The last smokestack of the Nedalco factory, an alcohol mill, once a source of pollution which by the way not all the people in Bergen op Zoom disliked, now a newly restored industrial monument. Nedalco is an abbreviation for Nederlandse Alcohol. This chimney, in its heyday one of the tallest in the country, is thought to become the landmark of Schelde Vesting, a district in progress around the old harbour, which will enlarge the surface of the downtown area.
The building crane to the right indicates the construction of residential complex Vissershaven, due to completion in 2014.
The situation in 1923. This picture was taken from an KLM-plane.
The street, untill 1889 Singelweg, is called after a family of Flemish entrepreneurs. Wittouck etymologically may mean 'Witte hoek' (White corner) in Dutch. Another theory claims the name is a corruption of wind + hoek (wind + corner/area), which seems to be more logical.
In 1863 Felix Wittouck established a sugar mill in this area, the first one in BoZ. His son Paul combined the factory with a similar one in nearby Breda and called the combination NV Sucreries de Breda et de Bergen op Zoom. He also started the Société Hollandaise de Maltose, in 1886, which became De Zuid-Nederlandsche Melasse Spiritusfabriek, three years later.
The buildings on the picture are waiting to be demolished.
The remnants of industrial activity in their splendor of decay.
All pictures: © Albert Hagenaars, 2013, 2014.
