Gothic Tower of St. Lawrence Church in Rotterdam - WWII survivor

Huge Gothic tower in Rotterdam that survived the carpet bombing of WWII. A fitting climb up the church tower in the center of Rotterdam on Liberation Day (Bevrijdingsdag) 2024.
Rotterdam's Grote or Sint-Laurenskerk, also known as Laurenskerk, is a Gothic church. In English we call it the St. Lawrence Church. It is the only surviving piece of the medieval city core of Rotterdam. The present church is a hybrid of a cross basilica and a hall church. In particular, the Gothic church tower was left intact after the intense bombing by the Germans in WWII. In this video we walk up the tower and I show images of before and after the destruction in 1940.
“In the Rotterdam Blitz on May 14, 1940, the Laurenskerk was heavily damaged, with only the tower and walls surviving.[1] At first there were calls to demolish the church, but that was stopped by Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands.” Source: en.wikipedia.o...)
On the location of the current St. Laurenskerk choir, there once stood a hall (parish) church in Rotterdam dedicated to Laurentius and Magdalena circa 1350. The church's foundation stone was placed in 1412, and construction on the tower started in 1449. By the close of the fifteenth century, the church was finished. At that time, the tower matched the height of the church; a third part was added to it only in 1548.
Hendrick de Keyser designed the wooden spire that was installed on the tower in 1621. Dirc Davidsz erected the tower between 1645 and 1646. For the second time, Versijde was raised, reaching its present height. A fourth portion of stone was added to the tower, but in 1650 it was discovered that the part was too heavy for the foundation. 500 pine masts were once more piled atop the tower, the foundation was strengthened (see the greatly varied red brick tower base to the first section), and the tower rose once more in 1655. The fourth portion, which features a stone dial with a clock integrated into the tower, is the only one in the Netherlands with Gothic and Baroque components.
So the tower today is basically from 1655, making it almost 400 years old.
Klarenbeek Gevelonderhoud:
klarenbeekgeve...
Enjoy the climb to the top of the Gothic tower and the raising of the Dutch flag on Liberation day, 5 May 2024.
#rotterdam #Laurenskerk #church #tower
St. Lawrence Church tower in Rotterdam, a true WWII survivor and more!

[@cindyc]

❤⛪️

[@Brother_D_therail]

A wonderful tour my friend, and what history! And thank you for your very informative description. God bless you 🙏

[@pijnacker01]

Thank you 🙏 double, Dick. It was an amazing view up on that tower. I’ll be over in Nevada next week!