To our great sadness, last week we had to say goodbye to two highly valued members of the Historical Commission, Piet Koster and Jan Piet Bloem. Both have individually and together made a great contribution to the Zaanse Schans.

Piet Koster had been a member of the Historical Commission since 2015. In the years he was a member, he showed himself to be a fearless advocate of preserving the historic heritage village and fought against cluttering on the Zaanse Schans. Many notes and advice were initiated by him and adopted and implemented by the Zaanse Schans Foundation. Of course, the latter was not always easy, but that did not make Piet give up. Often together with Jan Piet Bloem, Piet always went out again to visualise and share the cluttering of the Schans with the Historical Commission and the Foundation. He also initiated delegation visits to Beamish and Linköping, among others. On 1 October 2023, Piet Koster bid farewell to the HC, but not after challenging the Foundation and its board with 4 theses on the state and future of the Zaanse Schans.

Jan Piet Bloem was an active member of the Historical Commission from its inception in 2011. During the 14 years he was active on the Zaanse Schans, he was at the start of many initiatives, from 2015 mostly together with Piet Koster. Jan Piet was first a member and then chairman of the Vermaning/Project Zonnewijzer working group that was and is working hard to rebuild a Vermaning on the Zaanse Schans, among other things. He was a sounding board for the organisation, had enormous knowledge of heritage and timber construction in the Zaan region and was a great positive force when the battle against the cluttering of heritage on the Zaanse Schans sometimes seemed a hopeless one. With his boundless energy and commitment, Jan Piet was a driving force behind the preservation of heritage and timber construction in the Zaan region that cannot be overestimated. His documentation and archive will prove invaluable to future generations of fighters for the preservation of Zaan heritage.

With the passing away of Piet Koster and Jan Piet Bloem, the Zaanse Schans loses two true lovers and champions of Zaans heritage.

Also on behalf of the Board and all employees of Stichting de Zaanse Schans,

Maarten van der Meer, Director Stichting de Zaanse Schans