Tribute to Appingedam’s last lime burner. ‘When my father took the lime out of the oven, you only saw his eyes’

Playing on the mountain with shells, hiding in the basement from the Germans: Reina Bolhuis-De Jong (87) cherishes countless memories of the lime kiln in Appingedam, where she spent her childhood.

Her father Jan de Jong (1896) became a lime burner there in 1926. He and his family lived in the house next door. She was the youngest of five children.

She is looking forward to seeing the restored national monument. She had never seen the inside of the lime kiln before. “My father wouldn’t let me in. That was much too dangerous, he thought. Others weren’t welcome either.”

Her father held on to his heavy job until he retired in 1961 at the age of 65 and moved with the family from Appingedam. In 1990 he passed away. Despite the hard work, he lived to be 94 years old. My family kept saying: ‘Jan, you’ll never keep that up, you’ll get black lungs.’ But my father said: I have a steady job, so I will continue to work here”, says Bolhuis-De Jong.

She keeps many memories of the area around the lime kiln. With her brothers and sisters she played on the huge hump of shells next to the distillery. She remembers that people in hiding were hiding in the attic above her father’s office, she remembers the frightening hours just before the liberation, how damaged their house and the lime kiln were after the shelling of the Germans.

She talks with admiration about the diligent workers who emptied the ships full of shells. And about her father. “It was hard and dirty work. My father was covered in dust every day. My mother often couldn’t get his clothes clean because they were stiff with lime.”

And the hot lime burned everything away. Her father wore old rags around his stomach to prevent burns. His socks were choking with burn holes. And when he took the lime out of the oven, it was white from head to toe. “Then you only saw his eyes.”

Bolhuis-De Jong married Hilko (now 91) a year after her father retired and moved to Klazienaveen, where she still lives. The lime kiln fell into disrepair. Grass grew through the walls. Nobody cared anymore. Neither does Bolhuis-De Jong, who has not been there since her departure.

‘I am honored to be able to experience the restoration’

That had to change, thought the Foundation for the Preservation of Industrial and Cultural Heritage of the City of Appingedam (BICSA). He took the initiative three years ago to restore the oven to its former glory. The oven was thoroughly refurbished, stones were cleaned or replaced, the grass was removed. The restored lime kiln must become an open monument.

Now it’s finished. Bolhuis-De Jong received an invitation to attend the unveiling of the national monument. She is the only one of the lime burner family still alive: her sister died three weeks ago at the age of 92. “I think it’s an honor to be able to experience it.”