The flames shot out of the Gertrudis Church on all sides, they are still burned into the retina of Robert Guinée (55). It is Sunday fifty years ago that as a little boy, he stood watching the enormous fire that completely reduced the large church of Bergen op Zoom to ashes. It was a disaster of unprecedented proportions for the city. And one that would mark Robert’s life.
He was on his way to go shopping with his mother, says Robert about that particular day in 1972. “If you were here fifty years ago, you were in a war zone.” They saw the clouds of smoke rising over the city.
The immense fire provided inspiration to Robert. Most five-year-old boys wanted to be firefighters, but little Robert immediately decided he wanted to renovate old buildings. He is now a restoration architect.
The fascination for the Gertrudis Church and restoration technique can be traced directly back to the fire. During his secondary school days at ‘t Rijks, he closely followed the restoration. “Where most students smoked a cigarette on the square during the break, I got on my bike to look at the restoration of the Gertrudiskerk and the Markiezenhof. I knew from day to day what was happening.”
The fire in the Gertrudiskerk is said to have started during work. Because of the draft and bone-dry wooden constructions, the flames easily spread. The vault fell down all over the church.
A huge stock of new wood was still stored in the choir. “A beautiful pyre”, Robert reconstructs the fire. The extinguishing activities also destroyed all the limestone pillars. “For Bergen op Zoom, it definitely had the impact that the fire of Notre-Dame in Paris had.”
However, the cause of the Bergse fire still remains a mystery after fifty years. “The fire started at the crossing tower, but no one was there at the time.” Of course Robert has given some thought to what could be the cause of the fire. “But it is and will always remain a hypothesis. You can never say: that was the cause of the fire.”
The church has since been restored. Although there is criticism about the ultramodern, flat roof that lies on top of the church. “It is four legs with bolts. Unscrew them, rent and tap and plow: you pull it out of the church like a cork!” That could be better, thinks Robert. “It is a dream that the old roof is being restored, but we do have a church space. You should be happy about that too.”