Historian Martin Hillenga calls on the public for help in his search for the lost painting by Gerhard Alberda van Menkema (1829 – 1902), the last resident of the Menkemaborg. “A classic country gentleman who found it difficult to let go of the past.”
Hillenga writes a book about the deposit in Uithuizen. “In the past, a lot of research has been done into the early eighteenth century, which has resulted in a somewhat sparse portrayal of the later inhabitants. But someone like Gerhard Alberda is a figure that appeals to the imagination. He was the last of his family and after his death the borg stood empty for almost twenty years. His heirs donated the estate in Uithuizen to the Groninger Museum in 1921.”
Who was ‘Spanish lady’ who lived with bachelor Gerhard?
The interior of the Menkemaborg was sold due to a lack of wealthy descendants who wanted to live there. “There was a big day that attracted a lot of public. Many items from the deposit became adrift. It is possible that Gerhard Alberda’s painting also disappeared at that time. Very unfortunate, because hardly any portraits of the Alberda Menkema family have been preserved. That’s why I would like to know where it is now. There is still a painting of Gerhard Alberda as an old man in the castle. In the painting I am looking for, he is somewhere in his forties.”
Hillenga came across a number of surprising facts during his research. “Gerhard Alberda would have been an eternal bachelor. But a woman known as ‘the Spanish lady’ also lived in the borg. Officially she was his housekeeper, but I discovered that she had lent him a lot of money, 20,000 guilders to be precise. That’s a special housekeeper. Her name was Johanna Sophia Maria de Sille and she came from Zeeland. She was probably some kind of life companion, but that’s all I know about it. Also special: after her death she was buried with the Lewe van Nijenstein family at the Zuiderbegraafplaats in Groningen.”
‘Jonkheer was the last dodo who could not let go of the past’
Gerhard Alberda’s sister – lady Anna Alberda – was married to esquire Jean François Lewe van Nijenstein. “Why is the housekeeper lying with this family? I haven’t found the answer yet.”
Although Gerhard Alberda was apparently in need of money at the end of his life, he was once very wealthy. “He was always in the top 5 in the then Quote 500. His land and investments earned him more than enough. He lived the life of a classical nobleman. He grew cucumbers and cared for racehorses.”
“The gentleman clearly had difficulty with the fact that the world of the nobility had completely changed. The Groningen nobility was virtually extinct, he was the last dodo to lose himself in protecting his old rights. He made a big deal out of the fact that he was no longer involved in the appointment of ministers. He also claimed hunting rights in a large area, including land of which he did not own. He had outgrown his time.”
Gerhard Alberda would probably have wanted his body to be buried in the family grave in the church of Uithuizen. “But that use had also disappeared. It became the general cemetery in Uithuizen.”
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Crime of passion in bail
Gerhard Alberda van Menkema was also the last owner of the Dijksterhuis deposit in Pieterburen. The stone house was demolished a year after his death. The deposit was in the 16 e century the scene of a crime of passion. The Moorish servant of watergeus Diederik Sonoy had declared his love for one of his maidservants. She rejected him, after which he took her life with a knife. The servant was then beheaded. Over the centuries, there have been witnesses who swore that at the scene of the murder there was a blood stain that returned even after a thorough scrubbing.