CaribSeek Kaleidoscope | The Development of Willemstad from a Settlement to a City by Prof. René Römer

CaribSeek | CaribSeek Kaleidoscope | The Development of Willemstad from a Settlement to a City

The Development of Willemstad from a Settlement to a City

by Professor René A. Römer

The specific character of the Caribbean can also be found in the history of this settlement. Caribbean societies are characterized by the fact that they are basically profoundly hybrid in their structure and in their culture, but present themselves at first view as a harmonious whole. For four centuries there has been an encounter of different peoples and different cultures, which in the end resulted in a kind of amalgamation of these elements. Nevertheless, in this new structure that developed the original elements are still there and easy to recognize. Like a work of art, which it is in a certain sense, reality in the Caribbean looks different depending upon the angle from which you look. Take for example the Handelskade: a superficial glance gives the impression of a replica of some Dutch facade as we know them from pictures of the big mansions along the canals of Amsterdam or, for that matter, any other Dutch city; A closer look, however, reveals some fundamental deviations from the original Dutch architecture. The same goes for San Juan, Puerto Rico. The city has the appearance of a Spanish town and the atmosphere still has a Spanish touch, but the notable American influences of the last century, has rendered it definitely not Spanish. Both Willemstad and San Juan, and Havana, for that matter, are typically the result of a process of give and take among different cultural traits in a process that took place over the course of time. In fact they are thoroughly Caribbean in the new form, which resulted from this process of amalgamation. This can be seen not only in the architecture, but also in cuisine, music and dance.

Should this bring us to the conclusion that Willemstad is not Dutch? I think this question can be answered both in a positive and in a negative sense. The gables remind us of the Dutch gables and the grid of Punda reminds us of other Dutch colonial cities, such as Paramaribo, Suriname in South America, Cape Town in South Africa or Colombo in Sri Lanka. Here in Curaçao, however, the Dutch building tradition was adapted to the climatological circumstances: the high temperatures on the one side and the cooling effect of the trade winds on the other side. But apart from these architectural adaptations, a very important element in determining the different aspect of Willemstad, as not typically Dutch was the dynamic interchange of Iberian cultural elements, of a qualitatively important group of Sephardic Jews, and the African culture of the slaves, with the Dutch dominated Northern-European, Protestant culture resulting in a local variant of the typical Afro-Caribbean culture. The Afro Caribbean mixture here is a different blend. Curaçao, to my knowledge, is the only place where these three elements, the Nordic, the Mediterranean and the African, had the opportunity to interact in such an intensive way and for such a long period of time.

Willemstad is unique! It is not typically Dutch, or Iberian, or African. The historic growth of Willemstad was a unique process. After these general remarks, let us try to go more in detail into the historic process of the development of Willemstad as it is now.

A preliminary remark that I want to make in this context is that, in the development and structuring of Willemstad, the natural environmental restrictions imposed by St. Ana Bay, "het Schottegat" and inland waters such as "het Waaigat" and "het Rifwater" played an important role. One of the reasons the Dutch decided to keep the island was the natural harbor later called "Schottegat". Willemstad arose around these waters. It is a pity that the "Waaigat" was filled up to such an extent and that the filling up of the "Rifwater" practically obliterated this beautiful, although smelly body of water which once reflected the big mansions that where built on its shores. This affected the sight of Willemstad in a substantial way.

Punda
It started with present day Punda, originally "de Willemstad". Shortly after the Dutch conquered the island, they started to build "Fort Amsterdam", which was completed in 1639. In that year Jacob Pietersz Tolck, who had succeeded Johan van Walbeeck and was in charge at the time, wrote a letter to the Board of Trustees of the West Indian Company, signing this letter with the remark that it was written from "the fort in Curacao". At that time the fort was called "het Kasteel", the Castle.
Originally it had been the intention to construct this fort according to the traditional pattern that is as a pentagon. In his letter, however, Tolck wrote that he had decided to eliminate one of the bastions with the result that the fort acquired the quadrangular form it still has.

The first step in the planning of a settlement at the border of the St. Ana Bay was the building of a wall from the northeastern bastion of the fort to what was called the "river", actually the water that preceded our present "Waaigat". This water was much bigger than our "Waaigat" today and reached much more to the south. So in fact the wall was built in a northeastern direction. Later on the wall was extended to the north into the "Waaigat".

The boundaries of this settlement in the northern and northeastern direction and in the west were thus, in the beginning, determined by water: the Waaigat and St. Ana Bay. Later on (the exact date is not known) a third wall was built in the "Waaigat" in a western direction towards the harbor. The city was thus closed-in by walls on three sides and by St. Ana Bay on the fourth.

