Rijkswerf Willemsoord in Den Helder exists 200 years. The Naval Museum of the Royal Netherlands Navy is celebrating the anniversary with an exhibition and a book about the history of the yard. Built on the orders of Napoleon, it is the only naval yard in the Netherlands that has remained intact. Rens Schendelaar, writer and former employee of the Rijkswerf is grateful to Napoleon: “Den Helder owes its status to the shipyard, to this day.”
Almost everything on the old Willemsoord yard is still original or at least restored. “It still looks like it used to,” says Rens Schendelaar, author of the book ‘De Landswerfen en Rijkswerf Willemsoord Den Helder’. “I like the docks and the buildings the most. Where we are now, those buildings are very characteristic with the arches. I worked here for 48 years, so that’s why the connection with the shipyard.”
‘Gibraltar’
If it had been up to Napoleon, Den Helder would have become the ‘Gibraltar of the North’. After his visit to Huisduinen in 1811, Napoleon decided to commission the construction of a naval dockyard. This week it will be exactly 200 years since the first buildings were completed. The Rijkswerf has been owned by the municipality of Den Helder since 1995. There is now catering, the theater De Kampanje and soon also the new town hall.
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The Navy still has some buildings in use, such as the Naval Museum and the sloop shed. All maintenance has been moved to the current naval area, but former Wervians such as Joop Krete are still doing a lot of restoration work for the museum. Krete: “I still enjoy coming here. It is the last remaining yard and I think it is special to commemorate this.”
Authentic
The fact that the yard is still intact after 200 years, even after the bombing of the Second World War, is an excellent opportunity for the Naval Museum, says Lincy Passenier: “For us as a museum it means that we can tell the story of the navy well. is authentic, it’s not recreated. We’re happy to be able to preserve it like this for the future.”