In 1938 in Hardenberg's market place these heralds proudly announced the birth of the future queen, princess Beatrix. On the right hand side of the picture is the band stand and the building in the background is the old electricity station which was used as an emergency abattoir during the war. Numerous excuses were found for the emergency slaughter of pigs and cows. Portions were equally devided. The town cryer would announce that at a certain time meat could be purchased from the electricity station untill supplies ran out. Then a queue would form in front of the counter. Of course, in reality nobody stood in the queue (we are not British, after all) and everybody pushed and shoved as hard as they could. Once I just lifted up my feet and, clutching my shopping bag, was carried along in between the crowds. The building to the left at the back was part of the lovely open air swimming pool.

From our house (left) we overlooked marshy meadows, where the stork made frequent appearances. It seemed like paradise. But no paradise without a snake! This zeppelin was the last one belonging to Germany before the war. It had been used for spying purposes until 1940. Nowadays there are no meadows left in this place and the stork is contemplating where else he can go now.

My father, Peter, built our house in 1934 on the green meadow in the Burgemeester Schuitestraat. At that time there were very few houses in that street.

In winter the hollow meadows were flooded. We had a skating-rink right on our doorstep.

Once upon a time these people lived in the Schuitestraat. Their names were Janneke, Lientje, Hennie, Janneke's big sister and Jan. My mother took this photograph with her Kodak box in 1935.

Behind our house with my grandparents. My grandmother was the last one in Hardenberg who wore this costume. In the background the carpenters workshop.

Apart from the big market, there was also the egg market. On the tables underneath the roof farmers sold eggs. And the fashion is undulating, like everything else in the world. In the olden days women here were also veiled.

These houses were already old in the thirties. They stood on an unadopted road and were rented out. The tenants in the righthand semis overlooked the river "Vechte" which flowed past their gardens.

Nearly everybody in the village knew each other and many of them shared a surname. To tell them apart most had a nickname, like Puk, Mop and Bakkie, who lived in these houses.

The left hand house was typical for this region. It was also typical that there were two different protestant churches, and therefore the population of the village also had separate schools and clubs.

The two men are playing with cents which had to be thrown onto figures drawn into the sand. And the son of one of the two ministers is showing off his biplane.

Christmas

Once upon a time these houses stood on the `n Es. That`s what they called the Bruchterweg in those days. The left house was occupied by the Breukelman family (the most common surname in Hardenberg). Dieke Breukelman`s husband and her five sons were all bricklayers. The house in the middle, built in 1935, belonged to my grandparents (you can see grandma with one of her grandsons). One of their daughters lived in the third house, which was actually a little farm. Her husband was the postman who as a side line run a small-holding and also made clogs. The corn produced was threshed with a flail on the threshing floor. They then sifted the chaff from the corn in a tub by shaking it outdoors in the wind. For their milk supply they kept a goat. Which was handy for quenching the thirst after a hard day`s threshing.

Houses on the 'n Es before 1940. The occupants were Vosjan (gemeenteveldwachter), Tieman (alias De Daampe) and Kremer (farmer De Smokke)

Directly behind the drawbridge across the river Vecht is the main street. In 1915 there were lime-trees in front of nearly every house.

Of interest is the story of the two churches: The middle one was originally the only one in the village. One day some of the members did no longer agree with its doctrines and built their own church. But when their hardliners established a third church, the first two cooperated again.

Winter's night

The farmer is driving down Stationsstraat, the farm is situated at the entrance of Schuitestraat.

This square on the "other" side of the river Vecht was called Achterbrink. 1938, the year princess Beatrix was born, three trees were planted here by the three oldest citizens. Their names were Ensink, Klement and Peter Willering. The last one was one of my great grandfathers, his profession was wheelwright. He lived in the house on the right side. All the houses in the square were demolished to widen the river and provide a flood plain which fills when there is high water.

The wheelwright Peter Willering with his wife and daughter Jansie in front of their house.

The dunes of Gran Canaria.

Don Quijote on Gran Canaria. He fought against windmills. And now he wants to start fighting against the encroaching hotels. One assumes his servant Sancho Pansa will advise against this.

Lake Zieselsmaar near Cologne, one of the prettiest nudist leisure grounds.

Three churches of Pulheim in the garden of Eden.

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The Pulheim "Holy Trinity" is formed by the working together of the three churches.

The old townhall of Pulheim with the new monumental fountain. This building houses the library of the town. The fountain is surrounded by two sets of twelve seats. The twelve taller pillars to the right symbolize the twelve districts of Pulheim.

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Street at night

"Easter island"

Mosque Pulheim

Volcanolandscape

"Airport"

Lady on lotus