from March 3, 11:00 History
When we think of the first commuters from Amsterdam to Het Gooi, we quickly think of successful entrepreneurs. However, there is also a group of health refugees who hoped to recover from their lung problems here.
In densely populated Amsterdam, many became infected with tuberculosis, the treacherous destroyer of the lungs, due to the poor housing and working conditions. Those who became infected and could afford it therefore went to live in healthy Bussum and then commuted to work in Amsterdam. Below are some of those commuters.
Felix van Pelt
Felix Pelt had a leather wholesaler at Warmoesstraat 38 in Amsterdam. He was church warden of the St. Nicholas Basilica on the Prins Hendrikkade and president of the St. Vincent de Paul Society, founded to help the poor and sick. He suffered a lot from coughing and a chilly fever and hoped to be cured by the sea air during a treatment in Velzen. However, that didn’t help.
“Come and live with us in Bussum on the sand, in a wooded area,” suggested his Schuver family, living at Eslaan 7. On November 20, 1907, Felix (born 1843) moved with his wife Wilma (1851), daughters Helena (1880). ) and Maria (1881) and son Richard (1883) to Stargardlaan 11, near Naarden-Bussum station. From now on, Felix and his son Richard went back and forth to Amsterdam by train. But this was also not a success, because walking was so difficult that he became exhausted. Felix van Pelt died on June 17, 1908, aged 65. After Felix’s death, his wife Wilma and the children returned to Warmoesstraat 38.
Helena Coomans de Ruiter
Godfried Weissenbruch, 46 years old, pharmacy owner, and Helena Coomans de Ruiter, 41 years old, lived at PC Hooftstraat 130 in Amsterdam. Helena was plagued by persistent coughing fits and fever. No remedy from their pharmacy brought relief. Helena’s father, a physician, listened to her lungs with a stethoscope and discovered a serious infection. Her brother Arnold, a medical doctor working in Constantinople, advised her to move to a healthy region with clean air.
In 1903, Godfried and Helena moved with their daughter Helena, 17 years old, and son Arnold, 10 years old, to Albrechtlaan 2, where Popke Bakker kept a boarding house in the white villa with Art Nouveau stained glass. However, Helena’s strength waned. She died in December 1907 at the age of 46. In September 1908, father Godfried moved back to PC Hooftstraat with his two children. Godfried was probably infected by Helena, because he died on May 12, 1909, aged 51. Daughter Helena and son Arnold were left orphaned.
Martha Fröling
Johan Vrickx and his wife Martha Fröling lived in Amsterdam, Roelof Hartstraat 70. Johan was a proxy holder at the Nederlandsch-Indische Handelsbank, Singel 250-256. In his younger years, Johan was active for thirteen years in the Society “Charity to Assets”. Its members were progressive-liberal young men who helped the unemployed find a job through mediation and cared for the sick and addicted. Martha suffered from a deep cough and chilly fever and became weak. Pure air could heal her, so quickly go to Bussum. In August 1907, Johan, 52 years old, and Martha, 44 years old, moved to Albrechtlaan 2. However, Martha died on September 18, 1907, after a long suffering. Johan continued to live in Popke Bakker’s boarding house until Popke quit on September 11, 1920. Johan moved briefly to Albrechtlaan 6 and returned to Amsterdam on December 30, 1920.
Fight against tuberculosis
The fight against tuberculosis started in the Netherlands around 1900. The first sanatorium was built in Heiloo in 1898. The Zonnestraal sanatorium in Hilversum was opened in 1928 and Juliana Oord in Laren in 1930. The general practitioners in Bussum rang the bell if the bedroom windows were not open. Let in fresh air! The battle against the Silent Killer has been won in the Netherlands with an antibiotic, but alertness remains desirable. The disease TB still exists worldwide.
Sources:
Gooi and Vechtstreek Archives, Amsterdam City Archives and newspapers 1907-1920
2024-03-03 10:00:00
#stille #killer
