Draft:Monument to the fallen railway personnel

Monument to Fallen Railway Workers
ArtistWillem Valk
Year1949
MediumVaurion limestone
LocationMoreelsepark, Utrecht

Monument to Fallen Railway Workers is a war memorial in Utrecht commemorating the Dutch railway workers who died during World War II. Ramaker and B. van Bohemen (1980) Sta een ogenblik stil... Monumentenboek 1940/1945. Kampen: Uitgeversmaatschappij J.H. Kok.</ref> The statue is located at De Inktpot, the former Head Administration Building III of the Dutch Railways, in the Moreelsepark.

Background

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Towards the end of the war, the Groningen-based sculptor Willem Valk was approached by Dutch Railways architect H.G.J. Schelling to design a memorial for the renovated hall of Amsterdam Centraal. When Valk completed his design, it was found that the plan could not proceed due to a construction ban. Schelling later served on the preparatory committee for a monument in Utrecht and advocated for awarding the commission to Valk. In 1946, Valk proposed an idea for several figures connected by terraces through which the public could walk. The Advisory Committee rejected it. His second design, featuring several figures on a high pedestal, was completed in 1948. Valk created the work in his studio in Eelderwolde with assistance from Rinus Meijer and Wladimir de Vries.[1] The monument is the largest in Valk's oeuvre of war memorials.[2]

The monument was unveiled on 17 September 1949, five years after the start of the Railway Strike of 1944, by Prince Bernhard.[3]

Description

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On a four-meter-high pedestal, there is a sculpture group made of Vaurion limestone (French limestone), consisting of two men and two women, one of whom holds a child. They symbolize the collective resistance. On the front of the pedestal is a poem by Hendrik de Vries. The other sides bear the names of 561 fallen railway workers.

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References

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  1. ^ "In the studio of sculptor Valk"", Nieuwsblad van het Noorden, 6 October 1948; "NS resistance monument in Utrecht", Nieuwsblad van het Noorden, 30 August 1949.
  2. ^ H. IJsselstein Mulder et al. (1999) Hendrik en Willem Valk. Een Arnhemse schilder en een Groninger beeldhouwer. Groningen: Benjamin & Partners. ISBN 90-5764-097-X.
  3. ^ "Prince Bernhard unveils monument of the Dutch Railways", Nieuw Utrechtsch dagblad, 17 September 1949.

52°5′16.32″N 5°6′54.87″E / 52.0878667°N 5.1152417°E / 52.0878667; 5.1152417