The Siege of Tilburg: The Demolition

Cees Becht was his name, but in the vernacular, he will forever live as Cees de Sloper (Cees the Destructor). In 1957 he became mayor, precisely the period when the textile industry in Tilburg collapsed. Sixty textile factories that offered work to 18,000 men, disappeared within ten years by competition from countries with lower wages. The low-skilled factory workers were unemployed.
Becht knew a solution to revive the patient. He demolished the old Town Hall and Koningswei, an authentic working-class district in the center. In their place came wide roads and tall buildings, such as the Katterug on the east side of the current town hall.
"He wanted to make a real city, a metropolis like Rotterdam, architect George Bedaux shivers reflecting on that period. "That was his biggest mistake. He broke down the most beautiful city centers. What the Germans had left standing, destroyed Becht anyway. The stupid flat on the Katterug is a remnant of that policy. And actually, they should destroy the entire Koningsplein again and start rebuilding, again. "

http://www.bastimmers.nl/nie-maawe-mar-staawe/

Now they have destroyed it again! The first insane and devastating attack on the center was somewhere in mid-September (can’t remember what day exactly. There were also short bombings before). The center was shelled with rockets and artillery. During the first months of the war the bombings were especially during night, so people would feel groggy from lack of sleep throughout the next day, and walk around like zombies.

The devastating result of rockets and artillery shells is clearly visible on the Piusplein

The walls of the Heuvelpoort had collapsed or some parts had completely disappeared. The Mac was almost unrecognizable. The yellow M, should be laying around a few meters from the scene. Some trees had been untouched, others were felled as if by an axe.

South-side of the Heuvelpoort in ruins.

As I walk through the rubble, talk to people, make pictures, I sometimes stare at my hands. As if I would try to convince myself that they were really mine. Those are the devastating effects of a war waged on those who know how to drag themselves through, on those that who are not slain or injured, they slowly lose faith in reality or the ability to experience reality.
And then I suddenly realize how the ugliest building in Tilburg (That’s just indestructible!), just looks magnificent during the night.
This city is lucky. It still has;