Keti Koti Trail
Behind the well-known stories from Amersfoort’s history lie stories of inequality, exploitation, and exclusion. The Route of Reconciliation brings this overlooked history to light. Through six walking, cycling, and boating routes, you’ll discover historic sites and traces of the past in the cityscape. By acknowledging the past, sharing stories, and coming together, we create space for awareness, connection, and reconciliation.
KETI KOTI PAD
The Keti Koti Trail takes you past streets and buildings in Amersfoort that are connected to the Netherlands’ colonial and slavery history in Southeast Asia and South America. You’ll discover the role Amersfoort and its residents played in this history and how this past continues to shape our society today.
Keti Koti literally means “K…
Behind the well-known stories from Amersfoort’s history lie stories of inequality, exploitation, and exclusion. The Route of Reconciliation brings this overlooked history to light. Through six walking, cycling, and boating routes, you’ll discover historic sites and traces of the past in the cityscape. By acknowledging the past, sharing stories, and coming together, we create space for awareness, connection, and reconciliation.
KETI KOTI PAD
The Keti Koti Trail takes you past streets and buildings in Amersfoort that are connected to the Netherlands’ colonial and slavery history in Southeast Asia and South America. You’ll discover the role Amersfoort and its residents played in this history and how this past continues to shape our society today.
Keti Koti literally means “Chains Broken.” On June 30, the history of slavery is commemorated, followed by the celebration of the abolition of slavery on July 1. This route was walked for the first time during the very first Keti Koti commemoration in Amersfoort in 2021.
Walk the Keti Koti Trail, discover a lesser-known side of the city, and reflect on a history that connects us all.
You are going to see this
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Warehouse d'Eersteling | Gildekwartier
Warehouse d'Eersteling | Gildekwartier
Pakhuis d'Eersteling
amersfoort
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Gravestones at Burgemeester Brouwerplantsoen
Gravestones at Burgemeester Brouwerplantsoen
Mayor Brewer Plantation
Amersfoort
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Description
The facade of Hof 38 features a so-called “gaper.” In the nineteenth century, this was the location of W. Putman’s shop; he worked as a barber, bartender, and shopkeeper. He sold his products there under the name “Drogerijen en verfwaren De Gaper.” In 1830, the business became a pharmacy. The statue that now hangs on the facade is a replica of the original gaper from that period.
Gapers were used as signs for drugstores and pharmacies. The one at Hof 38 depicts the head of a Roman soldier. His open mouth may refer to taking medicine or to “gawking” at the extensive selection of goods. In the nineteenth century, many herbs and spices from the colonies were used to make medicines.
As early as the early modern period, exotic ingredients made their way to Europe through trade with the Ottoman Empire. From this empire—which encompassed parts of North Africa, Asia, and Europe and had Constantinople as its capital—products such as aloe vera, senna leaves, coloquintid apples, opium, saffron, turmeric, gum arabic, frankincense, myrrh, and bitumen. The Eastern-style clothing worn by many spectators likely refers to the origin of these products.
Traditionally, these figures were classified as “Muzelman” or “Moor.” “Muzelman” is an outdated term for a Muslim, often used for residents of Northwest Africa. This category included figures depicted wearing a turban and having fair or olive-toned skin. “Moor” initially referred to residents of Northwest Africa as well, but in the seventeenth century it also came to mean the word “negro,” which is now considered offensive. Figures with dark brown or nearly black skin were classified in this category.
Due to their caricatured appearance, “gapers” have been a topic of discussion in recent years.
2. PeperstraatThe street name Peperstraat has been in use since 1469. At one time, this street was called Pepersteeg.
There are approximately 61 streets with this name spread across all Dutch provinces. The name is usually associated with the pepper trade. Amsterdam, for example, had a “Peperwerf” (Pepper Wharf) and still has a “Peperstraat” (Pepper Street) on the site where the Dutch East India Company’s warehouses once stood.
However, not every Peperstraat automatically refers to the spice trade. The name may also be related to “cijnzen,” a form of tax that was sometimes paid with pepper in the past. Pepper was already used as a trade spice in the Middle Ages. The high demand for this spice was one of the reasons for the founding of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) in the sixteenth century.
3. Huize DeshimaHavik 13 wasn’t named Deshima until 1976. Before that, the building was known as a merchant’s house. The owner at the time had a keen interest in the Dutch East India Company (VOC) era and named the house after the former trading settlement of Deshima in Japan. He made the weather vane, shaped like a VOC ship, himself.
