Landstraat 18
The first known predecessor of a police station in Aalten can be found on Landstraat, in the building that currently houses Ter Maat barbershop.
The accompanying drawing of the building in question was made by the Aalten artist Willy Walvoort, who passed away in 2018. He wrote: “The village school in 1824. Above: the entrance was on the church hill. Below: on Landstraat, the night watch, prison, and fire brigade.”
It is (as yet) unknown until when the night watch and/or constables had their headquarters here. We also do not yet know which other addresses served as police stations before 1941.
Markt 3
In 1941, the Aalten municipal police moved into the characteristic building with the elegant bell gable at Markt 3. When the station was put into use, Chief Constable Wijnands was the head of the Aalten police. In 1947, the municipal police transitioned into the national police.
After the war, the municipal services suffered from a lack of space. In 1949, the municipality of Aalten therefore purchased a building on the opposite side of the Markt (number 4) to house the police station.
The Social Services office was housed in Markt 3. Today, the building is still part of the Aalten town hall.
Markt 4
The building at Markt 4 was privately inhabited before the war and had a notorious reputation in Aalten during the war, as it had served as the clubhouse for the NSB (National Socialist Movement). After the war, the building fell under the Management department of the Council for the Restoration of Rights. They sold the building to the municipality of Aalten in 1949, and the local police station was established there.
In 1969, the Tubantia newspaper reported that the municipality of Aalten had informed the Government Buildings Agency that they were terminating the lease of the police station. The municipal services were once again bursting at the seams and desperately needed the space. The police moved to a new station on Polstraat.
Shortly before the move, the garage collapsed behind the police station, which was located on Peperstraat.
The building at Markt 4 now houses the catering establishment De Geste.
Polstraat 36
As early as February 1963, the site on the corner of Polstraat and Bonifaciusstraat was purchased by the municipality of Aalten, including the small farmhouse of the widow Scholten. It was likely already the intention then to demolish it and realize a new police station and a number of houses on the site.
In 1965, the Aalten municipal council discussed the private sale of a section of the building plot, measuring 1,500 square metres, for the construction of a group and district office for the National Police (Rijkspolitie) in Aalten.
It would take until the early 1970s before the new police station was completed. The Aalten police remained stationed here until 2018, when they moved to the Köstersbulte. A dental practice has since established itself in the former police station on Polstraat.
Köstersbulte 2
Since 2018, the police have had a support point in the town hall, with its own entrance on Köstersbulte. The support point serves as a workplace for community officers during their shifts. There are no official opening hours. If someone wishes to file a report, for example, it is advised to make an appointment.
In the last century, this building housed the Oberink drapery shop for decades.
