Mystery solved: This is what this building is called in the Dorpsstraat the crowned Valk

In Zilveren Letters is ‘The Crowned Valk’ above the entrance of the building on the corner of Dorpsstraat and Eerste Stationsstraat in Zoetermeer. This is next to clothing store 44 & More. Quite a separate name for an apartment complex where there is no falcon. Where does that name come from? Indebuurt Zoetermeer sought it out!

In the image bank of the Memory of Zoetermeer Is a photo from a century ago. ‘Depot Bierbrouwerij De Gekroonde Valk Amsterdam’ can be read on the wall. This appears to be the café of former Zoetermeerder Piet Opstal where the beers of this brewery used to be on tap.

Bigger than Heineken?

In the mid -nineteenth century, the Amsterdam brewery successfully produced different types of beer with names such as Hollandsche Ale, Princess beer and Gerstebier. Under the name Valkerbier it was even exported to the East and West Indies. The sale received an extra boost when Heineken decided in 1873 to stop producing Dutch beers and customers by referring to the crowned Valk. A few years later, De Valk was one of the largest breweries in the Netherlands. The success of the crowned Valk lasted until 1941, in that year the brewery was taken over by Heineken.

Read more under the photo >

New construction

In the mid -50s, Piet Opstal’s café had to be demolished and shops replaced it. Project developer Eef van der List made the construction of the current building possible in 1998 and named it after the Depot of once one of the largest breweries in the Netherlands.

Sources: Dutch beer culture and Memory of Zoetermeer

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