Peter: “We met in a gay disco in Groningen, the city where we were both studying at the time.”
Siep: “Peter studied economics and I trained to become a mathematics teacher.”
Peter: “We have now been together for 42 years.”
Siep: “We both retired at about the same time this year. I since this school year, Peter earlier this year.”
Peter: “I was financial director at a housing association in Den Helder.”
Siep: “I taught mathematics in Utrecht.”
Peter: “It still takes some practice: being retired.”
Siep: “I worked at the same school for 40 years. That feels like leaving family behind. And I miss the contact with young people. I always really enjoyed that.”
Peter: “When I was still working, the alarm went off at 6.23 am. Yes, at first it always went off at 6.30 am, until the speed limit was lowered from 130 to 100. Then from now on it took me 7 minutes longer to get to work. So I decided to get up 7 minutes earlier. Nowadays the alarm goes off at 7.45 am. A lot later, but I still set the alarm. Because I want to keep the freedom manageable.”
Siep: “And so we came up with a few more rules.”
Peter: “The second is: put on nice clothes every day, so that you don’t get wasted – I went to work in a tie and suit every day for 40 years. The third rule is that I don’t drink alcohol three days a week – just like when we still worked, we didn’t drink during the week either.”
Siep: “I stopped completely, a year and a half ago. And don’t miss it – there are a lot of tasty drinks without alcohol these days.”
Amsterdam Pride
Siep: “From our window we have a beautiful view over the IJ. This year we enjoyed SAIL.”
Peter: “They should do it every year, instead of once every five years.”
Siep: “Some boats are also rigged here every year for Pride. But the parade does not pass here. The IJ is too wild a river for the delicate LGBT+ community. Too wide and too many waves. Yes, we still say LGBT the old-fashioned way.”
Peter: “Or just gay.”
Siep: “From now on, let’s say rainbow community.”
Peter: “We were the founders of Amsterdam Pride in 1996, together with our colleague Ernst Verhoeven.”
Siep: “We also organized Pride ourselves until 2005, and now I am a Pride ambassador. We are always treated like VIPs at the boat parade.”
Peter: “I have never been on a boat in my underwear.”
Siep: “Neither do I. We enjoy organizing something like this and that other people enjoy it.”
Peter: “They like being on that boat, we like arranging things.”
Siep: “Some people think that Amsterdam was the first to have a Pride, but the opposite is true. Other major cities already had Prides, but not yet in Amsterdam.”
Peter: “There was already one in New York in 1967. Paris and Berlin were also much earlier.”
Siep: “It was less necessary in Amsterdam, because Amsterdam was already a very tolerant city for gays. They came here from all parts of the world.”
Peter: “In New York, the police took tough action in gay bars. The pride there was a protest against the police and discriminatory laws, just like in other cities.”
Siep: “We then came up with Pride; not as a protest, but as a gift to the city, to celebrate how pleasant and free you can live here. We called it Amsterdam Pride so that everyone could come under the umbrella, including straight people.”
Peter: “The first year there were 20,000 people on the quay, now a few hundred thousand. It is the largest event in the city after King’s Day.”
RTL Boulevard
Siep: “Our fourth retiree rule is that we continue to do socially relevant projects. Not just recreational things.”
Peter: “No, not just consuming. The first thing people always ask you is: what is your name? And the second is: what do you do? So that remains important. Fortunately, we have already done quite a few other projects in addition to our work. We sit on all kinds of committees in the cultural sector.”
Siep: “I am a member of the Art and Culture Committee of Pride Amsterdam. I am also on the board of the Kunstenaarshuizen Amsterdam foundation. We have created the Ramses Shaffy House – a place where young and old artists live and work together.”
Peter: “I am on the board of De Nollen – the fantastic art park in the dunes near Den Helder.”
Siep: “I almost always did the housework, because Peter worked full-time and I worked part-time.”
Peter: “But now I also contribute a lot. I cook and I am the one who vacuums. Siep doesn’t let me use the washing machine yet, but I can do the ironing.”
Siep: “Peter is a very good cook!”
Peter: “I am a little more experimental than Siep. I make Dutch pot, because I love it, but also curries and stroganoffs and so on. I start cooking at 6.30 p.m. Then I put RTL Boulevard that I never looked at before. Now I know all about the stars! It is a nice program for the background.”
