Admiral De Ruyter

Admiral De Ruyter
The most famous Admiral of the Netherlands was born on March 24, 1607 in Vlissingen. He went early to the sea and rose from the ship's boy to lieutenant-general admiral. Previously, he was helmsman on the whaling and was in the service of the trading house Lampsins from Vlissingen. The Dutch Republic waged wars in the second half of the seventeenth century. to protect your own trade. Wars, which took place predominantly at sea. In the period 1666-1673 De Ruyter showed his mastery as commander-in-chief. The four-day naval battle in June 1666 during the Second English War is a striking example of this. By intervention of De Ruyter 26 Hungarian pastors were released. For nine months, they had worked as slaves on the Spanish galleys near Naples. It was one of his last acts of war. De Ruyter died on April 29, 1676 at work. A meeting with the French at Messina (Italy) came to a fateful end. On March 18, 1677, the funeral took place in the New Church in Amsterdam. De Ruyter got his inspiration from Heimatliebe. Conscientiousness and faith. He always remained in his action an ordinary folk boy from Vlissingen. Pride and honor were foreign to him. He did not forget his hometown. So he donated a few times large sums for the poor of the city. On August 25, 1841, King William II. on De Ruyterplatz the monument to De Ruyter. The cast-iron statue fitted quite well into a time of Romanticism. of nationalism and hero worship. Sculptor Louis Roijer made the design. He also designed the statues for Rembrandt. Vondel and William of Orange. Roijer used a painting by Ferdinand Bol as a preface In 1894, the statue got a place on the emperor's bastion. Since 1905, two cannons fished at Messina flank the monument. A profound renovation began in November 2010. On July 5, 2011, the monument was re-revealed.