Neighbourhood C Utrecht

Interviews with residents of Wijk C

In the coming years, with the support of the Mondriaanfonds, a large part of the archive will be digitised, described and published on hetutrechtsarchief.nl and volksbuurtmuseum.nl. The collection will be given on long-term loan to the Utrecht Archive, where the originals will be stored. In addition, the documents will be made available to researchers in the reading room.

_{Photo: Group portrait of five residents of Wijk C in Utrecht, who all have a nickname:Louis Bronius (‘De Sponzenduiker’), de heer Bontrop (‘De Kruk’), Jacobus Broekman (‘Kobus de Fots’), Johannes van den Oudenalder (‘Hannes de Kokkel’) en Piet A. Roomenburg (‘Piet de Brommert’). Circa 1930.
see the original}

Although the name of Utrecht’s Wijk C was officially abolished in 1890 and the houses were largely demolished between 1950 and 1980, the district is still widely known as a working-class neighbourhood. What remains are a few renovated streets, a few pubs, the restored Jacobi Church, and memories – many, many memories.

Twenty interviews with residents of Wijk C reveal in this book the past of a neighbourhood full of large families, industrious retailers, sturdy hauliers, small factories and working-class pubs. A neighbourhood with extensive street life and great solidarity. A neighbourhood never to be forgotten.