With the arrival of more colonists who settled in the walled city, under the protection of the fort, Willemstad gradually grew. The pattern of the urban development consisted of narrow streets that met at right angles. This is still very visible, notwithstanding the many changes that took place in that part of Willemstad in the course of time.

A much-debated question until very recently was when and after whom the city had been named. According to Hartog it was named after Stadhouder (Regent) William II. But Buddingh', who made a very fundamental study of Punda (old Willemstad) thinks that the naming was after Stadhouder William III, who occupied this position on 1672 and who later on, being married to Mary Stuart, became King of England in 1688.

The first time the name Willemstad is mentioned in the archives is 1680.This William seems to have been very much sought after. Buddingh' further mentions the possibility that the naming of Willemstad in that decade could have been related to the fact that in 1674 the new West Indian Company was instituted and in 1675 Willemstad was declared a free port in the hope that this would stimulate the economy. The free port needed a suitable name that would call people's attention. Although all this might sound quite speculative, which in fact it is, I tend to accept Buddingh's point of view as the correct one. An interesting point that is worth mentioning is that in 1673, Albany, the capital of the State of New York, the former Dutch colony New Netherlands, for a short time after the Dutch re-conquered the city, was named "Willemstadt" too, probably after William III. This can be seen on a stone in the façade of the 18th century town hall.

How Did Willemstad Fare?
According to a report by Jacob Beck in 1705 the city was so crowded and densely built that there was no space for the people that continued to arrive in Curaçao. He argues that space should be looked for to build more houses. Two years later he proposed to start building on the "other side", or as we say in Papiamento "Otrobanda", of St Ana Bay. This started developments in that part of Willemstad.

How can the growth of Punda be explained? The fall of Pernambuco, the Dutch colony in Brazil which was re-conquered by the Portuguese in 1654, has been mentioned as one of possible causes. The theory behind this assumption is that quite some colonists left Brazil to settle in Curaçao. Recent research by Buddingh' however didn't confirm this theory. Although some of the new settlers in Curaçao did come from Brazil, their number must have been very limited. New Amsterdam was much more attractive to them. The best known among the settlers from Brazil is Matthias Beck, who was Vice-Governor from 1655-1668. At that time Peter Stuyvesant was Governor-General of New Amsterdam. The colony of Curaçao (Bonaire and Aruba) fell under the jurisdiction of New Amsterdam. Matthias Beck arrived in Curaçao in 1654, in company of Peter Stuyvesant, whom he had met in Barbados on his way from Brazil to "the West Indies". When in1655 Stuyvesant left for his new post in New Amsterdam, he appointed Beck, Vice-Governor. Beck died in Curaçao in 1668. According to Carel de Haseth, Pieter de Mey, after whom Pietermaai was named, also came from Brazil. He was baptized in Pernambuco in 1651. From Brazil he came to Curaçao, where he died at the beginning of the 18th century. The exact year is not known.

The main reason for the growth of the original walled city most probably should be sought in the fact that in 1675 Curaçao was declared a free port. By comparing two maps, one from the end of the 17th century and the other one from the beginning of the 18th century, the map by Robijn of 1676 and the one by Gebgardt of 1707, Buddingh' came to the conclusion that the growth of the population of Willemstad has taken place in that period. On the map of Gebgardt new streets (Kerkstraat, Kuiperstraat en Prinsestraat) were added to the city plan.

Otrobanda
The very year (1707) Beck wrote his letter asking to be allowed to start building on the "other side" he got permission from the Board of Trustees to start assigning plots of land for construction, on the condition that the buildings be not more than two stories high as this could be a hindrance to the line of fire from the fort. Otrobanda also grew very fast, although it was a different Otrobanda than we know today. Houses and warehouses were built on the waterfront, de "Waterkant" (our present Awa'sa or Brionplein), along the road leading to the Western part of the island, and at the so called "Kreek", now better known as the "Rifwater". Here again water played an important role in the structuring of the city. Big mansions, of which three are still basking in their glory, were built alongside the "Rifwater", presumably by merchants who could profit from the waterways, St. Ana Bay and the "Rifwater", to transport their merchandise to their backyards where apart of the dwellings for the slaves, they had their warehouses. Between the "Rifwater" and "Breedestraat", as the road to the Western part of the island, which gradually passed into the "Roodeweg", eventually was called, "the alleys" (steegjes) developed: narrow, picturesque streets, more or less the same as in the original Willemstad but less systematically organized. The "alleys" form a tangle of lanes. Strolling through these lanes is a unique experience. Building activities, up until the beginning of the 19th century, were limited to what we now call Otrobanda Abou, which consisted of the houses alongside the "Rifwater", the alleys and houses on both sides of Breedestraat. But that new part of Willemstad too developed very quickly. In 1754 governor Faesch, who lived in Otrobanda, wrote that this area was filled with buildings just like "de Willemstad". Until the first decades of the 19th century, the higher parts, the so-called "berg" or "seru" (hill) of Otrobanda were sparsely built.

