The charred beams still hang above a gaping hole the size of a large van, on the spot where the monumental Vondelkerk in Amsterdam had its largest tower, which partly collapsed, until New Year’s Eve. At the back of the 1873 building you can see how part of the structure is missing. The large tower in the middle of the building ended up on the back part of the roof and collapsed into the church. There is only to be feared for the interior. By mid-New Year’s Day, the fire was extinguished, it was confirmed that there were no casualties and the fire brigade declared that the outer walls were stable, but no one was allowed in anymore.
What happened is still unknown. The police are investigating, says a fire brigade spokesperson: until then it is a crime scene and there is no speculation. A local resident has an idea. “I immediately thought: flare. Because when children let off fireworks here, they always aim at that spire,” says 73-year-old Marie-José, who does not want to share her last name. She lives a block away, and saw the church burn down at night. “We were having champagne, and I thought, why are people walking here all of a sudden? I suspect that a flare went into the open grid under the point. That entire roof is all wood there. Terrible.”
There are groups of people standing in the rain around the church, residents and tourists. The fire brigade keeps them at a good distance. “After last night I am happy with everything that is left standing,” says a man walking towards the church through Vondelstraat. “Oh Jesus… that entire tower is gone.” On the other side of the church, a woman in a thin jacket asks a security guard why she is still not allowed to enter her house, others would have been back long ago. She still has to go around and ask the fire brigade, while it is raining harder and harder. It even hails for a while.
The police are investigating the cause of the fire in the Vondelkerk.
Photos Dingema mol, Remko de waal, LAURENS NIEZEN / ANP
His best work
The Vondelkerk is located in what you can safely call a good area of Amsterdam, around the corner from the Museumplein with fashion shops with Italian and French names everywhere. In addition, there are also sleeping bags in the bushes of the Vondelpark, which occasionally move. The Overtoom, on the other side of the Vondelkerk, is a bit more popular. There are many burnt sparklers on the street after New Year’s Eve, empty bottles of champagne and the contents of someone’s stomach here and there. And, it was that kind of night, there is a used condom between the plants.
The Roman Catholic Vondel Church has been there since 1873, designed by the Limburg architect Pierre Cuypers, known for De Haar Castle, the Rijksmuseum, Central Station, and the throne on which the king delivers the annual speech from the throne. Cuypers thought the Vondelkerk itself was his best work. “The Vondelstraat Church, which is among the houses that God gave me to build in His honor, [is] will always continue to occupy the sweetest place in my heart,” he wrote, according to the historical society Amstelodamum.
According to the website of the manager of Stadsherstel Amsterdam, the building today is ‘fairytale’, ‘picturesque’ and ‘unique’. “The toilets,” Stadsherstel emphasizes, “have been voted the most beautiful toilets in the Netherlands.”
The church survived an earlier fire in 1904, during which the original tower fell – the drawings from the City Archives are eerily similar to the image on this New Year’s Day. The tower was restored and survived the Second World War unscathed.
But in the late 1970s things came to an end. The Vondelstraat became a battlefield where squatters took on riot police and the army; residents who now stand looking at the burned church remember it. The church was closed in 1978 due to cracks in the walls, a lack of money and believers. Demolition was considered. Apartments were built there, then a mosque, and when only pigeons had been inside long enough, the building was squatted.
Eventually, a volunteer foundation bought the church, it became a cultural center and, at least until last night, was a place where people could get married, host some businesses and host concerts (most recently Lucy Dacus).
Married
“We got married here on May 15, 2004,” says a couple standing on the bank of the pond in the Vondelpark looking at the burned down church. They would rather not have their name in the newspaper. “It’s so sad. We were with friends last night, we had only read about it in the media. Coincidentally, we went back in for the first time three weeks ago with our children to show them where we got married. It feels very coincidental.”
“I find it uncanny that this takes place at the very beginning of the new year,” says local resident Jacinta Heijmans, who stands with an umbrella looking at the back of the church on her daily walking route. “I’m not pessimistic, but this gives me a bad feeling for the coming year.” She said the fireworks in the area this year were much worse than previous years. “I was really scared. They threw bombs, you don’t know what you are experiencing. Everyone says hopefully: it will be over next year, but forget it. There is no enforcement. It is too bad.”
Dozens of evacuated residents were allowed back into their homes during the day, even though they probably have no electricity for a while.
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