Five Brothers and a War

History—Delfshaven

Delfshaven (“Delft’s Harbor” or “Delft’s Port) is an important town in the history of the van Pelts. In non-family history, it also has a long and storied past. It was originally a “front harbor” for the city of Delft, a very old city in the province of Zuid Holland (“South Holland”). Delft received the right to call itself a city in 1246 Ad. It was constantly in fear of losing its economic life to the city of Schiedam, and worse yet, to the city of Rotterdam. On September 8, 1389, Delft was granted permission from the Ruwaard Aelbrecht (“Regent Aelbrecht”) to dig a canal from the river Schie, starting at the village of Overschie, to the river Maas in order to establish its own seaport. This channel was completed about 1400 AD. Near the Maas, a lock had to be built in order to overcome the variance in water levels. That lock became known as the Aelbrechtskolk. Over time, the population of the area increased, and it was given the name Delfshaven, still connected with the city of Delft. The coat of arms shows waves, green land, grain and a fish, representing the river Maas, the gin production and the harbor.

In the beginning, Delfshaven was very prosperous, and it was one of the principal reasons why the city of Delft maintained itself as an important center of trade. However, in 1488, a long-standing feud between two groups (which began about 150 years earlier) broke out into open hostilities. One party called itself the Hoeken , mainly representing the aristocracy, and the other group was known as the Kabeljauwen , representing the ordinary townsfolk. The Hoeken succeeded in destroying the village of Delfshaven. The previous prosperity did not return again as a result of Delft’s objection to allowing Delfshaven to have greater independence in the running of its economy.

holland

It was not until the 17 th Century that the harbor prospered again, in conjunction with Rotterdam. International trade made harbors very busy, but the larger harbors gained at a disproportionate rate to the smaller ones. Rotterdam soon dominated. But starting in 1795, the fortunes of Delfshaven suffered greatly. The French occupied Holland, the Dutch East India Company went bankrupt, and gin production came to a halt. In the same year, Delfshaven broke away from Delft, but there was no return to prosperity. Eventually, n 1886, Rotterdam decided to annex the now unkempt Delfshaven. Piet Hein, the legendary admiral who captured one of the Spanish Armadas carrying silver near Cuba, was born in the village. Dr. P. G. Datema, was the minister in the Dutch Reformed Church who worked in the “Pilgrim Church” (also known as the “Pilgrim Fatherskerk”, or originally the Sint Antoniekapel ), which was built in 1417. Dr. Datema not only conducted all the weddings of the Sonnevelds, but also baptized dozens of family members, the last one being “Lenie” Sonneveld in 1935.

Five Brothers and a War

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