BACK TO SQUARE ONE

"When in 1943 I made my profession in the big Beyart chapel in our Motherhouse in Maastricht, I could not suppose, of course, that I would return to this same house in 1999, after a life which I look back on in great gratitude."

Brother Laurens Hoebergen (born in 1922) is talking with me in his new workshop, the bookbinding department. He does his work as a bookbinder with great zeal. In Helmond, the place where he was based before, he had a large group of pupils. And before this he ran a tailoring workshop in Semarang (Indonesia). An intriguing life with a lot of stories.

His favourite spot

In October 1999 it was becoming clear that the Helmond community was going to be discontinued. The brothers each had to find another residence and for Laurens Hoebergen this was to be the Beyart in Maastricht. As he still did his work as a bookbinder with great enthusiasm, a space was cleared for him in the cellar. He arrived with his whole bindery. "I am quite happy with this new workshop, it suits me quite well. There is room enough to work in, but I can also receive pupils. I am taking things a bit easier than in Helmond, though. I am not getting any younger."

Every morning at half past nine he is in his workshop. He gradually works through all the orders he receives from various addresses. After lunch he takes a short rest and about four o'clock in the afternoon he regularly plays a game of billiards with some other brothers. And if there is a lot of work to be done he also works in his workshop in the evening. "My principal work is repairing books. I do everything that has to do with bookbinding: I bind periodicals into volumes, mend old books, repair library books, put new covers on fine books, impress new titles on them in gold leaf etc."

From Helmond he regularly receives a lot of work still, but orders also come in from the Beyart and from people in Maastricht. "I shall be glad to receive work. I like to have work to do."

Finding a trade

When in 1935 he told his father that he wanted to be a brother, this implied for Laurens becoming a teacher. But after two years the headmaster of the preparatory school thought that he had better find another profession. In the two years that he came back to Asten, where his home was, he learned tailoring. But his motivation for being a brother did not evaporate. And so he presented himself in Maastricht in 1938. There he qualified as a master tailor and obtained the certificates to teach this trade at a technical school.

"In 1955 I was appointed to teach tailoring at our technical school in Zevenaar and in 1958 moved with it to Maastricht when it was transferred to Tongerseweg there. The number of young brothers that I had to train to be tailors was always such that I could easily cope with the work, which I liked to do very much. Thus you can very well pass on your love of this trade. Brother Wilhelm Leensen was one of the pupils I taught."

In those years he also followed the courses that made him a craftsman in the field of bookbinding. For five years he could teach this at our formation college to student teachers who were interested. Much to their and his pleasure.

Indonesia

When in 1963 Bro. Avellinus Janssens, the then superior general, invites him to go to Indonesia a new world opens to him. The number of pupils that had to be trained in Maastricht was declining. And in Indonesia his talents could be put to full use.

"I became a teacher at the tailoring workshop in Bara Pantu Asuhan, a technical school where Josué van Nistelrooij, of blessed memory, was the principal. There were forty pupils who wanted to learn the trade of weaving and thirty-five who wanted to be tailors. We ran a three-year course. It was a successful technical school, subsidised by the government. When the boys had acquired a good theoretical mastery of the trade they went to Semarang or Jogjakarta to have the requisite practical experience. All in all I did the same work there that I had done in the Netherlands, but now so that I taught boys a trade which could make them look forward to a good future."

His own workshop

In 1968 Laurens went to Semarang, where he was allotted some rooms of the former training college for teachers. Twelve of his best pupils from Bara came along with him. They were craftsmen who understood the tailor's trade very well. This was the place where the work to which Laurens gave himself heart and soul found its beginning. "After I had started this workshop, more and more orders came in. We made shirts to order, custom-made suits, trousers, in a word all kinds of clothes for ladies, gentlemen and children. As we produced work of good quality we also received orders from government institutions. This meant that we had to expand considerably.

In the end our business employed 125 people. A splendid enterprise that provided work to men and women, and turned out excellent products. Eight cutters went round taking measurements everywhere in the country about us and brought in orders. The administration grew and grew and was taken over by people from 'outside'."

A strict supervision was maintained on the quality of the products that were turned out. But also - and Laurens thought this of the highest importance - they made sure that all the employees were given a fair deal. "Everybody normally had a seven-hours' working day. We saw to a fair payment for the work delivered. We had our own health insurance, so that people that for whatever reason disappeared from the production process continued to receive pay."

People who preferred to do work at home were given the chance to do this. They got a sewing machine from the business, which they paid for in some installments.

"In 1971 we moved to a larger accommodation because we had grown out of our coat. We were a sizeable business, which among others things produced 2,500 shirts a month."

Declining economy

In the seventies the economy in Indonesia grew worse. The devaluation of the rupiah was enormous. Corruption on a large scale was an established fact. Fortunately this did not cause many problems for our business. The employees continued to receive pay at a fixed piece rate. They got one meal a day and for our permanent employees a retirement fund was established. I may say with some pride that this was only done in few cases in Indonesia. When people retire they generally receive a fairly large sum of money, which can help them to get through their old age. Our arrangement, however, is that, for the rest of their lifetime, every month they can come to our office to collect a certain sum of money."

They made robes for protestant clergymen, cassocks for diocesan priests and habits for religious. They made suits and bathrobes. Batik remnants were made into neckties in their own ready-made clothing workshop.

"In 1986 my legs started troubling me. I was 63 then and I started thinking of repatriating. To make sure that everything was left in a good condition a foundation was established. The governing board was formed by some people from the diocese, some from our business and two university teachers.

In 1988 I returned to the Netherlands. With a sore heart, for I left behind much that was dear to me."

Bookbinding

He found a new niche in Helmond, close to Asten, the place of his birth. "I intended to resume the trade of bookbinding. I felt fit enough to start giving lessons to beginners. And they came pouring into our community house in Ruusbroeclaan. In ten years' time I taught bookbinding to over 250 persons. It was a marvellous time for me.

Of course, it was pleasant enough to pass a certain skill on to others. But the finest part of it was the good personal contacts you could build up with the pupils.

Therefore it really pained me that our Helmond house was discontinued. I had to take leave of a place that was dear to me, of people that had become dear to me and of the senior citizens' association whose chairman I had been for various years."

It gives Laurens satisfaction that he has been able to instill love of bookbinding into a group of people. "It is work that has various sides to it: the mending of old books, the binding of recently published magazines, bringing to life books that have been read to pieces, carefully applying a beautiful cover. It is a work that requires a lot of patience and attention. You must have love for it and like to do it. I am happy I have been able to pass this on to others.

And who knows, there are also people in Maastricht that I can teach. They are welcome in my cellar at the Beyart!"

(Wim Swüste; translation Bro. Theo van Schaick)