On the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on 17 November 1888, the management of the Rijks Hoogere Burger School (R.H.B.S.) took the initiative to create a lasting memory of this special event. They then commissioned Abraham Frans Gips, a respected artist and teacher at the same school, to design a monument that would honour the independence of the Netherlands.

The spire’s design became a magnificent stone needle, intended to impress all who saw it with its elegance and symbolism. The needle was crowned with a gilded sphere, which shone like a beacon of hope and symbolised the glory of the reclaimed kingdom. The five decorative protrusions surrounding the sphere represented not only the nation’s five core values – freedom, justice, unity, courage, and progress – but also the regions that together formed the entirety of the kingdom.

The inscription on the needle read: “17 November 1813-1888 Dedicated and devoted to the independence of the Netherlands and presented to the municipality of Bergen op Zoom by pupils and teachers of the R.H.B.S.”

For more information about this image and the other images in our city, visit KidOR, Foundation for Art in Public Spaces.