Heritage Corner

The Dutch Government funds a four years research titled "Decolonization, Violence and War in Indonesia, 1945-1950" carrried out by the best brains of the country in the field of history, KITLV (the Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies), NIMH (the Netherlands Institute of Military History) and NIOD (the Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies).  I quoted from the research website what it is all about :  The programme comprises nine subprojects and aims to answer questions regarding the nature, scale and causes of structural violence in Indonesia, considered in a broader political, social and international context. In this context, detailed attention will be paid to the chaotic period spanning August 1945 to early 1945 – often referred to as the  Bersiap  – and the political and social aftermath in the Netherlands, Indonesia and elsewhere. In short, the Dutch had problem when Indonesia proclaimed its independence...

During the Open Monument Days, 8 and 9 September, so many monuments to choose but finally I made up my mind to visit family companies of Amsterdam. They are representatives of survived entrepreneurs with ups and downs plus owners of what would be industrial heritage of the city of the next century. I managed to visit three companies. First, the warehouse Bijenkorf. Surprisingly, this warehouse has established "The Cultural Heritage Foundation of Bijenkorf" in 2010. This foundation tasks are to compile historical data of the company in almost 150 years of operation and present them in attractive ways to large public. That was what we saw last weekend during the Open Monument Days. And we were allowed to see parts of the warehouse that is usually forbidden for public.  Second, the pickles company Kesbeke in Amsterdam West. I like their products, fresh, delicious and so local.  Third, for the first time since I move to Amsterdam 13 years ago I entered the Heineken ...

The Car Museum Louwman in the Hague has amazing collections but what for me most fascinating was the exhibition about relationship between cars and political leaders, for example Volswagen Bettle, Hitler and the first designer of the car who turned out to be Jewish or Churchill with his Humber Pullman.  About the VW Bettle, Hitler wanted to produce affordable and simple cars for Germany's road networks. In 1934 he asked Ferdinan Porsche to design the car. It should be a car that would be able to transport two adults and three children at the speed 100km/hour and use not more 7 litres of fuel per 100 km. Spare parts had to be easily replaced and acquired. Finally, in 1938 the first factory to build the People's Car (the meaning of VW) was opened in Fallersleben with a speech titled "Strength through Joy Car".  There was a story about involvement of a Jewish car designer named Josef Ganz, but in history books his involvement was disputable.  Hitler made...