Pop hit the sweet spot in Spaarnestad. In 1995, Haarlem celebrated 750 years of city rights, a year full of events and city festivals, which the mayor led with great enthusiasm.
Clock
The Haarlem illustrator Eric Coolen designed the clock on the ‘Millennium Monument’ on the Verwulft in the center of Haarlem. The dials with the silhouette of Jaap Pop were made possible by a fundraising campaign by Haarlemmer Henk Vijn, around the time of the mayor’s farewell. The building in front of the former V&D building now houses a delivery restaurant, but the clock is still there.
The handful of passers-by waiting to cross on Thursday morning do not recognize Pop’s silhouette on the clock. And most have never heard of the former mayor. An older lady recognizes him: “He was a good mayor, I think. A bit distant, yes.”
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