Hamer en beitel
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Gorcumers were always a bustling people. This hamer en beitel refers to it. Pipe makers, tanners, potters, carpenters, beer brewers... you found them all here. We have a whole Guild district from it. With, for example, a Weverstraat, Zwartververstraat, Hoepmakerstraat, Twijnderstraat...
World-famous is the design of the street lamp by Gorcumer Jan van der Heyden (1637). Jan was an artist, painter, but also an inventor and merchant. Basically a Dutch Leonardo da Vinci.
Jan designed a new, square street lamp, with glass windows. It burned oil, as there was no electricity yet. With good ventilation, adjustable oil reservoirs and a new composition of the oil, his lanterns were much better than the old ones. He supplied as many as 1,800 of them to the municipality of Amsterdam. That promptly became the city of lights back then. Earlier than Eindhoven, in other words.
Jan's design is still available. Just Google it. The sturdy lanterns along our Lingehaven are also 'real' Jan van der Heydens.