Church of Hindeloopen
Hindeloopen
The Hindeloopen skyline is dominated by its church, called Grote Kerk, visible from many miles away. The old church of Hindeloopen was destroyed during the Eighty Years’ War, in 1570.
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Little water level house (Peilschaalhuisje) at Hindeloopen
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Visrestaurant Sudersee - fresh fish and stories
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The Hindeloopen skyline is dominated by its church, called Grote Kerk, visible from many miles away. The old church of Hindeloopen was destroyed during the Eighty Years’ War, in 1570. The church was dedicated to St. Gertrude. It was rebuilt around 1590, and it is from this period that the church tower dates, having been completed in 1593. The church was then altered on a number of occasions, including the expansion in 1632. 1658 saw further expansion to the south, to form a double-nave hall church. Unfortunately, this addition was demolished again in 1892. The round arched windows of the church also originate from that year.
The tower spire was destroyed when lightning struck in 1701. In 1724, the current spire was added as the new crowning glory of the tower. On top of the octagonal spire, you will see a dome with a wind vane in the form of a sailing ship. Claes Piters was responsible for its design. In 1685, a pair of swinging bells were fitted in the tower, manufactured by the Petrus Overney bell foundry in Leeuwarden. Upon liberation following the Second World War, only one of the two bells could be found.
The church is an official national monument due, among other things, to its striking location and visual value, its age, the valuable parts of the interior and its architectonic design.
Here you will find Church of Hindeloopen
Grote kerkKerkstraat 1
8713 KG Hindeloopen Plan your route
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Makkum War Memorial
Makkum War Memorial
By 16 April, the major part of Friesland had been liberated. But some important targets of the Canadians had not yet been achieved. They wanted to win the Frisian ports and the Head of the Afsluitdijk from the Germans as quickly as possible. But they would be hard fought. Both the ports and the Afsluitdijk were used by German soldiers to escape to North Holland.
As elsewhere in Friesland, the Canadians were helped by resistance fighters from the Dutch Domestic Armed Forces (N.B.S.) They suffered several casualties near Makkum. On 16 April, Schelte Bruinsma and Simon Sipma were killed in an attack on a farm in which the Germans had entrenched themselves. The next day, another group tried to occupy a bridge under Makkum. However, the Germans caught sight of them and in the ensuing gunfight, Rinnert Anema, Roelof van der Meer and Hendrik Postma were killed. Makkum was liberated on 18 April, as one of the last villages in Friesland.
The monument at the Buren in Makkum was unveiled in 1952 in commemoration of the members of the Dutch Domestic Armed Forces who were killed around the village during the struggle for liberation.
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