The 'Beehive Stone' returns to the Coolsingel

On Saturday 14 September at 14.30 pm, during Open Monument Day, the restored Beehive stone (1930) unveiled that once adorned the facade of the former De Bijenkorf warehouse. Until 1960, this monumental stone, made by sculptor Hendrik van den Eijnde (1869-1939), protruded from the facade of the department store by architect Willem Marinus Dudok. At the time, it was one of the most modern department stores in Europe.

The building was badly damaged by the bombing in 1940, rebuilt and finally completely demolished in the late XNUMXs. The group of statues, the only physical remnant of Magazijn de Bijenkorf, was transferred to a distribution area of ​​the department store in Woerden. For years, architecture and history enthusiasts have made efforts to restore the Beehive stone to get back to Rotterdam.

During this process, BKOR acted as an advisor. In collaboration with Stadsontwikkeling, a suitable location was sought and a designer of the pedestal on which the group of statues would be placed. Designer Jan Konings designed a pedestal on which the stone comes into its own in the present day, with a reference to the modernist department store of Dudok, where the Beehive stone was once part of.

Unfortunately, it is no longer possible to register to attend the preceding program in Donner bookstore, because the maximum number of registrations has been reached.

About the Beehive stone
The monumental Beehive stone (1930) has the title The working manThe six by two metre work was designed in 1928 by the Haarlem sculptor Hendrik van den Eijnde and gives a good impression of how the merchandise was transported from all over the world to the Bijenkorf at the time: by steam train, ocean liner and plane. On the other side of the sculpture group a procession of craftsmen is depicted, led by a musician. The name of the department store is mentioned in art deco letters on the head of the stone.

About the artist
Hendrik Albertus van den Eijnde (1869-1939) is best known as a sculptor of monuments and facade decorations for residential and commercial buildings. The artist headed the sculptor's studio where the sculptures were made for the Scheepvaarthuis in Amsterdam, which was completed in 1916. This studio, where well-known sculptors such as Hildo Krop, Anton Rädecker and Joop van Lunteren also worked, gave a great impetus to the revival of stone sculpture. Van den Eijnde also made sculptures for the former main post office, now a library, in Utrecht. His heyday as a sculptor runs parallel to that of the Amsterdam School.