Johan Rudolph Thorbecke - Amsterdam, NH, NL - Statues of Historic Figures on Waymarking.com

""The statue of Johan Rudolph Thorbecke, or Thorbecke monument, is a 19th-century memorial in Amsterdam, in memory of the liberal politician Thorbecke.

ohan Rudolph Thorbecke (Zwolle, 1798 - The Hague, 1872) was chairman of the committee responsible for the constitutional revision of 1848 and three times minister of the Interior. Immediately after his death in June 1872, there were voices to establish a statue for him. The same month Henri Leeuw sr. Made a bust, from which casts could be bought. A national founding committee was set up under the chairmanship of W.H. Dullert. In July 1872, the building for Arts and Sciences in Utrecht gathered about proposals for a statue, placing a memorial stone in his birthplace in Zwolle, a memorial stone on his grave and the purchase of his house in The Hague. Proposals to send a bust to all municipalities in the country and to dry the Zuiderzee and to name the new polder after Thorbecke did not reach the finish line. It was decided that the statue would be erected in The Hague.
There was no competition for a design. The commission awarded the contract to the sculptor Ferdinand Leenhoff, who lives in Paris. He had finished his design in May 1873. Leenhoff portrayed Thorbecke as he was often seen in the Chamber "when he paused for a moment to pronounce one of those short, contrived, spirit-like sentences".
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With the approval of the government, the committee decided that the image would be placed on the Binnenhof. The Burgomaster and Aldermen considered the City more suitable and issued a permit on January 6, 1874. After many objections, both within and outside the board, it was decided in April 1874 to postpone a decision on the final location. In September 1874 it was again decided to set up the statue at the Place. Minister Jan Heemskerk Azn. commented on this and ultimately spoke out his veto, which led, among other things, to parliamentary questions. The councils of Amsterdam, Assen and Zwolle then informed the founding committee that the monument could be placed in their city. In February 1875 the committee decided to accept the offer from Amsterdam.
The statue was cast in bronze in May 1875 by the Dutch firm Enthoven. The plaster head of the casting model was later donated by the founding committee to the municipality of Amsterdam. On 18 May 1876 the statue was unveiled on the Reguliersplein after a presentation by W.H. Dullert, as chairman of the committee and chairman of the House of Representatives. Then it was gratefully accepted by Mr. C.J.A. den Tex, mayor of Amsterdam, who indicated that the square would henceforth be called Thorbeckeplein."

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Date Logged Log User Rating   04/05/2021 evelineroos visited it 01/10/2018 kaschper69 visited it

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