Model voor het monument ter herinnering aan de slag bij Heiligerlee, 1868 1868

This is Johannes Hinderikus Egenberger's 1868 photograph of a model for a monument commemorating the Battle of Heiligerlee. Here we observe the visual rhetoric of 19th-century nationalism and its intersection with gendered allegory. The photograph captures a small-scale model, likely intended for a much larger public monument. At its base, we see a figure representing the Dutch Maiden who is a symbol of the Dutch state and its values. She stands protectively over a fallen soldier. The monument evokes a sense of patriotic duty but also grief and sacrifice. It reflects the period’s investment in creating national identity through historical narratives and monuments. The Dutch Maiden embodies virtues of strength, resilience, and moral purity. Consider how the monument would have functioned in public space, shaping collective memory and reinforcing national identity. It invites us to reflect on the ways societies choose to remember and represent their past, and whose stories are privileged in these processes.