Watergate

Most likely, the coffin with Hugo Grotius in it was carried into the city by the Water gate next to the mouth of the Linge. In 1642, 21 years after Hugo's flight, this gate was replaced as part of an improvement of the fortifications. The gate from 1642 was demolished in 1893 against the wishes of part of the population.

The dislike of the Gorinchem magistrates of 'a sickly veneration of the old' was not spent on architect Pierre Cuypers of the Amsterdam Rijksmuseum. Two years later, he erected a copy of the gate in the museum's garden, containing the main original components.
During the most recent restoration of the Rijksmuseum, the clockwork and the bell of the gate were replaced by well-functioning replicas. The hands are now controlled by an atomic clock in Mainflingen, Germany, and the clock strikes the hours again (during the day).

Historische Routes