Middelburg – destroyed and rebuilt

Web project

In the web project “Middelburg destroyed and rebuilt” you will find information about Middelburg during the Second World War and the rebuilding, in texts, prints, photos, documents and video fragments.

Phoenix. Drawing: Ramon de Nennie

In The archive you will find a selection of material from the Zeeland Archives.
The material is divided into three themes:

  • The city in ruins
  • The provisional city
  • The new town

You can also contribute to the content of this site. Make your own photo report or wall paper and send it, then others can admire your work here.

The war story

Read the stories about:
> The city in ruins
> The provisional city
> The new town

/themapagina/middelburg-verwoest-en-herbouwd/het-verhaal-van-de-oorlog/

The archives

In the archives on this site you can search for photos, film clips, documents and other materials.

/themapagina/middelburg-verwoest-en-herbouwd/het-archief/

Photo report

Photograph a place in the center of Middelburg where you have discovered something that has to do with the bombing of 1940. If you follow the treasure hunt you will find those places automatically.

/themapagina/middelburg-verwoest-en-herbouwd/fotoreportage/

Wall paper

In 1940 not many people had a camera or telephone. There was not even television or internet. For news people were dependent on the newspaper and the radio and the cinema news. What could be in a newspaper nowadays about the events of May 1940 and beyond?

/themapagina/middelburg-verwoest-en-herbouwd/muurkrant/

Search assignment

The web project requires a search, the reconstruction route Middelburg rises from its ashes. The reconstruction route passes buildings in the center of Middelburg that were restored after the bombing on 17 May 1940 and buildings that were newly built.

The facades of many rebuilt properties contain a memorial stone. On this small stone is the eagle from the Middelburg city coat of arms that rises from its own ashes like a phoenix. The image represents Middelburg burned down and rebuilt. In the quest and in the web project you see drawings of the phoenix.

  • Verwoeste binnenstad van Middelburg, zomer 1940. Zeeuws Archief, HTAM-A-1710

  • Verwoeste binnenstad van Middelburg, zomer 1940. Zeeuws Archief, HTAM A-1709

  • Verwoeste huizen rond de Markt in Middelburg, zomer 1940. Zeeuws Archief, HTAM-A-1698II

  • De zwarte silhouetten van een achttal toeschouwers steken af tegen de nasmeulende puinhopen van uitgebrande gebouwen in Middelburg.

    Inspectie van verwoestingen in de binnenstad van Middelburg, zomer 1940. Zeeuws Archief, HTAM A-1616

  • Gezicht op de verwoestingen rondom het stadhuis van Middelburg, gezien vanuit de Lange Noordstraat. Zeeuws Archief, HTAM-A-1706

  • Kade met verwoeste huizen in Middelburg, zomer 1940. Zeeuws Archief, HTAM-A-1711

    More information

    On the website of the Zeeland Archives you can find background information about Middelburg in the Second World War: