At the moment we are trying to set up a system
whereby old photographic and advertising items
can be reproduced and sold to the general public
to make our photo and advertising gallery
available via the Internet, so that people outside
the Heineken organisation can order and purchase
quality reproductions of all our material."
It started with a letter
On the night of June 30, 1863, Gerard Adriaan Heineken wrote to his
mother about a brewery in Amsterdam he was thinking about buying, the
Hooiberg (Haystack). Bending over his desk by candlelight, Gerard wrote
that the asking price for the brewery was actually quite reasonable; all he
would have to do was find the right person to manage it.
Less than six months later, G.A Heineken purchased the Hooiberg, little
knowing that he and his family were beginning a journey that would see
Heineken become one of the world's leading brewers and the Heineken
brand become the world's most international beer, now available in almost
every country on the planet.
This historic letter, written more than 142 years ago, is the oldest item
in Heineken's vast Historical Collection, which for decades has been housed
in the Heineken brewery building in Amsterdam (now called the Heineken
Experience). In the years since Heineken's founder put pen to paper, more
than 15,000 objects have been added to the collection; categorised and
registered to preserve the rich and marvellous history of Holland's leading
brewery.
"For years, the Heineken Historical Collection was stacked in large
storage rooms, rarely seeing the light of day," said Annesietske Stapel,
Curator of the Heineken Museum. "It has really only been in the past few
years that the items have been brought out, itemised and organised into the
order they are in today. But the job is far from finished. We still have a lot of
work to do!"
Annesietske has been working on the Heineken Historical Collection for
four years, carefully sifting through the precious inventory of items that
have special, historical significance for Heineken. Annesietske's office on
the fifth floor of the Heineken Experience is itself an eclectic museum,
cluttered with objects both ancient and contemporary. A personal
computer with a black-and-white photo of Heineken's former brewery in
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