Sawing, gluing and painting. The 92-year-old Albert Jan Haak from Emmen does it all. He has been making wooden miniatures of famous buildings in the area for years. Today is a special day, as the plywood wizard showed his work in the atrium of his apartment building.
“It’s a hobby that got out of hand,” laughs Haak. Due to the corona pandemic, the builder had a lot of time left, since then he has been working on the miniatures almost day and night. “I used to walk to school in Valthermond. Along that route stood my parental home, a church and of course the school building. During the lockdown I came up with the idea to imitate them in miniature.”
Haak mainly makes miniatures of buildings from Emmen and Valthermond. Everything that has to do with antiquity arouses his interest. Such as the Saint Pancratius Church in Emmen. “I am not religious, but I always think they are beautiful buildings.” He gets a lot of satisfaction from the fact that people recognize his work. “They immediately see which building it is. That’s beautiful.”
Fellow resident Hans Gelderman is impressed by his neighbor. “I think it’s really beautiful, especially because of the materials he uses. The miniatures look exactly like the buildings in the real world, great work.”