If you ever played Monopoly there’s a chance you’ve got the card “Go to jail”! And this is one of those places you would be send, but in this case, a real jail! I took this picture at the former court house and prisonbuilding located at the Noordsingel. The court house was build in 1898-1899 and designed by W.C. Metzelaar. Executed in neo-renaissance style. In 1996 the court moved to a new building and nowadays al kind of businesses use the building. Just behind the court house is the former prison. Build in 1872 and used till recently. It was so outdated, some of the cells still had buckets for the toilet! The prison is now being converted into an apartment complex.
Fact: On July 16, 1941, the crew managed to maneuver a crashing British bomber in such a way that it did not end up on the houses, but in the Noordsingel. The Courthouse was badly damaged in the process. A group of residents of the canal have founded a memorial here in 1946.