Mariakerke

As a child, Ostend resident James Ensor often walked through the open dunes to the neighboring village of Mariakerke. At the age of forty-one, he painted "View of Mariakerke". In the meantime, the dune village had lost its silence. "Oh beautiful modernity, what crimes have not been committed in your name," wrote James Ensor. The painter, who balanced between engagement and bitterness, hated the construction frenzy of his time. As early as 1894, James Ensor helped organize the protest against the potential demolition of his beloved Our Lady of the Dunes Church. The Dunes Church had endured much since its construction in the fourteenth century. Ensor would have to continue fighting for the preservation of the church well into old age. During World War I, the church's tower was demolished by the Germans. They feared that the church would be a target for Allied cannons from the sea. Storm and sea winds tormented the little church in the following years, as did the threat of new construction plans. Ensor continued to fight for the church and was able to witness the final protection decision in 1946.

"View of Mariakerke" by James Ensor hangs at Mu.zee Oostende

Pascal Brackman