1/5 Friso Wiegersma in his studio (photo: Gerry Hurkmans).
The song The village of Wim Sonneveld is very famous. The song is so emotional that some people in Deurne let a tear when they hear it. Because everyone in the village knows that this song is about Deurne. The song is written by Friso Wiegersma, son of the most famous doctor in Deurne and the surrounding area. Museum De Wieger in Deurne now has a retrospective exhibition of his work.
De Wieger is located in the stately practice and the home of Dr. Hendrik Wiegersma. The doctor had the house built in 1922. “The young Friso has ran over this staircase,” says Jolanda Postma of the museum. “The fact that the family lived and worked here makes this place very special.”
Postma shows the garden. It is sung by Wim Sonneveld in the song Het Dorp. “Along my father’s garden path, I saw the tall trees standing” is the well -known sentence from the chorus. “Well, there are those tall trees,” Postma points out. “The young Friso played as a child there.” At the start of the path is a street sign: my father’s garden path. “And that is an official street name,” says Postma.
“Hendrik was called the miracle doctor.”
Friso Wiegersma was the life partner of comedian Wim Sonneveld. He went to a performance and fell in love. Sonneveld also on him. Friso wrote more songs for Sonneveld. He also designed theater decors and costumes. And he painted on it. The retrospective exhibition shows a large part. “In October it is 100 years ago that Friso was born, so that was a good reason. Wiegersma has since died, but his last life partner is still alive and has made the collection available,” says Postma.
Waiting for privacy settings …
The artistic genes had Friso from his father, doctor Hendrik Wiegersma, who also painted himself. After seeing his patients, he crossed the courtyard of the Wieger in the evening and night to paint. Hendrik was also called the ‘miracle doctor’ and was known in the wider area, because he also used alternative medication. Many stories are known about Hendrik. He was quite a character if you have to believe the tradition.
“She had to undress and the story goes that he pushed her into the waiting room.”
“An anecdote is that once a girl came who couldn’t talk,” says Postma. “The doctor tried to talk to her, but without success. Then she had to undress for investigation. The story goes that he pushed her when the waiting room then started screaming and talked again.” It is not clear whether this story is true by the way.
Nowadays something like that might result in a session at the Medical Disciplinary Court. “But Doctor Wiegersma is also described as very sweet by people,” says Postma. “If it snowed, he tightened his horse for a horse -drawn sled and went to pick up all the children of the village to bring them to school. How nice is that?” The village doctor was also a model for the famous regional novel ‘Help, the doctor drowned’ by Toon Kortooms.
Friso Wiegersma became just as well known as his father because of his paintings and lyrics. The melody for the song Het Dorp was of a French chanson, La Montagne. “Wim Sonneveld wanted to have it translated,” says Postma. “But Friso had nothing to do with it. It was about a French mountain village. He thought the melody was very beautiful. He then wrote his own text.”
That text goes straight through the heart for many people. “It has also been performed in Deurne,” says Postma. “People were crying. The song gives you goose bumps. It’s so beautiful.”