It could only be Heineken
With its treasure trove of stories, this richly illustrated book graces the coffee or, more aptly, the beer table! Remarkable facts, colourful anecdotes, and poignant portraits sketch the personalities of 100 Heineken Stars: objects, posters, photographs, films, and works of art from the heritage collection assembled by the brewery on the initiative of Alfred (Freddy) Heineken from the 1970s onwards. That collection now encompasses over 120,000 tangible memories of the company’s history. This book is the result of an exciting quest for the historical narratives that each object encompasses. They usher us through time and place, zooming out from Amsterdam to the Netherlands, Europe, and eventually the whole world. Curl up at home and travel, look around, read, or do a pub quiz with us.
It could only be Heineken 100
STARS STORIES
Contents
Foreword
4
Introduction
5
7
1863–1914 1914–1945 1945–1968 1968–2017
65
125
172
222
Terminology
223
Illustration credits
224
Colophon
1863– 1914 Beer has been around forever. Heineken, however, dates from 1863, the year when Gerard Adriaan Heineken came up with the idea of taking over Amsterdam’s De Hooiberg (Haystack) Brewery. And so 1864 saw the advent of what would be a long tradition of innovation. Heineken’s nose for trends led to the advance of Bavarian beer in the Netherlands. In order to be able to produce this pale lager, the inexperienced brewer built a steam-operated beer brewery on the outskirts of the city in 1867. After HBM (Heineken’s Beer Brewery Company) was founded in 1873, a branch was opened in Rotterdam. The domestic market was soon dominated by three brewers: HBM, De Amstel, and Van Vollenhoven. Stately grand cafés in the capital and a network of national representatives were key to their campaign to capture the hospitality industry and its visitors. Meanwhile, one discovery after another to improve the beer and its shelf life rolled out of the laboratory on the Rotte River. This created new opportunities for long-distance export.
1863–1914
19
The Heineken beer stand of 1869 (two posters at the right)
Pioneers in Bavarian beer 6
ESIGN FOR A POSTER FOR DE D HOOIBERG, STOOMBIERBROUWERIJ HEINEKEN & CO. AMSTERDAM (The
Haystack, Steam Beer Brewery Heineken & Co. Amsterdam), J.C. Greive, c. 1869, watercolour, l 70.5 x w 51.5 cm
On 22 January 1868, Gerard Heineken presented the first brew in his new brewery. The office clerk responsible for the festive speech wrote: ‘From the mists has arisen so splendid and proud / A building that will brave the passage of time.’ This prediction proved correct in the sense that a century and a half later Heineken still owns the building on Singelgracht. However, architect Gosschalk’s impressive structure, so proudly presented here in Heineken’s first advertising poster, would be replaced entirely with new construction. HANDSOME AND FUNCTIONAL
The poster shows the beauty and functionality of Gosschalk’s design: ‘not a factory building in the ordinary sense, that is a box with some air and light holes.’ Rooms fitted with the most modern equipment are presented here: below the image of the building you can see the brew-kettles and clockwise from the upper left: the malt loft, cool tanks, vat-rinsing area, tap cellar, and machine room. SW I TC H
All of this notwithstanding, less than a year after the brewery opened, the client and the architect were already drawing up plans for expansion. More racking basements were needed for the lagering, where
secondary fermentation and carbonation take place. In addition, Gerard Heineken and brewmaster Feltmann were preparing to switch to Bavarian beer. During the 1869 International Industrial Exhibition in the Paleis voor de Volksvlijt (Palace of National Industry) – where this advertising poster hung from his beer stand – Heineken was irked by the far greater interest in the pale lager than in his cloudy ‘Dutch’ beer. B AVA R I A N B E E R
The German method required new investments, including in cooled brewing areas. Even so, that didn’t stop Heineken. On 17 January 1870, the time had come to announce in an advertisement to his customers: ‘as of the beginning of the new year we have started producing Bavarian beer.’
Jacob Olie, The Palace of National Industry, seen from Weteringschans, 1892
22
1863–1914
The Amsterdam competition
23
1863–1914
In the weeks following the annual fair, not a drop of Amstel beer was left in the city.
