Emma

English translation

The text above is the record as published by the Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed, in Dutch. The English below is a machine translation made by TreeAlive, not by the Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed; it has not been checked by a person. Where the two differ, the original is the record. Report a translation error: privacy@treealive.com

Description

Introduction

BARRACKS BUILDING 'EMMA' formerly addressed Vaart ZZ 159;161. The first building erected on the site of the Johan Willem Friso Kazerne (the former 'Klapkampen' between the Witterstraat and the Vaart ZZ) is the barracks building 'Wilhelmina' dating from 1893, constructed in neo-Renaissance style. In 1895 (1894 according to the date stone) the virtually identically designed 'EMMA' was erected to its right. The smaller 'Hendrik' was built in the same style and with the same detailing in 1905 (1904 according to the date stone). Since the 'Wilhelmina' and the 'Emma' are approximately equal in size and virtually identical in form, a single description suffices for both.

Description.

The 'Wilhelmina' and the 'EMMA' are constructed from a rectangular, elongated ground plan, each with four transverse wings perpendicular to the main buildings at the rear. The buildings are provided with a storey and truncated gabled roofs covered with tile. The long, 53-bay front facades with ashlar plint are richly provided with facade accents in natural stone and red facing brick and are articulated by pilasters. The windows on the ground floor are provided with ashlar sills and are arched, as are the fanlights of the non-original doors on this storey (except those of the main entrance). The window openings on the upper storey are straight-headed and provided with sandstone sills. The windows and doors on the ground floor stand under segmental arches, those of the upper storey under stretches, all with impost and voussoirs of Bentheimer sandstone. The symmetrical left building section is constructed in red facing brick and provided with pilasters, which are rusticated on the ground floor. The three-bay wide central section with spout gable and transverse cap has a sandstone string course. The top is provided with rising segmental arch friezes, sandstone cap moulds and a tenant in the spout, which is crowned by a curved pediment. The attic window is a twin window with round-arch upper lights under a recumbent elliptical spanning arch. The pilasters (with cornice) on either side of the central section are crowned by sculpted shield-bearing lions, which also appear on the shoulders of the other gable tops. The two-bay facade sections to the left and right of the spout gable have a brick attic with round-arch frieze. On the corner pilasters stand square corner turrets with projecting crenellations of Bentheimer sandstone and an infill of brick mosaics in the round-arch spandrels. The facade of the seventeen-bay wide brick building section to the right of the previous one is slightly set back with in the middle a higher rising, narrow spout gable with transverse cap and an entrance under a balcony with round-arch balustrade and ashlar consoles. A porte brisée opens onto the balcony. Between the pilasters (like those of the left building section) stand two or three windows per storey. The attic storey is provided with a round-arch window, the flushed edge of the gable top has profiled sandstone cap moulds and the spout is covered with curved pediments. The two-bay wide facade sections on either side of the spout gable are provided with an attic as of the left building section, the three-bay facade sections to the left and right of those are enlivened by rustication in recessed fields of red facing brick. The pilasters on either side of the five-bay wide central section are higher rising with a cushion-shaped capping plate. The symmetrical central section of the facade is again of red facing brick and in broad outline comparable to the left facade section. The central section thereof has an entrance with new door within a recessed frame of red sandstone. The ashlar balcony is supported by pilasters and consoles of the same stone type. A wide, straight-headed window opening with porte brisée opens onto the balcony. This stands under a cornice and a segmental arch with a sandstone relief in the arch drum showing the coat of arms of the Netherlands and 'Wilhelmina kazerne'. The frame around the doors and the relief is a profiled arch standing on fluted pilasters with voussoir. The gable top is somewhat comparable to the top of the left facade section, but has pediments on all four spout sides with the date 1893 mentioned in the front one. The round window opening in the middle of the gable top originally contained a clock. Crossing the roof and passing through it are firebreak walls with wrought-iron weathervanes on the spouts. The facade sections to the right of the centre are the mirrored versions of the facade sections to the left thereof, with the difference that the right facade section on either side of the top gable counts only one instead of two bays. The right end gable is symmetrical with two windows per storey and in the middle a high rising, probably added blind risalite with straight termination. The windows in the rear facade are arched under facing brick dentil courses on the ground floor and straight-headed under equally facing brick stretches on the upper storey. On the upper storey there are also some cast-iron grille windows. The profiled cast-iron roof gutters rest on wrought-iron brackets. The rear facade has an extension between the two right of the four transverse wings. The four storey-less wings under gabled roofs are provided with transom windows, straight-headed windows with ashlar sills under facing brick stretches and rectangular, cast-iron ventilation grilles under the cast-iron roof gutters resting on brackets. The symmetrical end gables have projecting eaves with hanging struts and are moreover provided with a grille window in the outer wings. Each end gable is provided with a straight-headed entrance with ashlar step in a spandrel with basket-arch and on either side a spandrel with facing brick segmental arch. The long facades are articulated by means of pilasters with ashlar head, between which six- and nine-pane windows are placed. Between the second and third wing, which are further apart than the others, was originally the covered courtyard, which was provided with a roof truss structure with iron arched trusses. At the far left of the rear facade stands a small extension with storey under mansard roof. Above the transom window it is of plastered brick with painted joints and has a square corner pinnacle. The left (eastern) end gable is a symmetrical spout gable with two windows per storey and corner pilasters which are crowned by projecting square turrets with sandstone crenellations. The top is provided with profiled cap moulds. In the middle of the facade stands a risalite which merges into the spout, which is provided with a square built-up structure with arched pediments. The barracks building with the inscription 'Emma kazerne' and the date 1894 in the central facade section is, on some minor details, the mirror image of the 'Wilhelmina' (see the description above). The small extension at the rear of the 'Emma' is only plastered on two sides and moreover provided with a storey-less extension. The western end gable is a spout gable which is crowned by an openwork square spout with curved pediments. The facade with broad, blind central risalite is provided with a grille window on the ground floor, where moreover one of the windows with segmental arch has become a straight-headed entrance. The central facade section still has the clock here.

Valuation

The very characteristic barracks building 'Emma' is of great architectural historical value due to its relative integrity, material use, stylistic purity and typological rarity. The landmark building is also of value for socio-economic history and the history of Assen as a garrison town. The 'Emma' together with the 'Wilhelmina' and the 'Hendrik', the office and gymnasium building and the gates with sentry boxes at the Vaart side form a particularly remarkable complex with evident coherence between the various complex components, whereby the ensemble value is also considerable. The barracks building is also part of the protected townscape Assen.