Street Art Cities

This Mural shows the unlikely combination of a church and two boksers. To the people in the area these two scenes are nothing more then logical. It tells some important pieces of history of the Crooswijk neighborhood where you can find this painting. The initiative for this mural comes from local resident Anneke Strassers, who held a fundraiser to be able to pay for this artwork.

The initial motive for this action was the remembrance of the Koninginnekerk (Queens church) that stood here from 1907 till 1972. It was torn down by the municipality to make place for a nursing home, much to the dismay of the locals. The demolition company that was tasked to tear down the building received many letters of protest. This could not prevent the church being erased from the skyline of Rotterdam. Later, in 2013, the church was voted "most beautiful demolished church of the Netherlands".

The two portraits on the right side were added because of the rich boxing history of the neighborhood of Crooswijk. The left portrait is of Herman van 't Hof, who's name is also on the front of the boxing school that you can find in the building the painting is on. He became a professional boxer at the age of 18 and managed to win the national championship i no less then 5 different weight categories. Later he became the first European Champion in boxing the Netherlands ever had (1926).

The second portrait is of legendary boxer Bep "the Dutch windmill" van Klaveren. His accomplishments include a gold medal at the Amsterdam 1928 Olympics, two European titles and becoming the number two ranked boxer in the world. Because in his time the boxing promoters were more focused on American fighter, he never got the chance to fight for the world title.