Although no
longer visible, most of the town center was destroyed by bombs on the 17th of
May 1940. No less than 591 buildings were reduced to ruins and when Walcheren was
liberated in 1944, which involved the flooding of the island, additional damage was
sustained to the buildings outside the town walls. They are black pages in recent history.
Dozens of years were needed to make the town presentable again. Years of toil and labor,
building, renovating, rebuilding and restoration. Nowadays
the Municipality of Middelburg comprises nearly forty thousand inhabitants, spread out in
extremely varied living surroundings, both rural and urban and modern suburbs surrounding
the old town.
Middelburg can take pride in possessing one of the most beautiful
town halls in the Netherlands. It is monumental evidence of the strong bond Zeeland had
with Flanders during the late Middle Ages. It was from this region that the master
builders originated, who lavishly provided the façade with cornices, consoles and stone
foliage. The building is a late, but typical style of Southern Dutch Gothic.
Middle Age architects very rarely saw their impressive buildings
completed, as was the case with Andries and Matheus Keldermans. They started building in
1452, with their work only to be finished by their sons. This famous family of architects
had been honoured by having a small street named after them, which leads from the corner
of the Markt and Lange Noordstraat opposite the Town Hall.
Twenty-five statues of Counts and Countesses of Holland and Zeeland
have found a place on the Town Hall façade. The series ended with Charles V and it was
only five centuries later, in 1910, that the crowned head of Queen Wilhelmina was added.
Her statue, together with Princess Juliana’s, can be found in the gable above the
Vleeshal. The Vleeshal with the Lakenhal above, formed part of the Town Hall complex. They
are no longer of economical use. The one time Lakenhal is now used as a reception room, a
stately environment for representative gatherings of the Town Council, while the Vleeshal,
under the same name is utilized as an exhibition area.
Middelburg is internationally known for its restoration procedures.
In the seventies the Council acquired the honorable title of European Monument Town. This
was the result of years of activity in the field of restoration and town renewal.
In a provincial capital there is usually a concentration of many
Government departments. In Zeeland’s capital a great deal of employment can indeed be
found in the official and administrative sector, and along with this, a certain emphasis
is placed on the provision of services, a consequence of its regional function.
Nevertheless, the variety for employment is extensive: the agricultural sector is still
represented and in addition, various forms of trades and industry.
