This week’s map is a drawing of the city of Roermond in 1671. It shows the effects of the city fire of 31 May 1665. The houses with the blue roofs were spared, the ones with the red roofs had been destroyed and rebuilt.
Fires were a constant threat to our ancestors. In the seventeenth century, many houses were still built with or from wood. Increasingly, cities passed ordinances requiring houses to be built out of brick, or fill the panels between the timber frames with brick, and to use rooftiles or slate rather than straw for the roofs. City fires often lead to record loss, but sometimes, they create records too. You may be able to find lists of damages or of people with water buckets or ladders.
Roermond in 1671, showing effects of the 1665 city fire. Credits: Roermond City Archives (public domain)
About Yvette Hoitink
