city's mint. And maybe he therefore came up with the idea of making coins himself. His cousin worked at the mint, so probably he learned the skills from him. That was not very surprising, because he was a very capable craftsman. He could have got the death penalty for counterfeit coining, but he got away with it. Probably, because he knew the sherif and shared the revenues with him!

When his house was demolished, is not exactly known. But on 19th century pictures it is no longer visible. In 1851, a memorial stone was put into the church wall to honor him for his invention. The plaque has survived the wars of the twentieth century and is still visible.

The house of Lipperhey was situated in the "Kapoenstraat". It was the fourth house, as seen from the entrance of the "Nieuwe Kerk". On the sketch dating around 1848, his house is the one on the far right. This is where Lipperhey lived in 1608. The house was called "De Amandel Bale". In 1609, the could buy the house right next to his, because of his deal with Prince Maurits to build three telescopes. Then he named the house, after heavy reconstruction: "In De Drie Vare Gesichten" (In the three far sights), a reference to the three telescopes he had to build.

Halfway the 19th century, the "Nieuwe Kerk" was reconstructed. In that period, the houses right next to the church were demolished. The "Amandel Bale" was one of them. The church got a neo-gothic look. The house "In de Drie Vare Gesichten" was spared. On the picture on the right, the house of Lipperhey in the "Kapoenstraat" is clearly visible. This house has been there until May 17th 1940. On that day, the German bombs sadly destroyedthe building entirely. City building experts, who had rebuild the city center after its destruction, changed the lay-out of the streets entirely. Older citizens disliked this solution, but younger people do not know any better. The house of Lipperhey was not rebuilt. At the moment there is a parking meter...

The data in this article is mainly adopted from an article by Huib J. Zuidervaart, whom we acknowledge for his research and his willingness to share his findings with us.