De Volkskrant wrote about this in 1998: It seems as if the inhabitants of Beringe dwell on it with schadenfreude. It was precisely in their village that Napoleon Bonnaparte's ambitious plan to dig a canal from Antwerp to Düsseldorf foundered. The inglorious end of the Grand Canal du Nord was worthy of an inscribed monument by the village council of Beringe.
The work was unveiled to the public at a sculpture symposium in 1991. The artist Hans Reijnders was absent at this unveiling because he felt that his work was marred by a provisionally constructed plinth. Inhabitants of Beringe called this 'pathetic' and jokers placed a sign with 'For Sale' next to the sculpture.
Until 1995 the work ended up in the municipal shed. Only in May 1995 was the work of art given its current, prominent place at the end of Noordervaart. It was also placed on its proper pedestal.