Café ‘t Schippershuis in Hoorn mourns the death of Pierre Kartner, he died on Tuesday at the age of 87. The cafe had a special bond with the singer, they are the ‘little cafe on the harbor’ that Kartner sang about. “He just sat here among the people and belonged,” says Jan Klerk, owner of ‘t Schippershuis.
Pierre Kartner was a singer, composer and producer known as ‘Father Abraham’. “It’s special. Of course he wrote the song about our cafe here in 1974. At that table, with us”, the owner says proudly.
Unsuspectingly, Kartner waited in the cafe in Hoorn for a journalist from the Telegraaf, “but he did not show up”. And then Kartner started to itch, “he started writing on a felt pad, about all the things he saw, like the poster of the local football club.” It was his inspiration for the song ‘In ‘T Kleine Café Aan De Haven’.
‘Coincidence does not exist’
The guests in the café also know why it is such a special place. They happened to be pointed out on the water taxi about the connection between Kartner and the cafe by a Horinese. “Two minutes later the news came through that he had died. There is no such thing as coincidence.”