Siep: “Most of the time we don’t even listen to what they say, just the pitch. It’s like wallpaper.”
Books play a prominent role in the lives of Peter and Siep. The living room is full of books.
Photo Mona van den Berg
“Peter gets along well with animals. But we don’t get a real dog, because you also have to walk it when it rains.”
Photo Mona van den Berg
Pushups
Peter: “I also started doing crossword puzzles since I retired. It’s good for your brain to learn something new, I think. And I cleaned out the kitchen cupboards – that hadn’t happened in 40 years. I tackled it with a system – I bought containers at HEMA. There is now a container with pens, one with paper clips, one with elastic bands, one with keys, one with stamps…”
Siep: “But it doesn’t feel like we have too much time left.”
Peter: “We read three newspapers every morning: Het Parool, The Telegraph and de Volkskrant.”
Siep: “And me sometimes NRC through a friend.”
Peter: “This way we see different opinions and we are not too much in a bubble. And we have a student at home who helps us with digital things.”
Siep: “What I do notice: when you work, you automatically move a lot more. So now we have to make sure we keep moving. But I do a fixed set of exercises every day, the same ones for forty or fifty years. Sometimes I do them more times a day.”
Peter: “I do one set of twenty push-ups every day.”
Siep: “I’ve never seen him actually do them – but I assume it happens.”
Peter: “Yes, I really do them.”
In short
Peter Kramer and Siep de Haan, both 67, have been together since they were 25. They both retired this year. Peter was financial director, Siep was a mathematics teacher – and they founded Amsterdam Pride in 1996. They love reading and going to the theater. They plan to buy an electric dog – they already have a small one, but want a bigger one – to keep moving as retirees.
Together they earn 3.5 times the average (previously 5 times the average).
What is your last Tikkie sent?
Peter: “That was a present for Siep’s parents. Because they still live full of enthusiasm.” Siep: “They are now 88. An exclusive scent for, for my father, a few plants for the garden.” Peter sent a Tikkie to Jelle, Siep’s brother-in-law.
Weekly shopping or going to the supermarket every day?
Peter: “I go to Albert Heijn every day to buy the freshest food possible. Nowadays we eat almost everything organic. And according to ChatGPT, the organic food from the AH is just as good as from the health food store or the Ekoplaza.”
What’s your last biggest expense?
“A new waterbed costing 2,600 euros,” says Siep. “We already had one, but you have to replace them every now and then,” says Peter. “And the older we get, the more stabilized it needs to be. The latest is quite stable, we used to have waterbeds that were more mobile.”
Second-hand or rather new?
Siep: “We normally prefer to buy new clothes, but I love Laura Dols’ vintage shop in the Wolvenstraat. She especially has a lot for women, such as beautiful old 1920s dresses, but there is also clothing for men.”
How often do you clean the house?
“Every week, according to a fixed program,” says Peter. “Wednesday I vacuum, Friday Siep does the kitchen, Monday he does the bathroom, etc. We no longer have any help. We used to have a maid who looked like a Dolly Dot. She drove a sports car.” Siep: “I always put down ten flakes of dust. If all ten were gone afterwards, she got a 10. Yes, I am a cleaning freak.”
What was really a bad buy?
Peter: “A Minimax that is now in the basement, and other fitness equipment advertised via Tel Sell.”
Who decides what you will eat?
“That was me for forty years, because I was the one who cooked then,” says Siep. “Now it is Peter, who has been cooking every evening since he retired.”
What do you feel guilty about spending money on?
“Pastries from Holtkamp,” says Siep. “They are expensive, but they are jewelry!”
What are you saving for?
Peter: “We do have savings, but we no longer save for anything specific.” Siep: “Except for a larger electric dog. They are expensive, as much as 10,000 euros!” Peter: “Not that expensive now, but 5,000.” Siep: “Peter gets along well with animals. They really connect with him. But we don’t get a real dog, because you also have to walk it when it rains.”
Best tip for household or finances?
“Marry an economist!” says Siep. “When I knew Peter for three months, I lent him 1,500 guilders, because I had more money than him at the time. It turned out to be a good investment, because in the end Peter brought in a lot of money. He always worked full-time as a financial director, I worked part-time as a teacher.”
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