Monument O&U

From a distance, they just look like two loose pieces of steel. But those who come closer to the monument in the Music Garden in Beek en Donk, recognise unmistakably the letters O and U. They were placed on 26 August 1978. As a gift for the royal harmony O&U, which delivered a worldly performance that year. In 1891, the Oefening en Uitspanning concert band was founded and in 1947 the band was granted the Royal title by Queen Wilhelmina. In 1978 the greatest achievement in the history of O&U was delivered. During the World Music Contest in Kerkrade, the world championship was won, led by conductor Henz Friesen, with a performance of Strawinsky's Le Sacre du Printemps, in an arrangement by Friesen himself. "Contractor Bert Biemans and Leo Verschuren, who had a metal business, liked this so much that they had this work of art made," says Bert Engels. He became a member of the youth harmony in 1968 and played in it in 1978 when it won the world title. The then chairman of O&U, Evert Janssen, laid the first stone of the wall on which the monument stands." The sculpture is a tangible reminder, visible to everyone, of the special year 1978. In 't Anker hang two large flags they received then and in the trophy cabinet they have a beautiful large cup.