Anyone walking through the historic city center cannot miss them. Throughout Dendermonde, many statues tell stories from the past and present. An overview of all statues can be found below!
Coconut
Since 2005, summer can truly be felt on the Grote Markt thanks to the Coconut. This bronze palm tree is approximately 5.50 meters tall and gives the historic square a contemporary touch.
The Coconut is a creation by Peter Rogiers and has the official name “Coconut for Dendermonde.” The artist does not attach a story to the Dendermonde palm, but sees the sculpture as a positive feature that enhances the terraces. The arrival of the Coconut sparked many reactions from the public.
Location
Grote Markt
Cubes
The starting point of Luc De Man’s work “Cubes” is the tension between culture and nature. On one hand, nature unfolds freely, and on the other, what is created by humans. When these two elements are combined, they find a new balance and form a new whole.
Luc De Man deliberately chose cubes. They are very rare in nature and can therefore be considered markers of human activity. De Man has exhibited in Ghent, Maastricht, New York, Seattle, Munich, Poznań, and Venice, among others.
Location
Brussels Forts, New Quarter
Cubes #130
Cubes #130 is a work by Luc De Man. It is part of a series in which he explores the balance between nature and humans. This series began in Dendermonde, when De Man was asked to create the large artwork “Cubes” at the Brussels Forts.
Although he initially saw this work as the conclusion of his research into the balance and imbalance between people and their environment, it turned out to be the beginning of a larger story. The series of cubes and spheres has since continued to grow and is now frequently shown in museums and galleries, both in the Netherlands and abroad. The local government purchased a work by Luc De Man in 2021.
Location
Schelde, Appels
Dancing Children
Three dancing children holding hands and joyfully performing a circle dance – this is the subject of the bronze sculpture Dancing Children.
The sculpture by Dendermonde sculptor Jos De Decker dates from 1976. In 1997, the service club Rotary Dendermonde donated the sculpture to the city, which placed it at the former Bogaerddam.
During the construction of the new Bogaerd Bridge, the sculpture temporarily disappeared from the streetscape. In 2015, it received a new location at the foot of the bridge, in the cobbled area adjacent to Kasteelstraat.
Location
Kasteelstraat at Bogaerd Bridge
Dender and Schelde
The statue Dender and Schelde by art smith Paul De Visscher symbolizes the confluence of the Dender and Schelde rivers. Since 2005, it has added a powerful and elegant accent to the cityscape.
The metal sculpture is 4.30 meters high. The work consists of two elements that rotate around their axis, widening at the center and then narrowing and diverging. They symbolize the birthplace of Dendermonde at the confluence of the Dender and Schelde.
Location
Green area between Noordlaan and Leopoldlaan
Echo Monument
From 1961 to 1973, BRT broadcast no fewer than 8,400 reports via the program Echo, featuring “news on the margins” and regional updates. The program captivated all of Flanders! Through the occasional collaboration of press photographer Emiel Vermeir, the Dendermonde region was often highlighted.
In 1970, Echostraat was inaugurated in Appels, and in 1971, the Echo team returned for the election of the first Echo Princess. In Oudegem, the population was heavily involved in the filming of the series De Filosoof van Haagem. When Echo dedicated a broadcast there a few years later, the residents of Oudegem proposed, out of gratitude, to commemorate the program with a monument.
Location
Green area between Ouburg and Mevrouw Courtmansstraat
Franz Courtens
The statue of Franz Courtens honors the Dendermonde native, also known as the “Rubens of landscape painting.”
The monument was unveiled in 1950 in the presence of Queen Elisabeth. It consists of a bronze half-figure of Franz Courtens staring straight ahead, with a pipe in his left hand and a paintbrush in his right, resting on a large palette. The surface of the sculpture is fairly rough.
Originally, the statue stood at the entrances to the Schelde and Dender bridges. In the 1960s, during the redevelopment of Noordlaan, it was decided that the monument needed to be relocated. It was dismantled in 1969 and disappeared from the cityscape for 15 years. It was then placed on Geldroplaan before returning to Franz Courtensstraat. The inauguration took place in 1994, 140 years after Franz Courtens’ birth.