Wealth through Trade Reflected in the Growth of the City
We are still missing a study on the relationship between the growth of Willemstad and developments in the economic sector. The fact is that during the 18th century Willemstad was an important harbor, not only for the slave-trade, but also and still more for the trade with the Spanish mainland and the transshipment of the goods from what is now Estado Falcón in Venezuela and Rio Hacha in Colombia, to Europe. Cacao, sugar, dye wood, hides, tobacco and coffee were brought to the island and transported to among other places, Amsterdam, which was an important distribution harbor for these goods on the European continent. It still has to be proven by more detailed studies, but I have a feeling that quite a lot of money was made in this kind of predominantly illegal trade, which made it easier for the West Indian Company to let go of the monopoly on the slave trade so easily in 1730. On the other hand the fact that the Company had lost its contract to supply the Spanish colonies with slaves to the British also played an important role in this decision. Not only private persons, but also the ‘Company’ participated in this trade. From 1729 to 1759 more then 50% of the traffic in the harbor of Curaçao, about 200 out of the 400 ships per year, was with the north coast of South America that is with, what now is Venezuela and Colombia. During that period an average of 2,500 tons of merchandise was transported, and in the peak years of 1728 to 1751 even 20,000 tons. This is according to a study by the Spanish historian Ramon Aizpurua who has done research on this matter not only in Spanish, but also in Dutch archives. He states in his 1993 publication that in that period the province of Venezuela had stronger commercial ties with Curaçao than with Spain.

In that period an extension of Willemstad developed to the East outside the city wall as well. Building activities started at what is now known as Pietermaai Smal. According to Hartog retired sea captains and merchants built those houses. In at least one of the dormer windows until two years ago the date 1753 could be read. It is a pity that it is partly eroded now.

An extension took place also to the North, across the Waaigat, where houses were built in the Eastern part of Scharloo (Skarlo Abou), with a concentration near the harbor. The beautiful house where the Marine Museum is now established, for example, was built around 1749. In 1885 this was given a neo-classical front by adding a "pro naos" and a tympan in front of the existing structure. Following that period Curaçao profited from the Seven Years War between England and France (1756-1763) and the independence war of the British colonies in North America (1776-1783). Both French and English ships took refuge in the harbor of Curaçao during the Seven Years War. The merchandise they were transporting was very often sold at low prices during their stay in the harbor. From here they were traded with the Spanish mainland, the traditional trade partner, against a much better price then they had been acquired for. In the Independence War of the United States of America both the legal and illegal trade flourished. The wealth the above mentioned trade produced is thus reflected in the houses that were built in that period.

An Intermezzo
The end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century were turbulent times. In Europe we saw the outbreak of the French revolution in 1789 and in the Caribbean, in 1791, the Haitian revolution that represented the first breach in the pattern of the relations between the different colonies and the mother country. The Napoleonic wars had their influence in the Caribbean as well. England, which was ruling the waves, conquered all the colonies of the European countries under pretext of protecting them from the French. Curaçao was, for example, twice under British command in 1803 and again from 1807 till 1816. In the first decades of the 19th century the Spanish colonies, of which Nueva Granada (which consisted of the present day republics of Ecuador, Colombia, Panama and Venezuela) should be mentioned, started to revolt against the dominance of Spain. This resulted in the independence of the abovementioned countries. In short this was not a suitable time for trade. When Holland took over the command of the colony again in 1816 the first governor-general, Vice Admiral Albert Kikkert, reported on July 2, 1817: "Poverty under the lower classes is so overwhelming that you just cannot imagine how all those families do support themselves. Men, women and children engaged in the detestable, but piteous act of begging.” Only after this tumultuous intermezzo that is from about 1850 on did trade flower again. In the thirties and forties of that century quite a few Curaçaons emigrated to Panama and cities such as Puerto Cabello, Venezuela. These emigrants were not only whites, but also free coloreds. The family relations between the Curaçaons in Puerto Cabello and their relatives in Curaçao remained very close and lasted till deep into the 20th century.

