450 years of Leiden University: A walk around Rapenburg (2)
Leiden University was founded in 1575 and is the oldest university in the Netherlands. The university has seven faculties (six in Leiden and one in The Hague), with 33.701 students enrolled in 2025. The Rapenburg has witnessed many highs and lows in Leiden's history. A major disaster occurred in 1807. This sixth blog covers: A Tour of the Rapenburg, Part 2, featuring the explosion of the gunpowder ship in Leiden (1807).
Continuation of the Rapenburg Loop
Following my previous blog post about the 'Rapenburg Loop', I received positive reactions and requests to tell more about the famous Rapenburg. It is known not only among Leiden residents but also far beyond. If you have planned a day out in Leiden, be sure to stop by the Leiden Tourist Information Office (VVV) at Stationsweg 26, situated between the restaurants and the ANWB. You can go to the VVV with all your questions about Leiden. You will be assisted by a very friendly VVV team who can tell you in detail about a pleasant day out in Leiden. The foldable Leiden city map (in 3 languages) is available for free pickup. The Rapenburg Loop is also available as a foldable map for free. Highly recommended for a first introduction to parts of Leiden University: https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/dossiers/450-jaar/rondje-rapenburg
Near the Nieuwsteegbrug on the Rapenburg, Leiden was struck by the Gunpowder Disaster. On January 12, 1807, a ship full of gunpowder exploded here, creating a hole in the city. The new physics laboratory was built there, later named after Kamerlingh Onnes, who reached the coldest place on Earth with his experiments here in 1908. The Faculty of Law is now located here. The physicists have moved to Leiden Bio Science Park.
The explosion of the gunpowder ship in Leiden (1807)
Everyone knows the Enschede fireworks disaster (2000), the Jan van Speijk gunboat explosion in Antwerp (1831), and the Delft gunpowder disaster (1654). But the people of Leiden know the history of the explosion of the gunpowder ship on January 12, 1807, at a quarter past four in the afternoon, during the French occupation. In that year, Leiden was the epitome of a city in decline. In 1675, Leiden still had over 65.000 inhabitants and a flourishing textile industry. By 1807, little of that remained. The population had more than halved, and during the French occupation, industry had been dealt a fatal blow.
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The ship It exploded in the middle of Leiden in the Steenschuur, a canal extending from the Rapenburg. The disaster resulted in 151 deaths and over 2000 injured. Relief efforts got underway immediately after the disaster. The dead and wounded were recovered, and walls were shored up. A substantial reward of ten ducats was offered to anyone who managed to pull a survivor from under the rubble. Approximately 220 homes were completely destroyed or declared uninhabitable. Even in the furthest districts of Leiden, windows were shattered and roof tiles were blown off the roofs. The blast was heard in The Hague. The cause of the disaster is unknown. It is claimed that it was partly due to carelessness on the part of a crew member while cooking. Shortly before the explosion, a passerby saw potato peels being thrown overboard.
In addition, a national collection was held. Despite the dire economic situation, this raised nearly two million guilders in kind—including donations. Accurate records of the collection have been preserved. From this, we know that there were people who could spare more than 5000 guilders, which was a fortune at the time.
What are the parallels between the gunpowder ship disaster of 1807 and the destruction of the Primera store during the corona period in Den Bosch in 2021?
- King Louis Napoleon visited the scene of the disaster. Prime Minister Rutte called Ms. Maaike Neufeglise of the Primera on the same evening of the destruction. King Willem-Alexander visited Den Bosch the following day and spoke with Ms. Maaike Neufeglise (Primera) in her shop.
- Money was collected directly in the past via a national collection, and now via Tikkies and GeenStijl.
- The Municipality of Leiden guaranteed the damage. Now it is a matter for insurance companies and the Public Prosecution Service to recover the damages from the rioters.
Books about historical disasters, crisis, and catastrophe
Lotte Eilskov Jensen (Hillerød, Denmark, 1972) is a Dutch studies scholar and philosopher. She works as a Professor of Dutch Literature and Cultural History in the Department of Dutch Language and Culture at Radboud University Nijmegen. Her research focuses on the role of culture in disasters and identity formation. She participates in the NWO-funded gravity programme Adapt! on the adaptability of societies during crises. She is a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Sciences (KNAW) and Chair of the Working Group on the Modern Era. Additionally, she writes reviews for de Volkskrant and columns for de lage landen. After visiting professorships at Ghent University and UC Louvain, she will hold the Isabelle de Charrière Chair at the Université de Lille (France) in 2025. In 2024, she received the Visser-Neerlandia Prize for her dedication to Dutch language and culture.Crisis and catastrophe It examines the influence of disasters on belief in God, solidarity and charity, and local and national identity formation in the period 1750–1940. Attention is also paid to the cultural representation of disasters in literature, paintings, and commemorative books. Historical research into disasters and disaster processing has boomed in recent years. Due to the threat of climate disasters and pandemics, there is a growing awareness that disasters have a major impact on community development.
In the period 1755–1918, numerous disasters also occurred that affected Dutch society, such as the Leiden gunpowder disaster of 1807, various cholera outbreaks, and large-scale river floods. In the colonies, volcanic eruptions and floods were recurring phenomena. And then there were major international disasters, such as the Lisbon earthquake of 1755 and the Spanish flu in 1918. With contributions from Ruben Ros, Erica Boersma, Arti Ponsen, Marita Mathijsen, Lotte Jensen, Fons Meijer, Jan Wim Buisman, Ron Brands, Hans Beelen, Alicia Schrikker, Sander Tetteroo, Judith Bosnak, and Rick Honings.
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Disasters have been decisive for the history of the Netherlands. Consider, for example, the St. Elizabeth's Flood of 1421, when people, animals, and villages drowned. The landscape changed forever. Or the Bijlmer disaster in 1992, when a plane crashed in the Bijlmermeer. A shockwave swept through the entire country. The public response to disasters remarkably often follows the same pattern, although there are, of course, differences. For centuries, citizens have sought solace in cultural and religious rituals during times of disaster. They organize charity events, benefit concerts, and commemorations. The media increasingly steer perception and publish sensational stories about victims, royal visits, and miraculous rescues. They point fingers at causes and culprits. This richly illustrated book shows how Dutch society responds directly and practically to disasters and how they live on in cultural memory. Paintings, monuments, books, documentaries, and films pass on knowledge as well as myths to subsequent generations. From the All Saints' Flood of 1570 to the North Sea Flood of 1953, from the Delft Thunderclap of 1654 to the fireworks disaster in Enschede in 2000, and from the medieval plague epidemics to the recent coronavirus pandemic.
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