Between 1700 and 1900, Meppel had a handful of printing companies, but the number grew in the period after that. The Printing Museum is opened in 1984 and then the printers’ guild in Meppel experiences its heyday. There are then 15 printing companies that provide work for 700 people. In the years that followed, the number of printers steadily decreased again.
In 2022, another printing company will open its doors in Meppel. Drukkerij Veldhuis moves from Raalte to the southwest corner of Drenthe, thus saving Meppel’s tradition as a printing city. There are 117 new jobs involved in the arrival. Every year, eight thousand tons of paper are printed for magazines, books and catalogues. The machines run seven days a week, 24 hours a day. “We struggled with space and were looking for expansion. That is why we are very happy with this place on Eekhorstweg”, says director Oscar Jager van Veldhuis. Meppel currently has three printing companies.
When asked how Meppel should continue in the future as a printing city without a Drukkerijmuseum, vice-chairman Wim de Vries of the Oud Meppel Foundation does not have an answer quickly. “It will be difficult,” he says after some thought. “And what should be done with all those beautiful machines in the museum, I hope that they can stay somewhere and that the museum receives money to be able to go ahead for at least a year, then there is time to think further about the future, that all remains to be seen. But, as said, the Drukkerijmuseum really belongs to Meppel.”