Scharloo, Hoogstraat and Pietermaai
A second period of wealth that stimulated the growth of Willemstad and that put a very dominant stamp on the city, its architecture and its urban layout came about during the second half of the 19th century. Up from the 1860's till more or less 1910, for the second time, an extension took place in Punda in the northern direction across the "Waaigat" which resulted in the beautiful quarter Scharloo. Scharloo arose in what we call here a neo-classical style. The northern part of the "Waaigat" had become more accessible after the completion of the demolition of the city wall in 1866 and even more so when the ‘van de Brandhof ‘bridge was built (1883). This bridge was replaced in 1928 by the present one and was then named after Queen Wilhelmina.

Before that the connections, not only with Scharloo, but between all parts of the city were along the waterways, "Waaigat", St. Ana Bay, "Rifwater" and if necessary the "Schottegat". This was done in flat-bottomed boats called "ponchi". The funeral of a Sephardic Jew at Beth Haim cemetery, for example, took place by "ponchi", crossing the Schottegat to the cemetery. Even after the Queen Emma bridge was built over St. Ana Bay in 1888, people kept on using the "ponchi’s". Only in 1930 came an end to this romantic way of crossing the harbor due to the increase in the number of ships entering and leaving the harbor as a consequence of the oil industry and trade. Not only in "Scharloo" but also in "Otrobanda" some important extensions took place. As I mentioned before the so-called "berg" or "seru" (hill), north of "Breedestraat" until then was sparsely populated.

In that period "Hoogstraat" and "Witteweg" arose, once again with neo-classical type of houses. A beautiful example of the architecture from that period is the Belvedere mansion, which was built in 1864.

Like many cities in the world the growth of the different parts of the city can be related to the economic history and the preference for certain architectural styles in the different periods of its development.

This can be seen in Havana too, with its fortifications and the 16th/17th century old center, "La Habana Vieja", which grew during the time when Spanish ships loaded with gold and silver from Colombia, Peru and Mexico passed through on their way to Spain. The houses on the seashore, on the Avenida Maceo, the so-called "Malecon", were built in the nineteenth century, after the sugar production expanded and Cuba became the most important provider of sugar for the American and European markets.

The demolition of the city wall of "old Willemstad" in 1866 finally opened the possibility to start building on Pietermaai, on the space, where until then it had been forbidden to build. in view of the line of fire in the eastern direction. The houses on Pietermaai again were predominantly built in the neo-classical style.

The question can be asked whether the so called "Antillean rights" that were proclaimed in 1880 by Guzman Blanco, then president of Venezuela, did not affect the trade. These Antillean rights comprised some 30% extra import duty on goods coming in from Curaçao and Trinidad. They were imposed on these two islands because the Dutch and British governments had permitted his adversaries to establish on the islands. Statistics, however, show that from 1880 to 1910 the numbers of ships calling on the port of Curaçao grew by 25%, from 1271 to 1588. The volume of the goods that was traded grew by 216%, from 751,589 m3 to 2,376,650 m3. A very fundamental question, however, is how the wealth that this trade undoubtedly produced, was distributed. The answer is not difficult: according to modern ideas very poorly. But that is judging history by present day norms. An interesting fact in this context is, however, that at the beginning of the 20th century a member of the Dutch parliament, H. van Kol, who visited Curaçao, called the colony "a distressed colony". As a true socialist van Kol had the workers, descendants of slaves, in mind and not merchants.

Developments in the 20th Century
In the preceding paragraphs, be it in a very concise way, I dealt with the relationship between the growth of Willemstad and the economy of the island. The most dynamic period of economic growth in Curaçao's history was experienced after the establishment on the island of the Royal Shell refinery in 1915. In 1916 the construction of the refinery started and already in 1918 the first refined products were exported.

The revenues of the government and the growth of wealth in the community in general created new possibilities to build. But this was very often not to the advantage of the urban layout and the traditional architecture of Willemstad. Money is a very dangerous guide, especially when it is accompanied by the need for status and poor taste.

Two aspects of the developments after the establishment of “Shell” should be mentioned.

