At about four o’clock in the afternoon on Sunday, 12 July 1646, lightning struck the gunpowder tower of Bredevoort Castle, which contained 320 barrels of gunpowder. The resulting explosion killed forty people and injured an unknown number.
The tower caught fire when lightning struck. The explosion was so powerful that the nearby Ambthuis also collapsed. The town suffered extensive damage: almost every house lost roof tiles and window panes, while the houses surrounding the castle collapsed. For three days, people searched the ruins for survivors using shovels and pickaxes.
In 1938, G.H. Rots wrote a series of articles in the Aaltensche Courant about the history of the municipality of Aalten. Regarding the gunpowder tower disaster in Bredevoort, he wrote:
“The year 1646 was once again a disastrous year for Bredevoort. It was the 12th of July, and an oppressive heat hung over the town. Dark clouds gathered, and everything indicated that a severe thunderstorm was imminent. And indeed, lightning soon cleaved the sky, followed by heavy claps of thunder. And suddenly, a terrible blow, followed by a dreadful sound.
Lightning had struck the gunpowder tower, causing the gunpowder present (320 tons) to explode. The entire tower was blown apart, as was the nearby Ambthuis; tiles were torn from almost all houses, and windows were blown in by the air pressure. The number of deaths in that disaster amounted to 19 at the castle and the Ambthuis alone. There were also numerous deaths in other houses in the town.”
Victims
“Among the dead were the town’s governor, Willem van Haersolte, and his wife; Drostinne Cathrijne van Brakel and her eight children; and her niece Berentjen van Brakel. Others included Joh. van Langen, lieutenant to Georg Ernst, Count of Bronkhorst, and his French mistress (sic), Jeanne van Sédan. An elderly woman who was present, Maria Glazen, together with the servant and maid, were also among the victims.
The sentry on duty, named Hendrik Otterpoëll, was buried under the ruins. In other parts of the town, the house of Jan Stenneken was destroyed. He and his wife Marycken van der Halle were killed. The names of the dead in other parts of the town were Derk Trix, ensign, Harmen ter Male, F. zum Moorelagen, Bailiff of Winterswijk, and his wife Janne Beerninck, with her sister Christine Beerninck, widow of the late N. Brinkhorst, judge of Haaksbergen.
The house of Berent Grimme was destroyed; his wife and four children lost their lives. The house of Casper Evers was hit, under which three people were killed, named Arent Hamaeker, a child of Berent Maes, and a child of Herman Broekman. Under the house of Derrick ter Woerle Wiltschut, three of his children were killed, as well as the soldier Gerrit Jansen and Jan Schulten.
We have specifically mentioned these names because one might perhaps derive names of those living today from them.”
The bodies recovered from beneath the ruins of the Ambthuis were laid out on 15 July in the home of the widow of the late Reverend D.J. Verhagen. On the morning of Thursday, 16 July, the drost, his wife and their eight children were buried in the chancel of St George’s Church. It is unclear how many people remained beneath the rubble. Forty people died that day in total. The sources do not state how many others were injured.
One son of Drost Wilhelm van Haersolte survived the disaster. Anthony, as he was named, happened not to be home that day: he was staying in Zwolle. He continued the family line in Zwolle and founded the Haersolte Almshouse there, which is assumed to be connected to the disaster in Bredevoort.