MARY - The holy virgin

57 locations, in alphabetical order
Unless otherwise noted, all photos: © Albert Hagenaars.


Although Bergen op Zoom has not always been a predominantly Roman-Catholic town, one can still see many statuettes, figurines, plaques and plaquettes representing Mary, a strong symbol of the Roman-Catholic version of Christianity, some of them having survived sieges and iconoclastic furies. This page will bring together as many of the remaining images as possible. Some have historic value, a few are also artistically interesting and most of them are the result of serial production, as especially can be seen on houses of the Twenties and Thirties of the 20th century. All were given their place however with the firm belief that Mary would protect the residents, keep them from evil, or could provide prosperity.
Bergen op Zoom is also home to one of the few processions in The Netherlands dedicated to Mary, a result of a promise, done during World War II. If the town remained unharmed, its citizens would organize a yearly parade in honor of her. Although two 'Vergeltungswaffen' came down in the centre, killing dozens of people and causing of lot of material damage, this promise was kept, up to this day.