Wilhelmina billiard factory
| Wilhelmina billiard factory | |
|---|---|
| legal form | BV (GmbH) |
| founding | 1895 (1898) |
| Seat | Stadhouderskade 127, 1074 AV Amsterdam The Netherlands
|
| management | Oosterhout Brothers |
| Number of employees | 20th |
| sales | approx. € 800,000–1,000,000 |
| Branch | Billiard accessories |
| Website | www.wilhelmina-billards.nl |
The Wilhelmina billiard factory is one of the oldest billiard factories in the Netherlands and dates back to the late 19th century.
history
The founder of the company was the textile merchant and billiard player Izak Barend Salomon (1863–1945), who traded from a number of addresses. Salomon named the company after his wife Wilhelmina Bloemgarten (1874–1962), but it certainly played a role that Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands was head of state at the time. Salomon and Bloemgarten got engaged in 1904 and married in 1905.
The name "Billardfabrik Wilhelmina" first appeared in 1902 when it was still in Stadhouderskade 5 . On a New Year's wish in 1910, the company is still based there; from mid-1911 the company is located at today's address Stadhouderskade 127 . The company defied a furniture manufacturer strike in 1923 and was able to continue production. In 1929 the company celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary with the publication "Ein prins'lijk werdekt een koninklijk fabricaat". Due to a crisis, the company fired Jan Mens in 1932 , who had worked there for ten years, after which he began his writing career.
During the occupation by Nazi Germany one could no longer refer to Queen Wilhelmina and the company was renamed "Billardfabriek J. Slot". The owner and founder at the time was deported during World War II and died in Theresienstadt . After the war, the factory was given its original name back and the company was continued by Jacques Salomon . He is the only cousin of Izak Barend Salomon and survived the Nazi era because he was able to hide in Enkhuizen .
In 1963 he was replaced by Cees van Oosterhout , who played billiards himself, after his death in 2015 his sons Robert and Paul took over the business and continue to run it today. The sister Isabelle works in the administration.
The company has been supplier to the royal court since 1910. Heinrich zu Mecklenburg , husband of Queen Wilhelmina, ordered his billiard accessories there. His motto " Per aspera ad astra " hangs on a sign above the shop entrance. Bernhard zur Lippe-Biesterfeld , husband of the former Queen Beatrix , succeeded him as a billiard player.
Web links
- Over Wilhelmina - Billardfabrik Wilhelmina ( Memento from September 25, 2019 in the Internet Archive ) Own presentation (history)
- De broers van Oosterhout geloven dat het tij weer kan keren voor de biljartsport Interview with Robért and Paul Oosterhout (Dutch)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Legal Information - Billardfabriek Wilhelmina BV Kompass.com, 2019, archived from the original on September 25, 2019 ; accessed on September 25, 2019 (English).
- ↑ a b De broers van Oosterhout geloven dat het tij weer kan keren voor de biljartsport. de Volkskrant, June 24, 2018, archived from the original on September 25, 2019 ; Retrieved September 25, 2019 (Dutch).
- ↑ Tournament announcement Hugo Kerkau (Berlin) vs. P. de Crauw. De Telegraaf , August 29, 1902, accessed September 25, 2019 (Dutch).
- ↑ Royal Fabricaat. Algemeen Handelsblad , August 29, 1929, accessed September 25, 2019 (Dutch).
Coordinates: 52 ° 21 '28 " N , 4 ° 53' 59.6" E