Bust: King Louis Napoleon

Louis Napoleon, brother of Napoleon Bonaparta, was made king of the Netherlands by his brother from 1806 to 1810. In 1809, seated in a yellow coach pulled by black horses, he made a journey through Brabant. Via Grave, Boekel and Gemert, he arrived in Aarle-Rixtel. At that time there was an epidemic, probably a cholera epidemic. People were dying in droves. Louis Napoleon took up residence at Castle Croy. "He really cared about the fate of the people," says Ria Nooijen, who made the statue. Louis Napoleon gave medical aid and woollen blankets that the people did not have. Socially and materially he brought a lot of warmth to Aarle-Rixtel. Nooijen made the bust, which was unveiled 200 years after the arrival of Louis Napoleon in 2009, from red travertine. A beautiful warm colour, symbolic for what Louis Napoleon has meant for the village. Remarkable is the white band in the statue. The maker saw it immediately and thought: 'I can do something with that'. It was a large rectangular block and you get to work on it. I tilted the block so that the white band hangs over his shoulder like a sash, but can also be seen as a blanket. Symbol for the blankets he brought to the people in Aarle-Rixtel during his visit.