‘Only walls’ remain: 150-year-old Dutch church goes up in flames amid New Year’s violence

An historic 150-year-old Dutch church, he Vondelkerk, went up in flames in Amsterdam after midnight on New Year’s Day.

According to People, the church and its iconic spire began burning shortly before 1 a.m. Jan. 1.

By the time the fire was finally under control 10 hours later, at 11 a.m., the church’s 164-foot neo-Gothic spire had collapsed and “only walls” remained intact, De Telegraaf reports.

The inferno came as Dutch police faced “unprecedented” levels of New Year’s Eve violence, People reports.

The chair of the Dutch Police Union, Nine Kooiman, said on X that she and her colleagues were being “pelted” with explosives.

“Unprecedented amount of violence against police and emergency workers,” said Kooiman. “Lots of explosives/fireworks aimed at the colleagues. Myself already pelted three times. Really hope everyone gets home safely.”

TERROR: Amsterdam's 154-year-old Vondelkerk was engulfed tonight in an inferno during the New Year's celebrations pic.twitter.com/HjISafTly7

— @amuse (@amuse) January 1, 2026