H.G. ten Cate, Fair on Botermarkt, 1834
8
GROUP PHOTOGRAPH OF DE AMSTEL BREWERY’S 25TH ANNIVERSARY
C.L.C Voskuil, c. 1895, photograph, l 32 x w 45 cm
Heineken was not the first Amsterdam brewer of Bavarian beer. In 1865 the Koninklijke Nederlandsche Beijersch Bierbrouwerij KNBB (Royal Dutch Bavarian Beer Brewery) on Weesperzijde had introduced the modern drink in 1865. And in 1870 the foundation stone was laid for the Beijersch Bierbrouwerij De Amstel (De Amstel Bavarian Beer Brewery) not far away on what is now Mauritskade.
(with a cane) at the left. The men on the ground at the front present brewers’ tools and a large block of ice. On the gigantic beer keg is the German toast: ‘Hop and malt are under God’s protection.’ The fact that the gentlemen were celebrating their jubilee in such a festive way was entirely justified: their brewery ran like a charm from the very start. As early as 1873, the counter stood at 25,000 hecto litres of beer, a particularly popular drink in Amsterdam. In the weeks following the annual fair on today’s Rembrandtplein, not a drop of Amstel beer was left in the city. COMPETITION
Less than two years later, the first kegs of lager left the brand-new brewery of the jonkheren De Pesters and Van Marwijk Kooy. With its posh beer, De Amstel immediately set the bar high, while Heineken had begun brewing beer for the ordinary man, workman’s ale. Unlike the merchant’s son Heineken, thanks to their aristocratic origins the jonkheren were financially completely independent. T H E ‘ H E R E N VA N A M S T E L’ (GENTLEMEN OF AMSTEL)
The gentlemen, together with their more than 100 employees, can be seen in this photograph of the brewery’s 25th anniversary: Van Marwijk Kooy is seated at the table in the middle foreground, and De Pesters
However, the instant success of De Amstel was not without consequences for the other two brewers and a fierce competition was ignited. Pioneer KNBB suffered large turnover losses and went downhill. Gerard Heineken was also struggling. His reserves had been absorbed by investments in the new brewing process. Nevertheless, in 1872 he decided to enter into a partnership with the Rotterdam d’Oranjeboom (The Orange Tree) Brewery.
30
31
1863–1914
The bottling hall of the Amstel agency of T. Jonker, Heusden, c. 1915
Bottleneck 12
B OT TLING MACHINE REVOLVER
1900 – 1930, copper, iron (partly painted), wood, glass, l 180 cm, Ø 74 cm
Beer in kegs is difficult to pasteurise – that is, to improve a product’s keeping quality through heating. In 1875, Heineken’s Rotterdam branch therefore started distributing beer for export in bottles. Until then, bottling was a task reserved for the Heineken agents, or ‘bottlers,’ who worked with primitive bottling machines, such as this one with a mini spacecraft-like appearance by the brand Revolver. Operating with a spring system, its wooden rings secured twelve beer bottles to the taps. From the copper pressure vessel, beer was pushed into the bottles. L O N G - D I S TA N C E E X P O R T I N G
Even with the brewery’s own professional bottling hall, bottling was a labour-intensive process with a slow
production pace. This made bottled beer an expensive product. For this reason, Heineken brewmaster Feltmann only had bottles pasteurised that were intended for exporting long distance. Beer destined for the food service industry in the Netherlands and just across its borders was still delivered in kegs. INVENTION
In the following years, the semi-automatic glassblowing machine – invented by Claude Boucher in 1894 for producing cognac bottles – gave bottled beer a major boost. The glass industry started using the machine, and bottlers all over Europe massively switched from jugs to bottles. Dutch breweries also had to deal with this. HBM and De Amstel supplied their beer and labels to their agents, who filled and distributed the bottles. Once its production became cheaper, Heineken and De Amstel could also use bottled beer for the domestic market. Incidentally, it was not aimed at home users, but chiefly the catering industry, whose tap beer consumers could enjoy an entire range of bottled beer.
