RTV Utrecht
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RTV Utrecht
NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 11:47
Volunteers are working to save the drawings that German soldiers made in the Second World War in the old fort near Everdingen. The sketches partly consist of Nazi slogans. Nevertheless, they are worth preserving, according to the volunteers of the Honswijk-Everdingen foundation.
“If we do nothing, you won’t see a single brushstroke in two years’ time,” says Gerard Walraven RTV Utrecht. It is so humid in the old fort of the Dutch Waterline that the drawings soften or literally peel off the wall.
The drawings were made on the walls at the beginning of the war by German soldiers who were billeted in the fort near the Utrecht village. Sometimes these are ordinary images of genitals, but there are also prints with a political overtone.
RTV Utrecht watched the Nazi prints in the fort with the volunteers:
Nazi drawings in Fort Everdingen restored: ‘Piece is part of the history of the fort’
Volunteer Frits Feunekes mentions a print of Winston Churchill as Emperor Nero, who makes striking decisions. “Such a drawing was intended to keep the German courage,” says volunteer Frits Feunekes. “To make the Allies seem less strong in the minds of the soldiers.”
Germans in a small town
And so the walls of building A11 are almost completely drawn. Almost nowhere else in the Netherlands does such a collection of paintings of ‘ordinary texts’ from the war years exist. “With the prints we can keep catching up with people about how things went during the war,” says Feunekes. “It shows how Everdingen is connected to the war. Why Stars of David were drawn by German soldiers in this small town. And why we shouldn’t forget how important the freedom we know now is.”
But it’s getting damper in the fort right by the Lek, the two volunteers notice as they wade in through a puddle. “It depends on the groundwater level,” says Walraven. “It’s only twenty centimeters below this floor. The water will soak into those walls. Well, those drawings won’t last much longer.”
On the ground, scattered throughout the bunker, is a trail of pieces of wall. There are also puddles of water everywhere. Churchill’s nose has already peeled off from all the moisture, the two men notice upon closer inspection.
It is not yet entirely clear how the drawings can best be protected. Hanging a simple glass plate in front of the drawings does not solve anything because the moisture will rise through the walls. According to experts, bringing the groundwater to a lower level is impossible. Perhaps the drawings can be protected by applying a plastic layer and thus ‘sealing’ them. “If specialists do that, water damage can be prevented,” says Walraven. The question is whether this ‘sealing’ is allowed, because in view of the legislation, no adjustments are actually allowed to be made to the old fort.
The foundation has presented the idea to the municipality and the province. Walraven: “We are hopeful that they will give us permission to protect the drawings.”
If that permission comes, point two will follow: financing. The two volunteers still have no idea of the costs, although they talk about “a mountain of money”. But it’s worth it, Feunekes thinks: “Look at all the stories we can tell on the basis of the paintings. It is a unique collection of prints, agrees the National Office of Cultural Heritage.”
2023-08-09 09:47:50
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