The Statue of Karel van Egmond, Duke of Guelder, Arnhem, Visitor Guide & Things to Do Nearby

The statue of Karel van Egmond (1492-1538), Duke of Guelders and Count of Zutphen, stands in Arnhem as a tribute to a man whose life embodied the complexity and tragedy of his age. Born in Arnhem or Grave and raised at the Burgundian court, Karel van Egmond inhabited the world of Renaissance politics, where power was constantly contested, alliances shifted, and territories were won and lost through warfare and intrigue.

The statue itself is carved from Belgian limestone by sculptor Gijs Jacobs van den Hof. The fundraising campaign to create it raised 1,108.50 guilders, a sum that speaks to popular support for commemorating this local hero. When it was unveiled, the statue became a focal point for local identity and pride, a physical reminder that Arnhem had produced someone of historical significance.

The statue's history includes a dramatic moment. On April 13, 1949, when the statue was officially unveiled at Jansplaats, it was still marked by the scars of recent war. The head of the statue had been badly damaged during the fighting of April 1945, when Arnhem was the site of intense combat during the liberation of the Netherlands. After the war, a new head was carved to replace the damaged original, restoring the statue to wholeness.

That restoration is itself a historical act. It speaks to the determination to recover history, to remember, to restore what was damaged by war. The statue of Karel van Egmond, with its replaced head and unwavering gaze, stands as a memorial not just to the Duke himself but to Arnhem's resilience in surviving destruction and choosing to rebuild its connections to its past.