66
1 9 1 4 – 1 94 5
A modern
67
1 9 1 4 – 1 94 5
brewhouse 28
AQUETTE OF THE HEINEKEN M AMSTERDAM BREWHOUSE
Leonard Johannes Theodorus Kamman, 1913 – 1941, wood, metal, plastic, cardboard, paper, perspex, electrical wiring, l 45 x w 72 x d 70 cm
The brewhouse with malting attics is the oldest remaining part of Heineken’s brewing complex in Amsterdam. The Rotterdam architect Arie Heederik designed this sturdy yet elegant building in 1913. The facade is rhythmically arranged, with church-like arched stained glass windows and rose windows. The new brewhouse replaced the old boiler house and keg-washing facility, being yet another adaptation in an endless series of renovations and modernisations. The brewery grounds came to comprise more than 30 buildings and other facilities, including a cooperage, a smithy, and a paint shop. COPPER BOILERS
In the starkly tiled interior, enormous copper boilers of the latest German model (with a capacity of 40,000 litres) replaced the wooden tuns of yesteryear. In the maquette of the brewhouse, at the upper left, is the stirring or mash tun with the mixture of
malt and water. Part of the mash was pumped into the mash copper at the bottom left and heated – known in the trade as being mashed. This went back to the stirring tun and the entire substance was deposited in the lauter tun, at the upper right, which filtered out the solid particles. The liquid, called wort, was boiled in the beer kettle, at the bottom right, mixed with bitter hops and quickly cooled down. Then it went on to the fermenting cellars via the footbridge over Jacob van Campenstraat. After about ten days of fermentation, the beer was placed in closed tanks and then in the storage cellars, left to undergo lagering. HEINEKEN EXPERIENCE
Nowadays the brewhouse is part of the Heineken Experience. On a guided tour, visitors can see the shiny polished boilers – at least you know what they were used for – and the beautifully reconstructed stained glass windows.
Arie Didericus Heederik, The new HBM brewhouse in Amsterdam, 1913
92
1 9 1 4 – 1 94 5
Beer at home
1 9 1 4 – 1 94 5
40
ESIGN FOR A FLYER OR SHOWD CARD HEINEKEN’S FLES SCHENBIER VOOR GEBRUIK THUIS!
(Heineken’s bottled beer for home consumption!) c. 1930, gouache, l 17 x b 19.5 cm
This ingenious design of a reflection was meant to catch the eye of the Dutch home consumer, a new target group that had appealed to Heineken since 1931. Until then, almost all bottles of Heineken beer had been reserved for export. Part of the special ‘steinie’ type bottle can be seen just behind the filled beer glass. With this advertisement HBM launched ‘flesschenbier’ (bottled beer) on the domestic market. This was not such an easy task: beer consumption in the Netherlands had been declining considerably since the First World War.
Ad for pullen (steinie) beer in De Limburger, 1939
Furthermore, the Heineken Management Board deemed consumer advertising to be unnecessary; the quality of the beer had to speak for itself. HBM’s advertising budget in the 1920s and 1930s was therefore modest and focused exclusively on catering outlets and off-licences. E XC E P T I O N
Nevertheless, the group made an occasional exception and then immediately used the most progressive advertising media. For example, in 1919 Heineken led the way by releasing its first corporate film about the brewing process for a Dutch cinema audience. And during the 1928 Olympics, the ‘beer of the Olympiad’ suddenly became visible everywhere. This was a veritable advertising deluge, ranging from beer mats and posters to an animated film, with a real stunt flyer over Amsterdam as the finale. ESSENTIAL
When the bottled beer was introduced in 1931, Heineken seemed to realise that advertising would be indispensable in winning over home consumers. Tasteful showcards displayed on liquor store counters were meant to appeal to them. And Heineken found its way directly into their sitting rooms via newspaper advertisements. The business tone aimed at its suppliers ‘Currently available as long as the stock lasts’ gave way to the promotional motto ‘Beer also at home!’
Showcard, 1931
93
1 42
1 94 5 – 1 9 6 8
A masterful
1 94 5 – 1 9 6 8
portrait 64
LFRED HENRY HEINEKEN A (1923-2002) Paul Huf, c. 1951, black-
and-white photograph, l 24 x w 18.5 cm
‘You’re not pulling my leg, are you?’ Freddy Heineken seems to be asking with that one permanently raised eyebrow. His characteristic gently ironic gaze was masterfully captured by photographer Paul Huf in this black-and-white portrait photograph taken around the time Freddy’s father Henry Pierre retired. By then, Alfred Henry Heineken had been involved in the beer group for about a decade. Nineteen-year-old Freddy joined his forefathers’ company in 1942, in the middle of the war. It is no coincidence that he was photographed here with a portrait of his great-grandmother Anna Heineken-Van der Paauw. After all, everything started with the letter she received from the brewery’s founder Gerard Adriaan: her son, Freddy’s grandfather.
