In 1923, a large sea of flames destroyed the Nicolaas Church, a synagogue and a number of farms in Dwingeloo. One hundred years later the documentary is on TV Drenthe From village green to fire to see, about the big village fire.
With the documentary, Albertus Nieuwenhuis wanted to portray what happened in Dwingeloo on August 13, 1923. “What was going on? And what did that look like? It clearly shows what a huge disaster that was, what a small fire can do in the space of an hour and a half.”
According to the investigation, the fire probably broke out in a pot shed, a small shed next to the farm where fat or pig feed was being cooked at the time. While the workers were working in the back of the field, the flames spread around the village. The combination of wooden structures, thatched roofs and strong winds destroyed almost a fifth of the village.
In 2011, former police detective Nieuwenhuis started his reconstruction work. “I like 3D drawing, so I started drawing a few old buildings in Dwingeloo. Then you do another one, and another one, and before you know it you have moved on ten years and a half.”
Nieuwenhuis received help from the Dwingeler historical association ‘Dwingels Eigen’. Erwin de Leeuw from the association, for example, helped with the search in the land registry. “The land registry has been collecting the ownership history of houses since 1832 and they also make drawings. These field works show the sizes of the houses. Together with old plans and photos, Albertus has made a beautiful animation of this,” says De Leeuw.
Fun fact: the graphic documentary is recorded in Dwingel’s dialect. And for those who don’t know that: it is also subtitled.