On the occasion of the 100th concert at the Vrijthof in 2019, the Maastricht Mayor Mrs. Annemarie Penn-te Strake, presented André with a plaque, which has been placed in the pavement of the Vrijthof square to stay there forever and ever. To read more about the presentation, click HERE. You can find the plaque in the pavement halfway the row of restaurants, on the square opposite to restaurant Luster (earlier: Old Dutch café), Vrijthof 10.

In 2020 a new webcam was installed at the roof window of the new restaurant Luster, Vrijthof 10. It is powered by www.heelhollandkijkt.nl and it is the second webcam aimed at the Vrijthof square, after the previous one from Amrath hotel DuCasque.

November 6th 2023. RTV Maastricht. For those who like to follow the goings-on on the Vrijthof. Renovations to the "Kiosk" (Bandstand). Maintenance work on the kiosk on the Vrijthof will begin next month. It has been in poor condition for some time. In November, repair and paint work will start on the panels and risers of the lower part. In spring, the upper part of the kiosk will be painted. Wethouder John Aarts informs that maintenance has already been carried out several times in recent years. The floor has already been replaced once and the lighting repaired. Since 1980, it has been impossible to imagine the Vrijthof without the kiosk. At the time, it was donated to Maastricht by the Rabobank.

The webcam from the Amrath Hotel DuCasque was powered by NetcamViewer. E-mail: Support@NetcamViewer.nl Disabled in 2023 due to a complaint about violation of privacy law (message by the hotel management). To read the full story, click HERE

The Limburger", August 16, 2024 by Joost Philippens Translation: Ineke, edited by Diana D. Le A follow-up to earlier newspaper articles about a project developer's plans to convert the two monumental white buildings of Sogecom on the Vrijthof square into luxury care suites. This article explains the delay. Hotel "Le Theatre" on the Vrijthof is challenging the permit for its new neighbor, the Battice care center, in court. The hotel fears restrictions on its terrace (Revue), which would make too much noise for residents. “Looking out at Magical Maastricht and André Rieu. This should soon be possible from 23 luxury care suites at the Vrijthof. They include butler service and private terrace on the square.” This is how the Eindhoven developer "Focus International Real Estate" announced the arrival of apartments for people with a care indication (see article in "de Limburger" of May 28, 2021, as translated below). Another article about the same subject was published in 2023, is translated on our website,click HERE. Three years later, Focus received the permit, but that means less good news for neighboring hotel Le Theatre. Owner Remco Brouwer: “The municipality states that my terrace makes too much noise for the care homes. When I objected to Battice's permit with the municipality, I was told that they wanted to impose additional regulations on me.” He fears he will have to give up the terrace heating and some of the terrace chairs. It is an issue that "Koninklijke Horeca Maastricht" (umbrella organization for Maastricht catering companies) draws attention to. “The number of objections is decisive when granting a permit,” chairman John Paulus writes to the municipal council. "In the longer term, this has consequences for the entire city and the much-vaunted hospitality. We would like to discuss with you what it will take for us to emerge stronger as a city.” Paulus mentions the “Vrijthof issue” as a concrete example. “I am contesting the permit for Battice, that is my only formal chance,” says Brouwer. “The municipality states that my hotel must apply for a new terrace permit, because the current one was obtained unlawfully. While the fault also lies with the municipality. I had indeed forgotten to submit an 'activity decision notification', but they still granted me that permit.” Focus wants to start construction of the care center in the autumn of 2024. The facades and terrace of Battice Vrijthof must be ready before TEFAF (Art Fair in March 2025), and the residents will move in in the autumn of 2025. Brouwer wonders whether you should build care apartments in this busy place. “But anyway, that's not up to me.” Ruud Jacobs of Focus International Real Estate hopes to avoid delays due to the lawsuit. “I am trying to reach an agreement with Le Theatre. We have had all kinds of reports drawn up. If we can determine together that we both meet all the conditions, our clients have little chance of objecting to the terrace of Le Theatre.” The municipality of Maastricht has announced that the “custom regulations” for the hotel terrace are separate from the new apartments. Remco Brouwer sees a permanent roof as the only solution against noise pollution for care homes. Is that allowed at the Vrijthof with its historic buildings? “These are certainly beautiful buildings, but not monuments,” Brouwer argues. “In the 1970s, In De Gouwe Poort (In The Golden Gate, a former bar, currently known as Pieke Potloed in the Sporenstraat) already had a roof here. But the authorities have to agree, and that is always exciting.”

Our plea to get the webcam back on the Vrijthof Update 2024: As far as we (Ruud and Ineke) know, there has always been a webcam at the DuCasque hotel, which is aimed at the Vrijthof. And we have been regular hotel guests for 20 years for all city visits and André Rieu concerts in July. In 2014, the outdated webcam was replaced by a multifunctional webcam with various zoom functions. There were no complaints for ten years, until someone filed a complaint with the Dutch Data Protection Authority (AP) in 2024 about the recognizability of people with certain zoom functions, which is a violation of the privacy law. The AP decided that the webcam had to be disabled. That happened in April 2024. We received a huge number of messages and questions from fans all across the world. “What is going on and why”? Apparently the webcam host and the hotel manager also received many emails from the fans, with a peak in June/July of course! We thought of the simple solution of disabling the zoom functions, but something that seems to be simple, often isn't. The talks / mails yielded no results. We almost gave up. Then we realized that certain Maastricht authorities which are committed to promoting the city and "The most beautiful square in the Netherlands" probably did not know about webcams. Probably they might want to think along to find a solution. So we sent some more mails… For the full story, please click HERE. We understand that “Maastricht-Marketing” would have the final say on whether or not the public webcam would return to the Vrijthof. Maybe attached to the facade of the Theater on the Vrijthof, Sogecom/Bâtisse, Hotel Le Theatre?? After October 2024, we have not heard anything anymore. But we are still hoping! The only positive reaction came from the Rieu company. André and Pierre promised the fans to install a temporary camera on one of their lightpoles in July.