Bossche Bollen by Jan De Groot in the LEGO store in Den Bosch
The famous shop of Jan de Groot van de Bossche Bollen can now be seen in LEGO form at 2TTOYS
3419 parts, hundreds of steps and above all patience and precision: it takes a lot to recreate Banketbakkerij Jan de Groot on Stationsweg in Den Bosch in LEGO. Christian van der Ven from Vught built and designed the LEGO version and has some more striking buildings on his wish list. This LEGO version of Jan de Groot can now be admired in the display case at 2TToys, Orthen 16 in Den Bosch.
Six months ago, Van der Ven was walking along the Stationsweg in Den Bosch on a summer day. “I love that street very much. The architecture... beautiful! And then I walked past Jan de Groot and I thought: I have to build this," says Van der Ven enthusiastically. Now that is of course said, but not done. Months of fiddling around on weekends and evenings passed before the pastry shop was finished. "The building is quite a challenge, especially with all those decorations and frills. But the result is impressive,” says the Vughten resident with satisfaction.
'Queue belongs to De Groot'
To really finish it off, Van der Ven contacted De Groot. Whether he could use the pastry shop's logo. "I sent them photos and impressions of what I was doing and they really liked it. They were very enthusiastic,” says Van der Ven. And well, there is also a queue for the Bossche Bollen in the LEGO version. Van der Ven, laughing: “A queue is just part of De Groot.”
Bossche Bollen house Design for sale
De Groot's design can be purchased for 10 euros on a special site where LEGO fanatics can go. “The first design has already been sold to someone in America. I think it's a nice thought that an American is now busy with a Den Bosch pastry shop to put in his own LEGO city," says Van der Ven. If you want to buy the construction drawing, follow this link
The pastry shop is not the first striking building in this region that he copied. Last year he came up with Station Vught. The LEGO version of the 1868 building consists of 2,450 blocks and can be made in 295 steps. The proceeds from the sale of the digital LEGO booklet then went to National Monument Camp Vught. "Ultimately, that book was sold about 150 times. Because there was a good cause associated with it at the time, people bought the booklet even without building the station. Now the fanatics in particular will buy the book,” says Van der Ven.
“Citadel” is next
Van der Ven is an archivist at the Brabant Historical Information Center and therefore often walks through the city center of Den Bosch. “And then I walk past buildings and I think: Wow, do they have stones like that? What could I do with this? I wonder that, for example, when I am at St. John's Cathedral.”
But before Saint John is recreated in LEGO, he has set his sights on something else: the Citadel in Den Bosch. "I work there myself and that has now risen even higher on my list than it already was.
Text: Brabants Dagblad:
Even in the LEGO version they are queuing for the Bossche Bollen by Jan de Groot | Instagram | bd.nl