Willem Hupkes

Willem Hupkes

Willem Hupkes (born May 12, 1880 in Arnhem , † March 11, 1965 in Amsterdam ) was a Dutch railroad director and resistance fighter against National Socialism .

Life

family

Willem Hupkes was a son of the businessman Johannes Hupkes and his wife Antonia Margaretha, nee. Hardeman. On June 29, 1906, he married Catharina Antoinette Francine de Haan. This marriage, which resulted in two daughters and one son, was divorced on July 17, 1912 and on August 5, 1913, Hupkes married Julie Marie Bauer, with whom he had four sons. After the death of his second wife in 1959, Hupkes married a third time on December 17, 1960. He had no children with his last wife, Eva Julia Wagner.

Pre-war period

After completing school in Arnhem, Hupkes studied toolmaking at the Delft Polytechnic from 1898 to 1904 . In September 1904 he took up his first position as an assistant engineer at Hollandsche Spoorweg Maatschappij (HSM). In this position he worked first in Arnhem, later in Amersfoort , and was mainly involved in the construction and repair of railroad cars. In 1911 he became an engineer and now worked at the company's headquarters in Amsterdam. Here he first had to design a new express train locomotive. This locomotive became known under the name " Series 500 " or "NS Series 2100". 35 examples of this locomotive were built between 1913 and 1920.

In 1920 the HSM and the Staatssporwegen (SS) were merged to form the Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS). Professor I. Franco von der Staatssporwegen became Hupke's superior. Hupkes turned now mainly to the problems of the merger. During this time the Amsterdam- Rotterdam railway line was electrified and new concepts were sought for unprofitable local lines. For this purpose, Hupkes designed various railcars with gasoline and diesel engines. In 1928 he took over Franco's position. In 1934 he introduced streamlined diesel vehicles in the Netherlands.

In 1938, Hupkes applied for a position in the management of the NS, but the applicant Professor J. Goudriaan, who had previously worked at Philips , was preferred. A little later, however, Hupkes and his colleague van Rijckevorsel were also accepted into the leadership of the NS. The electrification of the lines has now continued; Diesel traction was introduced for the remaining routes. However, the collaboration between the Board of Directors was not always harmonious.

Second World War

On May 10, 1940, the German troops invaded and occupied the Netherlands. Goudriaan was arrested in October of the same year, so that Hupkes had to take over his duties and thus received the function of chief director of the NS. Hupkes gave the appearance of loyalty to the occupying power in order to avert damage to the NS. However, this meant that NS trains were used for transports to the Westerbork transit camp and that military trains were able to travel unhindered through the Netherlands. Only in 1943 did Hupkes seek contact with the organized resistance . A strike was planned to shut down traffic across the country. On September 17, 1944, however, the order came from the Dutch government-in-exile under Gerbrandy in London, not from the NS, to start the strike because of the Allied advance in support of Operation Market Garden .

After the war

After the liberation, criticism of Hupkes was loud, especially from the communist side and also from van Goudriaan. But in June 1945 Hupkes Goudriaan officially succeeded as chief director of the NS. On January 1, 1947, he retired, but continued to act as an advisor to various railway companies.

In 1946 he received an honorary doctorate from the Delft Technical University. The Dr.-Ing.-W.-Hupkes-Bridge over the Waal is named after Willem Hupkes .

Works

• Nieuwe sneltreinlocomotieven the H.IJ.SM In: De Ingenieur 31, 1916, pp. 213-226
• Benzine-motorrijtuigen der Nederlandsche Spoorwegen , in: De Ingenieur 40, 1925, pp. 25-40
• Werkplaatsbeheer bij de Nederlandsche Spoorwegen , in: De Ingenieur 46, 1931, V, pp. 115–124

literature

• Afscheid van ir. W. Hupkes , in: Spoor en tramwegen 20, 1947, 2, pp. 17-19
• AJC Rüter, Rijden en staken. De Nederlandse Spoorwegen in oorlogstijd , 's-Gravenhage 1960
• J. Goudriaan, Vriend en vijand. Herinneringen aan de Nederlandse Spoorwegen 1938-1948 , Amsterdam 1961
• FQ den Hollander, in: De Ingenieur 77, 1965, A 251-252
• S. Buys, Herinnering aan een president , in: De Koppeling , March 19, 1965
• AJ Veenendaal jr., Willem Hupkes , in: Biografisch Woordenboek van Nederland , Vol. 3, Den Haar 1989

Web links

• biography