The Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who died yesterday, was in the Zaan region almost thirty years ago. In the Czaar Peter House, that is. Only two Zaankanters were there: the then alderman and press officer Ulke Brolsma. The latter because he had written a book about the Peter the Great in Zaandam. “They were very jealous of me at the town hall. And I have to say that I was also nervous,” he looks back.
The visit on May 26, 1993 was actually secret, but leaked, causing hundreds of people to crowd outside the cottage to catch a glimpse of the popular Russian leader.
Brolsma is now almost eighty and not so agile anymore. He has not been to the Czaar Peterhuis in the center of Zaandam for a long time. It is also very different from back then. “The original craft house where Peter the Great stayed for eight days is gone. This is bigger and completely renovated,” says Brolsma in front of a closed gate. It is unfortunately closed today.
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Ulke Brolsma gave Gorbachev a tour of the Czaar Peterhuisje in 1993. – NH News
Brolsma has brought an old newspaper with a photo with Gorbachev signing the guestbook.
Diagonally behind him stands Brolsma himself. He was instructed to tell the Russian leader about how things went for Peter the Great in Zaandam. “He found that interesting and fun. He didn’t ask me any questions, by the way.”
Once outside, the group was almost overrun by a crowd of Zaankanters. “That was unbelievable,” says Brolsma. Did he shake hands with Gorbachev? “No,” he says. His voice skips a bit. “I didn’t have a hand on him.”
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