To start with, the more well-to-do citizens escaped the city, leaving their houses and other buildings to deteriorate through lack of maintenance.
This exodus already started in 1935. One of the first houses to be built outside Willemstad is the beautiful mansion, with art deco elements, that stands at the corner of the Groot Kwartierweg and Schottegatweg. It was built in 1935.
Unfortunately this fine example of grandeur and good taste was not followed. In that same period (1936) “Shell” started to build bungalows for its personnel at Groot Kwartier, Rio Canario and in the forties, in Julianadorp. These were built following the example of the houses “Shell” had previously constructed in Indonesia. This introduced a new type of architecture the so-called "porch houses". These "porch houses" proliferated on the island after the example set by “Shell”. Although very plain, from an architectural point of view, these houses were well adapted to the tropics.

Secondly, I should mention the influence of the modernization process that was ignited by the growing economic wealth. This very often resulted in the demolition of buildings that could have been preserved, but were nevertheless replaced by so called modern architecture, that only in very few cases showed creativeness by the designer, "if” there were real, professional designers involved. There are plenty examples of this kind of poor architecture.

In my opinion the watershed in the building tradition should be put in 1930. From then on all kinds of elements that had distinguished the architecture of the past gradually disappeared. One example is the white elements that framed the houses. White lines framed the roofs and the gutter was hidden behind a broad frame that was also painted white. In many cases white pilasters on both sides marked the front.

The exodus from the city led to the development of suburban bungalows on spacious plots of land. The last developments give rise to the suspicion that most people building in the new areas that surround the city are guided more by status aspirations than esthetic considerations. The houses show a clear example of conspicuous consumption and lack of balance. At the moment about two-thirds of the population are living in the surroundings of Willemstad.

Reversing a Process of Deterioration
The picture I gave above of the historic development of Willemstad is far from complete. I hope that, nevertheless, I succeeded in making it clear why some people were worried about the future of this beautiful city. Newton once remarked that it took Willemstad three centuries to develop into what it was forty years ago and only three decades to deteriorate to such an extent that quick action was necessary. Action was taken. In 1991 the so-called "Monumenten Plan" was launched and renewed again in 2001.

And I when look at Willemstad now (June 2002) I think that we, although we didn’t succeeded completely in our endeavor, we did succeed in starting a reversed development. Recent developments the the city quarters Otrobanda and Scharloo are very impressive. There still remains a lot to be done. In this perspective it is satisfying to see the cooperation between the different the entities working in this is growing.

More and more people are becoming conscious of their cultural patrimony, a pride that does not limit itself to the big houses in Willemstad, or the so called "landhouses" in the countryside, but includes also the inhabitants of humble dwellings.
Pride in our cultural heritage is growing and this is the best guarantee for the preservation of Willemstad as a unique site in the Caribbean, that deserves to be on the World Heritage List of Unesco.

References:

Aizpurua, Ramon
El Comercio Holandes en el Caribe a través de Curaçao, 1700‑1756, Paper presented at the Seminar Jornadas Historicas de Curaçao, Willemstad, 4‑6 de Mayo de 1992.

Aizpurua, Ramon
Curaçao y la Costa de Caracas, 1730‑1780, Caracas 1993.

Buddingh', Bernard R.
Van Punt en Snoa, Den Bosch, 1994.

Gill, Ronald
The morphology of hisorical Duch cities overseas, Workshop on "Kota/Sunda Kelapa as a building project ", Jakarta, 1994.

Hartog, J.
Curaçao van Kolonie tot Autonomie, de Wit, Aruba, 1961.

Haseth, Carel, de
Kolonisten uit Brazilie in de 17e eeuw, Ñapa, 16 maart 1991.

Hullu, J. de
Curaçao in 1817, in:Bijdragen van het Koninklijk Instituut voor Land﷓, Taal﷓, en
Volkenkunde, Afl.4, 1913.

Newton, Michael
Monumentenbeleid en Stadsvernieuwing op Curaçao, in: KNOB Bulletin, 1993. No. 1/2.

Römer, Rene A.
Willemstad, haar wijken en hun bewoners, U.N.A. Cahier 35, Curaçao, 1991. Idem.
Otrobanda, Het verhaal van een Stadswijk, Curaçao, 1993.

Schiltkamp, J. A.
Curaçao onder Matthias Beck 1655‑1688, in: Het Oog van de Meester, Curaçao, 1989.

Soest, J., van
Olie als Water, Willemstad, 1976.

Voorden, F.W., van
Design methods of Dutch engineers during the construction of colonial cities, Paper presented at the International Conference "Van de Oirdenigh der Steden", Colombo, 1995.

Paper presented at the International Design Seminar, organized by the Interregional Committee Action Willemstad, Curaçao, May 11-17, 1997; updated February 8, 2002.