Freddy with Heineken director D.U. Stikker and Dutch actor/ director Cees Laseur in the New York Copacabana nightclub, 1946
LO R D O F H I S OW N CA ST L E
He did this right after joining the Supervisory Board in 1951. Three years later, Freddy was able to report that he had succeeded in gaining a majority stake in HBM. The family was back in charge.
AMERICAN INSIGHTS
Freddy learned the tricks of the trade in America, where he worked after the war as Leo van Munching’s assistant sales promoter. The shrewd business man from Harderwijk made Heineken the market leader in imported beers by touting the exclusive character of this ‘exotic’ lager. Van Munching convinced Freddy of the merits of advertising. He gained other new insights while in the United States. For example, Freddy wanted to regain the family’s majority stake in HBM, which his father had lost with the company’s IPO in 1939.
Alfred H. Heineken’s business card as a representative of Van Munching & Co, 1946-47
143
220
With Times had changed... Heineken 0.0 came just at the right time.
1968–2017
100
0 CL BOT TLE OF HEINEKEN 3 0.0 (FULL) 3 March 2017, glass,
printed plastic label, metal crown cap, imprint, l 21 cm, Ø 6 cm
This bottle of Heineken 0.0 has a very distinctive blue label. The alcohol-free beer was introduced at Heineken International in March 2017 and in May of that year officially launched during the Formula 1 Grand Prix in Barcelona. By then Heineken had been secretly working on the recipe for more than two years.
or without? What is special is that 0.0 is brewed twice with the famous Heineken A-yeast. The alcohol is only removed at the end of the brewing process, for an optimal taste. This is very close to that of regular Heineken lager, especially when the non-alcoholic beer is chilled before consumption. IN STEP WITH THE TIMES
The drink had to be so good that it would not fall prey to disapproval and ridicule, as befell the low-alcohol Buckler in 1989. But times had changed, and many more people were already into drinking alcohol-free beverages on a regular basis, a choice that was far more widely respected. Politics and science supported this change in behaviour, and the Health Council of the Netherlands even advised against consuming alcoholic products at all. Heineken 0.0 came just at the right time. OOPS, MY BAD
At the launch of 0.0, Heineken presented an advertising campaign with commercials full of misinterpreted situations and humour. In Locker Room a woman steps off the treadmill in a gym and drinks a bottle of Heineken 0.0. Other fitness fans stare at her while she turns her bottle in such a way that they can see the label: ‘Heineken 0.0. Great taste zero alcohol.’ Then she walks through the door of the men’s locker room, catches herself and quickly does an about-turn in the other direction. Tagline: ‘Now you can... at the gym.’ Alcohol-free beer finally became cool – and it’s here to stay!
Stills from the commercial Locker Room, 2017
221
Colophon P U B L I C AT I O N
WBOOKS, Zwolle info@wbooks.com www.wbooks.com in cooperation with Heineken Collection Foundation www.heinekencollection.com Heineken Collection Demelza van der Maas, José van Rijk TEXT
Een woord, een beeld / Marie Baarspul, Amsterdam E N G L I S H T R A N S L AT I O N
Kist & Kilian / Katy Kist, Jennifer Kilian, Amsterdam PICTURE EDITING
Marie Baarspul, Marieke van Vlierden, José van Rijk, Olaf Slijkhuis, Frédérique Urlings P H OTO G R A P H Y
Ronald Smits DESIGN
Studio Extrablond / Miriam Schlick, Tosca Lindeboom, Amsterdam
© 2020 WBOOKS Zwolle / Heineken Collection Foundation Amsterdam All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher. The publisher has endeavoured to secure the rights relating to the illustrations in accordance with the statutory provisions. Those who nevertheless believe that they can claim certain rights may address the publisher. The copyright of works by visual artists affiliated with a CISAC organisation has been arranged with Pictoright in Amsterdam. © c/o Pictoright Amsterdam 2020. ISBN 978 94 625 8412 9 (English edition) ISBN 978 94 625 8406 8 (Dutch edition) NUR 680