De Waterpoort by Jan Knikker sr - Tiel, NL
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T-Team!
N 51° 53.181 E 005° 26.424
31U E 667946 N 5751212
The painting "De Waterpoort" in Tiel by Jan Knikker Sr was painted in the 1930's. You stand outside the city looking in north western direction into the city through the Waterpoort.
Waymark Code: WM14EGJ
Location: Gelderland, Netherlands
Date Posted: 06/23/2021
Views: 12
De Waterpoort is the gate entrance to Tiel. The gate was painted by Jan Knikker Sr in the 1930's (exact date not known, date according to sign/website).
Next to the gate, the city have put up a sign showing the painting of the gate approx 90 years ago.
"The Waterpoort is one of the most painted buildings in Tiel. In the interwar period, Jan Knikker senior made this painting using his characteristic loose brushwork.
The medieval harbor of Tiel (on the site of today's Plein) was filled in 1646. Subsequently, a new city gate was built at the end of the Square, which was called Waterpoort. This gate could no longer really be used as a defense against enemies. But to keep unwanted guests out of the city. In addition, the gate served as a flood defense during high water until 1861. A barrier could be made under the gate. The somewhat higher city center of Tiel was not flooded. The Betuwe population fled into the city during floods. The inscription on the Water Gate reminds us of this: Asylum gentis Batavorum (refuge for the Batavian people).
The charming, slender gate built in 1647 became the symbol of the city. Great was the loss that precisely this last city gate was blown up by the German occupier on 15 November 1944. All kinds of actions, including by the shopkeepers on the Plein, led to the decision of the municipal council to rebuild the Waterpoort in 1978. A year later this architectural jewel was once again showing off in the streets, as if it had never been gone.
The gate is now part of the Flipje en Streekmuseum."
Source: (
visit link)