Today I was sitting on the bridge in front of the Amsterdams Lyceum...
On the other side of the bridge is the Olympiaplein with in front of it the controversial Monument Indië-Nederland (to celebrate hundreds of years of plundering the Dutch West Indies).
It was originally made in 1935 for the Governor-General of Nederlands-Indië and war criminal Johannes Benedictus van Heutsz (1851-1924), who as commander of the KNIL army had mass murdered "savage" Indonesians in Atjeh.
At this time it was still plundered as a Dutch colony. If I understand correctly some countries are actually ashamed of their colonial past, but not over here!
This is how it looked a long time ago, before WW II probably. Picture take from the roof of the Amsterdams Lyceum?
There is a statue of a woman flanked by 2 lions, with behind her the twin pillars, with the arched sun on top, with 13 rays.
Behind, below it are 6 arches on both sides of the twin pillars, making a total of 13 arches.
Some have noted that the woman has nothing to do with Van Heutsz, and is surely no Indonesian woman.
It looks more like an ancient Greek (or Roman) statue, with the woman holding a legal scroll as a symbol for the Dutch monarch (Queen Wilhelmina at the time) holding the Dutch West Indies.
(in Dutch)
https://marionalgra.wordpress.com/tag/sarong/
http://www.buitenbeeldinbeeld.nl/Ams...Van_Heutsz.htm
Connect With Us