Attention stone - Capelle City Hall

Capelle Town Hall (1879-1922) - Main Street 52

The workgroup 'Waalwijk: 100 years together' together with the local history circles collected information and photos for 24 attention stones
in the municipality of Waalwijk. Sprang-Capelle and Waspik also selected locations relevant to their villages. All these stones are linked to the bicycle and walking route 'On the road in the historical Langstraat' on this website.

In 1877, 1700 m2 of land was purchased for the construction of a town hall. The foundation stone was laid on April 17, 1879 by mayor H.J. Wellenbergh. On March 11, 1880, Capelle's town hall was inaugurated.

Second World War
In early December 1944, two members of the Sprang resistance group "André," Jan de Rooy and Hans Hoekstra, left for the other side of Bergsche Maas, which was still in German hands. Through a transmitter they sent messages about the enemy troops. These were received on this side, in liberated territory, by two other resistance people, Delft students Dick Flemming and Ad Schoorl, who were in hiding. After a farmhouse near Kapelsche Veer proved too dangerous, they set up a post on the top floor of Capelle's town hall. There they received messages from occupied territory. Around six o'clock Friday morning, December 22, Dick Flemming received an alarming message from Jan de Rooy about an imminent German attack. He realized that he had to relay this news immediately, but first he had to go to the restroom. There he peered through the window, very far away, on the horizon, something was fast approaching: a stray German V-1 ("Vergeltungswaffe Eins"). Soon there was the frightening, hunting hum of the engine. Flemming saw it rapidly approaching. The bomb flew low and it made a faint downward slope. As the "monster" approached the town hall, it ducked behind a heavy interior wall. A huge bang followed and it went black before his eyes. The V-1 had landed precisely on the town hall, completely destroying it, as well as the buildings around it. He regained consciousness and
called for help; he was trapped under the debris. Flemming was freed from the rubble; they had barely reached him or he pulled a notebook from his jacket pocket, supporting himself. "Give this to the chief! Quickly, very quickly, it is of capital importance."

The "chief" was Jos van Wijlen, leader of the resistance group. He received the notebook and realized the importance of the report. Linea recta, the Allied commanders were informed of the situation. These, on the basis of earlier reports by Hoekstra and De Rooy, had already put their troops in a heightened state of readiness, so this latest message confirmed what they already suspected. Reconnaissance planes were coming to the Land of Heusden and Altena. The Canadian division, which was already at Eindhoven, turned right around. The danger had been averted.

VéGé
On January 1, 1923 the amalgamation of Capelle with Vrijhoeve Sprang took place, because of this the town hall lost its function. The building was sold by auction to a group of residents with the aim of obtaining a function for local residents. After the war, the pine beams of the destroyed town hall were reused to repair the floor of the house across the street (Hoofdstraat 53), the VéGé store (VéGé: Verkoop Gemeenschap) of Dirk van Peer, later taken over by his son Jan van Peer.