De Vlugtlaan
5051- Opened
- 1 June 1997
- Level
- Elevated
- District
- Nieuw-West
- lines
- 50 51
Where does the name come from?
The station is named after De Vlugtlaan, which honours Willem de Vlugt (1872-1945), mayor of Amsterdam from 1921 to 1941. In the plans it was still called Burgemeester De Vlugtlaan; the word 'Burgemeester' (mayor) was later dropped.
The story
The station named after a dismissed mayor
Willem de Vlugt was a remarkable mayor. Before taking office in 1921 he was a building contractor whose projects included De Bijenkorf department store on the Damrak. As mayor he played a part in building the Olympic Stadium, and Amsterdammers called him Father Willem. On 1 March 1941 the German occupiers dismissed him in reprisal for the February Strike, because he refused to blame the Jews.
There was a station here before the metro came. On 1 June 1986 a railway station opened on the western section of the ring railway between Lelylaan and Sloterdijk, designed by Rob Steenhuis, who drew more than ten Dutch stations between 1982 and 1996. To build the metro station, a staircase to the railway platforms and half of the station hall had to be demolished.
The metro opened in 1997. The trains disappeared in May 2000: the railway station closed to make way for the Hemboog, the rail curve that has allowed direct trains between Schiphol and Zaandam since 2003.
Before becoming mayor, Willem de Vlugt was a building contractor whose work included De Bijenkorf on the Damrak.
Sources (3)
Comments
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