CLEVELAND, Ohio, Feb. 6,2001 (PRIMEZONE) -- One of the last surviving links to Pilgrim history in the Netherlands is about to be sliced, diced and bulldozed for urban development -- including an empty square, a shopping center, disco and parking garage.
But an unusual coalition of liberal and conservative churches in the United States thinks there may be one last chance to save the historic landmark.
At stake is the survival of one wall -- the last remnant of the medieval Vrouwekerk (Church of Our Lady) in Leiden. It was used for worship by the exiled French Huguenot community and was the only church in the city where Pilgrim families also prayed. Ties between the Pilgrims and the Huguenots were close: both communities were refugees from religious persecution. In 1620, the Pilgrims and a number of Huguenot families from the Vrouwekerk set sail on the Mayflower for North America. Among them were the ancestors of four U.S. presidents: Ulysses S. Grant, Franklin Roosevelt, George Bush and George W. Bush.
On Jan. 23, the Netherlands Council of State rejected an appeal by Dutch citizens and a U.S. historian to protect the remains under the country's monuments law, removing the last legal obstacle to the city's demolition plan. The historian is Dr. Jeremy Bangs, director of the American Pilgrim Museum in Leiden and a leader of the preservation campaign.
Now, preservationists are planning one final attempt to save the Vrouwekerk. The General Minister and President of the 1.4-million-member United Church of Christ, the Rev. John H. Thomas, announced on Feb. 6 that the church will appeal directly to Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands. Thomas is also asking the Bush Administration to use its good offices to save the Vrouwekerk.
The flight of the Pilgrims to Leiden and their subsequent journey across the Atlantic is one of the foundational epics of American history -- an event that still shapes U.S. politics, culture and religion. Moreover, the Pilgrims are not the only connection between the Vrouwekerk and U.S. history. A few years after the Mayflower arrived in Plymouth, 55 Huguenot families from the Vrouwekerk also sailed to North America. Among them were the founders of "New Amsterdam" -- the future New York City.
But the Leiden city government doesn't believe the Vrouwekerk has any historical significance. The city's attorney describes the surviving wall as a "rotten tooth" and officials deny that the Pilgrims had any particular connection to the building. Leiden has plenty of history -- the city was the birthplace of Rembrandt -- and the ruins of an old church don't impress the city's leaders. And the Vrouwekerk is not the only historic structure in Leiden facing the wreckers ball: the remains of a hospital where Pilgrim Myles Standish was treated for wounds suffered during the Netherland's war of independence are also scheduled for demolition along with several medieval houses. The demolitions are part of the city's plan to create an upscale shopping district.
Pleas to save the church's remains have fallen on deaf ears, preservationists say. According to UCC President Thomas, an attempt last spring by several U.S. religious leaders and nearly 2,000 members of liberal and conservative churches to petition the Leiden city government was not even acknowledged. The petition was signed by Thomas along with the Rev. John A. Buehrens, president of the Unitarian Universalist Association, and the Rev. Clifford Christensen, executive of the Conservative Congregational Christian Conference.
All three churches have roots in the New England congregations founded by the Pilgrims. Thomas praised the Royal Dutch Ahold Corporation, one of the companies planning to invest in commercial development of the Vrouwekerk neighborhood. In November, Ahold representatives said they will not participate in the project if the Vrouwekerk is destroyed. Ahold owns supermarkets and other businesses in the United States.
"Commercial development of the area is not incompatible with preservation of the church's remains," Thomas said. "If the landmark is saved, we would be glad to encourage members of our church to visit Leiden as a place of pilgrimage. Moreover, we are prepared to help raise funds in the U.S. to beautify the site so it fits into the city's vision for the area. We can work out a solution if the city is willing to listen."
"Please understand that the remains of the Vrouwekerk are an irreplaceable reminder of the sojourn of the Pilgrim and Huguenot communities in Leiden," Thomas wrote in an eleventh-hour appeal to Leiden's mayor, Dr. J.K.T. Postma. "Their flight to Leiden and the subsequent crossing of the Mayflower to the New World is an historical saga learned by every school child in the United States. The Vrouwekerk ought to be preserved not only as a precious symbol of the presence of the Pilgrim community in Leiden but also of your city's generosity to religious refugees, particularly of the Reformed faith. It is a shining moment in your history of which you have every right to be proud."
"But instead of preservation," Thomas added, "the Leiden city government seems determined to raze the monument to the ground. We protest this unnecessary and unjustified destruction of an historic landmark to clear ground for an empty plaza."
One alternative to demolition, Thomas says, is a proposal by Pilgrim historian Bangs to transform the remains into an attractive monument. Dr. Bangs says the ruins decrepit appearance is the result of the city's neglect.
More information, including a fact sheet about the Vrouwekerk is available at the United Church of Christ website at www.ucc.org.
Appeals to save the Vrouwekerk can be sent to the following officials:
Drs. J.K.T. Postma Mayor of the City of Leiden Stadhuis Plein #1, Postbus 9100 2300 PC Leiden The Netherlands Fax: 011-31-71-514-4641 E-mail: sleutel@leiden.nl Ambassador J.M. Vos Royal Netherlands Embassy 4200 Linnean Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20008 Voice: 202-244-5300 Fax: 202-362-3430 The Hon. Colin L. Powell Secretary of State U.S. Department of State Washington, D.C. 20520 Fax: 202-261-8577 E-mail: secretary@state.gov President George W. Bush The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20500 Fax: 202-456-2461 E-mail: president@whitehouse.gov
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CONTACT: United Church of Christ
Ron Buford, PR Manager
(216) 736-2180
bufordr@ucc.org