I’m your accomplished tourguide with an experience of more than twenty years. If anyone can make you fall in love with the beauty of Amsterdam and the famous Dutch painters, it is me. Witty, entertaining and young at heart, I love to give you the grand tour and pass on to you my expert knowledge.
Background
I’m a Dutch historian and presentator. After graduating and serving as an officer in the Dutch military at the end of the 1980’s I spent various periods in Russia, Poland and Hungary. I published hundreds of articles and wrote several books on this region. Equipped with a restless mind and permanently studying I also fell in love with another subject: the 17th century Dutch Republic and the great Dutch painters of that epoch. In the course of the last 10 years I enjoyed the privilege of giving more than 1000 lectures on the subject. Apart from hundreds of tours with guests in the Rijksmuseum.
Personality
My flexible personality as a host, enthousiasm and humor, presentation skills and open mindset guarantee you a wonderful voyage. My guests praise my knowledge, conveyed in a light and almost playish manner. Interactively, of course! Apart from this job as a tourguide I am considered the perfect sparring partner for hundreds of Dutch expats in managementjobs working in Central/Eastern Europe. Next to my passion for Amsterdam and its history there is music. As a modest bassplayer my preference goes out to improvised music.
A fascination for the 17th century Dutch Republic
Dutch society of the 1600’s represents an extraordinary episode in the development of mankind. Through Amsterdam she dominated maritime commerce and explored the world with its unique and first joint stock company (VOC). She gave birth to a new, broad and affluent middleclass as its social hub. Freedom of conscience attracted many religious dissenters from abroad . Due to its high literacy rate she published half the world’s books around the 1630’s. Hundreds of painters, as foreign visitors noted, opened up an array of daily subjects and techniques never seen before. The Dutch Republic became the first modern society.