Residents of Amsterdam are mourning the loss of the historic neo-Gothic Vondelkerk, which was destroyed by fire on New Year’s Eve.
“This is an extremely intense and terrible fire in this monumental church,” Mayor Femke Halsema said in
the news website AD.nl.
“Rumours are circulating that fireworks may have caused it, but we do not know that yet,” a spokesperson for the Amsterdam fire department told Brussels Signal.
Shortly after midnight, as the fire took hold, the church tower collapsed in front of crowds of onlookers. The blaze left the church beyond saving: “Only the walls remain standing,” said the fire department spokesperson, adding that there is no further risk of collapse.
The cause of the fire remains unknown, and arson has not yet been ruled out. The church was a Catholic place of worship until 1977 but was later repurposed for events.
The Netherlands experienced widespread chaos on New Year’s Eve due to the tradition of uncontrolled setting off fireworks in the streets.
Increasingly, cities across the country are banning private fireworks due to unprecedented property damage, burn injuries and this year two deaths. Firework-free zones are also becoming more common.
However, many Dutch people continue to ignore these bans and uphold the tradition of fireworks. The fire department reported that large amounts of illegal fireworks were present in the neighbourhood surrounding the church.
Although private fireworks have been banned in Amsterdam for several years, the ban was widely disregarded on New Year’s Eve. Illegal heavy fireworks were also widespread on the streets of Rotterdam.
Next year, given the extensive damage, aggression toward police, injuries, and public disturbances, the Netherlands may face a nationwide ban on private fireworks. This national ban still requires parliamentary approval.
During the recent New Year’s Eve celebrations, police struggled to manage groups of young people in Breda and various locations in Amsterdam and were even attacked with Molotov cocktails. Disturbances were also reported in Eindhoven, Roosendaal and Tilburg.
Nine Kooiman, of the Dutch Police Union (NPB) stated on X shortly after midnight that there was an unprecedented amount of violence directed at the police. “Unprecedented violence against police and emergency workers. Here in Amsterdam, where I am on duty, but I am also seeing it across the entire country. Many explosives and fireworks were aimed at colleagues. I really hope everyone makes it home safely.”
In Nijmegen, a boy died from a fireworks-related incident, and in Aalsmeer, a 38-year-old man was killed in a fireworks accident, according to media reports.
At the Eye Hospital in Rotterdam, more then 14 people were treated for eye injuries, many of them children under the age of twelve. In Twente, a man lost two fingers due to fireworks.
This year, Dutch police used a drone at the Dutch boarder to monitor the purchase of illegal fireworks at stores in Belgium.
“Fireworks bought in Belgium,” Paul Francken of the Dutch Police Union wrote on X , days before New Year’s Eve, “You might appear on footage loading fireworks into your car. The drone can spot fireworks stores kilometres away in Belgium, and the license plates of Dutch drivers are recorded.”
Top of the church Vondelkerk is already gone. Some parts fell on the roof.#Vondelkerk pic.twitter.com/YCYgfTc8gB
— Whispering Media (@_WMedia_) January 1, 2026
