A massive fire tore through a 150-year-old church in Amsterdam early on New Year’s Day, capping a chaotic and violent holiday night that Dutch police say reached unprecedented levels across the Netherlands.
The blaze broke out around 12:45 a.m. local time at the Vondelkerk, a neo-Gothic landmark in Amsterdam, according to officials cited by The New York Times. Flames quickly engulfed the church’s spire before spreading across the roof, as fierce winds carried burning debris and sparks into nearby streets. Firefighters battled the inferno for hours before finally bringing it under control around 11 a.m., the Amsterdam-Amstelland Safety Region said.
As the fire raged, local authorities evacuated surrounding residences and shut off power to the area overnight. Dozens of displaced residents were taken to a temporary shelter, according to the Times. Despite the extensive damage, a structural engineer later confirmed that the church’s outer walls would remain standing.
Marco de Leeuw, a spokesman for the Amsterdam-Amstelland Safety Region, said investigators found no indication that anyone was inside the building when the fire started. The cause of the blaze remains unknown, and authorities have launched an investigation. De Leeuw noted that the area saw heavy fireworks activity during New Year’s celebrations, though officials have not drawn any conclusions.
The Vondelkerk was built in the 1870s and designed by Pierre Cuypers, the architect responsible for some of the Netherlands’ most iconic structures, including Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum and Central Station. The church had already suffered a major loss once before, when its original spire was destroyed in a fire in 1904.
The destruction of the historic church came amid widespread disorder across the country. According to the BBC, police throughout the Netherlands reported numerous attacks during the holiday. Nine Kooiman, leader of the Dutch Police Union, described the night as marked by an “unprecedented” level of violence. Kooiman said she was personally pelted with fireworks and other explosives while working in Amsterdam.
Elsewhere, the violence escalated further. In the southern city of Breda, petrol bombs were reportedly thrown at police officers. Additional reports of assaults on police and firefighters poured in from cities nationwide, highlighting the strain placed on emergency services during the celebrations.
The human toll was also significant. In Rotterdam, the city’s eye hospital reported treating 14 patients for eye injuries linked to fireworks. Ten of those patients were minors, and two required surgery. Authorities also reported two deaths tied to fireworks incidents: a 38-year-old man from Aalsmeer and a 17-year-old boy from Nijmegen, who died in separate incidents.
The chaos unfolded against the backdrop of an impending national crackdown on fireworks. The Netherlands is set to ban consumer fireworks sales starting in 2026, a policy shift that reportedly drove a surge in purchases ahead of the most recent New Year’s celebrations, according to Euronews.
As investigators work to determine what sparked the devastating church fire, Dutch authorities are also grappling with broader questions about public safety, enforcement and the consequences of increasingly violent holiday celebrations.
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