Location
Franz Courtensstraat, in the park opposite No. 11
Boy with Fish
On January 1, 1948, city architect Fernand De Ruddere completed his plan for the park behind the Town Hall, which included a pond with a pedestal for a fountain statue. A new design was commissioned from Jos De Decker.
The result was the bronze Boy with Fish: a naked boy holding a large fish in his arms, with a fishing net modestly draped in front of his body and over his arm. A misty stream of water sprays from the fish’s mouth into the pond. In early 1993, the fountain statue had disappeared. Dredging the Dender produced nothing, so it was assumed to have been stolen. The city commissioned the artist to cast a new version based on the original model and anchor it securely. In early 1994, the statue was restored to its pedestal.
Location
Behind the Town Hall, Grote Markt
Queen Astrid
Astrid, Princess of Sweden, was born on November 17, 1905, in Stockholm, daughter of Prince Karl of Sweden and Princess Ingeborg of Denmark. After marrying Crown Prince Leopold of Belgium in 1926, she became Queen of Belgium on February 23, 1934.
In February 1938, Dendermonde veterans decided to erect a bust in her honor. Following a competition, the design was entrusted to the young sculptor Jos De Decker. The marble pedestal was designed by city architect Fernand De Ruddere. The formal unveiling took place on Sunday, July 17, 1938, including a procession to the newly named Koningin Astridlaan.
Location
Koningin Astridlaan
Ros Beiaard by Jan Desmarets
A contemporary bronze Ros Beiaard by artist Jan Desmarets has overseen an important access road to the city center since 1995.
This monumental gift to the city of Dendermonde was mounted on its pedestal at the roundabout on December 13, 1995, adding a distinctive landmark to the cityscape. The horse is depicted rearing, head held high, with the four Heemskinderen on its back. Both the horse and the Heemskinderen display great expressiveness. The statue was donated by the service club “Ronde Tafel 57.”
Location
Roundabout Brusselsestraat/Leopoldlaan
Ros Beiaard Grembergen
In 1995, a new shopping center opened on a former factory site. The monumental Ros Beiaard statue was created from recycled materials. The leaping horse, with the four Heemskinderen on its back, was executed in a modern, stylized manner and unveiled as a “gift for the people of Dendermonde.”
The Ros Beiaard is twelve meters long and seven meters high. It was designed by interior architect Klaar Teurrekens and architect Fernand Lancksweerd. The framework was assembled under the supervision of Alfons De Maeseneir using recycled material from the former Trefil-Arbed company. The entire structure was clad in sheet steel.
Location
Shopping Center Zeelsebaan
Pieter-Jan De Smet
Dendermonde’s most monumental statue honors Father Pieter-Jan De Smet, missionary and peacemaker among Native Americans in North America.
At twenty, philosophy student Pieter-Jan De Smet went as a missionary to the United States. In 1837, he began his mission work with the Indians in Missouri. Over the years, he founded many mission posts and earned the trust of the Potawatomi, Plathoofden, Kalispels, Priemharten, and Sioux.
The statue’s unveiling in 1878 was linked to the Ros Beiaard procession held to celebrate the completion of the dam at the Dender’s mouth. On June 9, 1982, the statue suddenly fell from its high pedestal and was irreparably damaged. Using the original model and the help of several sponsors, an accurate polyester replica was created.
Location
Onze-Lieve-Vrouw Church Square
Ros Beiaard by Marc De Bruyn
In 1958, the Flemish Tourist Association organized a competition to create a new Ros Beiaard statue. Marc De Bruyn’s design was chosen as the clear winner.
However, it turned out that the artist was not only from Aalst but also the designer of the “Ros Balatum,” with which Aalst mocks the Ros Beiaard. This caused some protest. The unusual depiction of the four Heemskinderen also caused discussion among the people of Dendermonde: they were not shown on the back of the Ros Beiaard but as small figures under its front legs. Eventually, Dendermonde accepted the statue, and it was unveiled on April 19, 1959, in the city park with great public interest.