From 1641 to 1859, Deshima was located on a small island near the port of Nagasaki. Under certain conditions, the Dutch East India Company (VOC) held the exclusive right to trade with Japan starting in 1641. For example, Dutch traders were not allowed to leave the island to travel further into Japan. All trade had to take place via Deshima.
Huize Deshima has only borne this name since 1976. How do we view this today? Would a house still be named after a colonial trading post today?
4. Museum FlehiteMuseum Flehite is housed in three late-medieval buildings that are part of the Muurhuizen complex. The house at Breestraat 76 has best retained its original character.
The museum features both permanent displays and temporary exhibitions. In addition, Flehite regularly organizes lectures, and a large portion of the collection can be searched digitally.
The collection includes, among other things, portraits of Johan van Oldenbarnevelt, who was involved in the founding of the Dutch East India Company (VOC), and the brothers Hendrik and Pieter Both. Hendrik Both served as a city councilor in Amersfoort. Pieter Both (1568–1615) became Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies.
5. Grote Spui 29On the facade of Grote Spui 29, there is a stone depicting a ship. This stone was originally located on the former building at Grote Spui 23. Between house numbers 23 and 27, there used to be a small alley known as the “Bocht van Guinee.” A deed from 1753 describes Grote Spui 23, using the spelling of the time, as: “a little house or dwelling, situated on the Spoeije in the so-called Bogt van Guine.”
The names Bocht van Guinee, Guné, and Guinea referred to the African strait on the way to the so-called “Gold Coast.” In the Netherlands, this name was used because a great deal of money was made from the trade in enslaved people.
In Amersfoort, the Bocht van Guinee was also known as Dragerswelvaren or Schipperswelvaren. There used to be an inn and tavern here that was frequented mainly by sailors.
The term “Gold Coast” now carries a different connotation than it used to. Terms like “Gold Coast” and “Golden Age” spark debate because they overlook the dark sides of the past. The profits of the West India Company and the United East India Company were made at the expense of the lives of enslaved people.
6. De VolmolenNext to the historic Koppelpoort stands De Volmolen, a national monument. The complex was built in 1645 for the textile industry, against the second city wall and directly on the water. This watermill replaced the centuries-old manual fulling process, in which woven wool was felted and made waterproof.
The textile industry plays an important role in Amersfoort’s history. About 350 years ago, two VOC merchants from Amsterdam established Europe’s first cotton printing mill here. For centuries, a great deal of money was made from printed cotton—also known as “sits”—and from the natural dye indigo.
Initially, these products came from India. When cotton began to be printed in Europe as well, the production of cotton and indigo shifted to America. That’s where the infamous cotton plantations were established. As a result, the trade and cultivation of cotton and indigo became closely linked to forced migration, exploitation, and slavery.
7. d’Eerstelingd’Eersteling, which now consists of three buildings, was built as a warehouse for trade goods. A blueprint from 1904 shows that H. Kroes designed the warehouse for the “Colonial Goods Department.”
The building’s structure, layout, and location on the Eem River are consistent with the complex’s original function. The river was used to transport goods to and from the city. In Amersfoort, warehouses were typically located in the city center, where the municipal government could keep a close eye on them. It’s likely that there wasn’t enough space left there, which is why d’Eersteling was granted permission to be built on this site.
The term “colonial goods” referred to products and crops from the colonies of that time or former colonies.
A former warehouse called “Eersteling” was located at Kortegracht 9 and looked different from the three current buildings. It also served as a poultry and livestock feed factory.
8. Tombstones at Mayor Brouwer ParkNear the two bronze chairs in Burgemeester Brouwerplantsoen are several old gravestones. There are no longer any human remains beneath the stones. They mark the site of the former General Civil Cemetery. The cemetery remained in use until the Amersfoort City Hall was built on the site in 1971.
One of the stones bears the following inscription: “Here rests Jan Cock Blomhoff, former chief of Decima, born August 5, 1779, died October 13, 1853.” His wife is also mentioned on the tombstone.
Jan Cock Blomhoff (1779–1853) served as the “chief,” or leader, of the Dutch trading post Deshima from 1817 to 1823. From 1641 to 1859, this island served as a Dutch trading post. It was the only point of contact between the Western world and the largely isolated Japan.
After his departure in 1823, Blomhoff settled in Amersfoort and built Huize Birkhoven. He died there in 1853 and was buried at the Achter Davidshof Cemetery, the current site of City Hall.
Gravestones at Burgemeester Brouwerplantsoen
Mayor Brewer PlantationAmersfoort
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