Jaap van 't Veen's photos with the keyword: statue

The Wilhelmsturm located on a hill above the town, nowadays is Dillenburg’s main landmark. The tower was built between 1872 and 1875 on the former upper courtyard of Dillenburg Castle. That medieval castle was erected in 1130, but destroyed during the Seven Years War in 1760. The castle was the family ancestral seat of the House of Nassau. The Wilhelmsturm is 41 meters high and overlooks the town of Dillenburg. The tower was constructed as a permanent memorial of Willem van Oranje (William of Ornage or William the Silent) who was born in the castle. Nowadays it houses the Orange-Nassau Museum. Willem van Oranje was the leader of the Dutch revolt against the Spanish occupation during the Eighty Years’ War (1568 -1648), which resulted in the formal independence of the Dutch Republic. Next to the tower stands a monument in honour of Dillenburgs greatest son. This statue of William of Orange was erected to mark the 125th anniversary of the Wilhelmsturm and unveiled in the year 2000 by Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands.

Statue of Michiel Adriaenszoon de Ruyter was unveiled by King William II on 25 August 1841. The cast iron statue was designed by sculptor Louis Royer. He based the statue on a painting by Ferdinand Bol. In 1894 the statue was give its current location on the ‘Keizersbolwerk’, where it is overlooking the mouth of the river Scheldt. Since 1905 the statue is flanked by two cannons recovered from the Sea of Messina. After a massive restoration the statue was unveiled again on 5 July 2011. Michiel de Ruyter - the Netherland’s best known admiral - was born in Vlissingen (Flushing) on 24 March 1607. He went to sea as a young boy and would rise from cabin boy lieutenant admiral general, after he had been a mate on a whaler and worked for the Lampsins mercantile house in Vlissingen. During the second half of the 17th century the Dutch Republic waged wars to protect the trade. These wars were mainly fought at sea. In the period 1666 - 1676 De Ruyter showed his skills as a commander-in-chief. He died in harness 29 April 1676 in a battle with the French in the Sea of Messina. His remains were interred in the ‘Nieuwe Kerk’ in Amsterdam. (For more info about De Ruyter: nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michiel_de_Ruyter)