Beyond the gloom about Amsterdam New West

When in October 1954 line 13 drove for the first time from Amsterdam’s Mercatorplein to Nieuw-West, Aunt Dora, the oldest resident of Slotermeer, fell from the balcony and when the mayor wanted to save her, he also fell over the railing. And, oh my goodness, then the tram also drove over the front parading harmony. Creaking bones and squirting blood.

Didn’t really happen. For example, the retired teacher Martin Gasman has made it up nicely in the just published seventh edition of Between Andreasplein and Zwarte Pad, a series of yearbooks with short stories about New West.

The fact that writers of profession and ambition have already filled seven collections with their experiences, memories, obsessions and fabrications about the post-war Amsterdam garden cities is the credit of the enthusiastic New Westerner Fred Martin (68), formerly a district councilor in Slotervaart (1990). -1994) and still director in various welfare organizations. Curious how, as a Rotterdammer (former German teacher), living in Slotervaart since 1984, he tackled a moral malaise with spry optimism.

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“My three fellow aldermen were real New West residents and they had a lot to gloom about the neighborhood,” says Martin. “I liked it and wanted to let you know. We then organized a symposium with the aim of improving the image of Nieuw-West. I got a lot of organizations as sponsors and made a program that I called De Driehoek: living, working and well-being. All big names, with Ien Dales, then minister, at the end.”

De Driehoek became a foundation and in 1994 a booklet was produced with contributions from prominent residents of the new West. Nieuw-West, a neighborhood of good intentions it was called and Wim Kok, Peter van Straaten, Wim Polak, Lex Goudsmit, Henk Vonhoff, Pim de la Parra and others, among others, testified to their warm feelings for ‘their’ western part of the city.

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“Wim Kok lived just around the corner from me, we knew each other well,” says Martin. “He sent a handwritten contribution of eight sheets; I cherish that document.”

A local bookshop suggested doing something like this again as an alternative Book Week gift on his part. The series emerged from that, but the collaboration went wrong and the bookstore has already made its own collection of stories three times.

Anyway: what could be better than a collection of stories about Nieuw-West? Two collections of stories about Nieuw-West.

Fred Martin, together with his friend Jan-Paul van Spaendonck, writer and musician, continued on his own with the seventh book.

And the stories?

Thick nostalgia for everyone who grew up or lived in the ‘light, air and space’ of the residential blocks in Slotermeer, Geuzenveld, Slotervaart, Osdorp, Overtoomse Veld. Often it concerns childhood memories: dangers in childhood, timid aspiring lovers wandering past unattainable idols, football adventures, generational conflicts. Many mentions of street names: Van de Pollstraat, Johan Huizingalaan, Hemsterhuisstraat, Cornelis Lelylaan, Meer en Vaart, Tussen Meer, Allendelaan, Peilscheidskade, De Koostraat, Colenbranderhof, Plesmanlaan, for the sake of recognition sentiment. Frequent benchmark: the Sloterplas.

We learn that in the Catholic Immaculata School, “the wafers are not well cooked and the body of Jesus tastes like spent chewing gum.” When the annoyed pastor thinks that Glenn (Glenn Pennock is the author) should go to a public school, he responds: “Good. Then the chaplain will no longer touch my fly after confession.”

Variety and delusion

Variety enough in the stories. Delusion too: Fred Martin discovers a gnome in his garden, a ruinous pointed hat, by the way, which makes him consider “gnomicide”. watchwordeditor Frenk der Nederlanden shines with a lavish reconstruction of the period between 1966 and 1968 in which Gerard Reve lived in Osdorp.

In addition to the ‘Sunday writers’, we also find quite a few established authors and journalists in the series: apart from those already mentioned, including Patrick van den Hanenburg, Ingrid Hoogervorst, Vonne van der Meer, Sylvia Witteman, David Endt, Wim Noordhoek, Henk Spaan, Auke Kok and K. Schippers.

Writer Hans van Wetering is now ready for chapter 4 of a thriller he started in 2019. He has promised Fred Martin to continue the serial every year as long as the series continues to exist. So it may take years before we find out who that skeleton was that was riveted to that heating pipe in Oostoever.