Inspiration from the designer

The Woudagemaal 5 Euro Coin was designed by Berend Strik. A familiar name; in 1997 he was responsible for the silver 10 guilder commemorative coin in honour of the 50^th anniversary of the Marshall Plan. In 2006 he designed the Rembrandt 5 Euro Coin for the Royal Dutch Mint. Even though he has already designed three coins, all look different from each other. Strik first determines how the subject of the coin is best presented and draws inspiration from that point of view.

Inspiration
As visual artist, Berend Strik has worked in many disciplines, including architecture. He is however most famous for his “stitched pictures”: Strik uses needle and thread to manipulate pictures and images. Many museums display Strik’s work. He can be found in, amongst others, the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam (Amsterdam), Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen (Rotterdam) and the Fries Museum (Leeuwarden). The design of the Woudagemaal 5 Euro Coin is not directly inspired by his famous artworks. While coming up with the design of the commemorative coin, Strik was fascinated by the architecture and the function of the UNESCO monument. A familiar field: Strik has worked a great part of his life with an architecture firm specialised in water level advice. One of the architects is currently involved in the redevelopment of Manhattan, where heavy flooding damaged many of the city’s basements. Through a thorough study of the exterior and interior of the steam pumping station and its watery surroundings, the design of the Woudagemaal 5 Euro Coin came to be.

The King’s new portrait

The Woudagemaal 5 Euro Coin is a very special commemorative coin that is highly wanted amongst collectors. It is the first commemorative coin on which King Willem-Alexander is depicted with his beard. Strik was excited about designing the King’s new portrait. Not only did he give special attention to the King’s beard, also his facial expression is designed with great eye for detail. Behind the King, part of the waving flag of the province of Friesland is visible. The Woudagemaal is found in this Dutch province. The strips of the flag and the canals connected to the Woudagemaal on the reverse of the coin, are depicted in the same angle. This creates a connection between both sides of the coin. The depicted fragment of the canals surrounding the steam pumping station underneath the flag also finds their way back to the reverse of the coin.

The Woudagemaal and its surroundings

The reverse shows the Woudagemaal with the recognisable high smokestack from a bird’s-eye view. Strik was fascinated by the surroundings of the Woudagemaal: water, land and sky come together in an impressive manner. The landscape plays an important role on the reverse of the coin; all is depicted in straight lines, just like the steam pumping station itself. Not just the architecture and the landscape are depicted, the interior of the station is also of great importance in the design. Strik pays tribute to the four immense steam engines in the turbine hall by using the same font as found on them on both the obverse and reverse of the coin. The letters are in the same circular shape as on the engines.