Location
William Bruynincxpark, Stationsstraat
Ros Beiaard by Oscar Sinia
The Palace of Justice, located in the heart of Dendermonde, is a monumental and dominant element in the cityscape due to its austere character.
The fifty-meter-high tower of the current courthouse, designed and built between 1923 and 1927, carries a kiosk adorned with copper columns and gilded owls, a symbol of wisdom.
At the top stands a copper statue by Oscar Sinia: the Ros Beiaard with the four Heemskinderen. In this way, they return to the place where, according to legend, the castle of their father, Lord Aymon, once stood.
Location
Justitieplein
Whale Tail
Artists Staf Vinck, Martin Claessens, and Dirk Van den Nest created this work. Dendermonde’s history includes the story of the whale, which is also embedded in the Ros Beiaard and Katuit processions. Creating an artwork referencing this story was therefore a natural choice.
The artists worked with waste produced in their own city. The whale is entirely made from recycled materials: the metal structure from recovered steel, and the covering from PET bottles. The artists also aimed to highlight the issue of waste in society. In this artwork, the whale dives, searching for an opening between the filled-in Dender and the Schelde.
Location
Groene Dender
Prudens Van Duyse
The statue, erected in honor of the famous poet and Flemish activist Prudens Van Duyse, stands just a few meters from his birthplace. In 1827, Prudens Van Duyse began studying law and earned his doctorate in 1832. After pleading a single case, he hung up his lawyer’s robe for good. After a short career as a city archivist in Dendermonde and teacher in Ghent, he permanently became a city archivist in Ghent in 1838.
After his sudden death in 1859, the city of Ghent named a Prudens Van Duyse Square after him. In Dendermonde, the former Schoolstraat was renamed Prudens Van Duysestraat.
Originally, the statue stood diagonally in front of the Black Sisters’ convent on the Vlasmarkt. In 1927, the city council decided to move it to a “lusthof” next to the new courthouse on Franz Courtensstraat. It remained there until 1994, when it was relocated for the third time to its current location on the Vlasmarkt.
Location
Vlasmarkt
Ontplooiing
To beautify the redesigned Brusselsestraat – Oude Vest intersection, the city council decided to erect an artwork on the roundabout. The statue Ontplooiing by artist Jeanne De Dijn was unveiled on Saturday, November 27, 1999.
The sculpture twists in space like a spiraled column, giving it a dynamic character and symbolizing the development and modernization of the city and region. The continuously renewing force comes from the combination of the form elements into a full unfolding.
The sculpture is cast in bronze and patinated. It has an average diameter of 60 cm, a height of 2.35 m, and stands on a hard stone pedestal 50 cm high and 1 m in diameter.
Location
Roundabout Oude Vest/Brusselsestraat
Tidal Secrets #1
Thanks to a project by Toerisme Oost-Vlaanderen, you can now discover unique artworks at various locations along the Schelde and Dender rivers.
One of these experiential locations, Tidal Secrets #1 by Will Beckers, can be found in Vlassenbroek along the hiking network “In het Land van Stille Waters.” Ideal for exploring the Schelde Valley National Park in a surprising way, either on foot or by bike.
Location
Vlassenbroek
The Pig of Sint-Gillis
Since June 19, 2022, you can admire the real Pig of Sint-Gillis on the square in front of the church. It is surrounded by bronze dahlias, the emblematic flower of the Sint-Gillis flower parade, which has now existed for 70 years.
The Pig of Sint-Gillis is primarily seen in the coat of arms. The inhabitants of Sint-Gillis near Dendermonde were formerly nicknamed the “Vérkensboeren.” Today, the yellow pig on a blue background is the mascot of the local entrepreneurs. Under the motto “verkén Sint-Gillis,” they encourage people to shop locally and make Sint-Gillis a lively and vibrant place.
Location
Sint-Gillislaan