Sytzama House
Kollum
What is now a grand café has a history closely connected with local government, the Second World War, and Baron Willem van Sytzama, the building's first owner, after whom it is named.
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What is now a grand café has a history closely connected with local government, the Second World War, and Baron Willem van Sytzama, the building's first owner, after whom it is named.
In Van Sytzama's time, there were very few buildings nearby. Instead, a large landscaped garden with extensive ponds stretched out behind the house. Baron Willem van Sytzama believed he was happily married to Cecilia van Heemskerk, but she left him for another man. Although the baron took legal action in an attempt to prevent the separation, he was unsuccessful. She never returned, and he never remarried. In later years, however, the building served as Kollum's town hall, where hundreds of marriages were celebrated.
During the Second World War, Mayor Gerben Feitsma was sworn into office in this building. The ceremony took place with prominent displays of flags and the Nazi salute. For that reason, Feitsma is often described as an NSB (Dutch National Socialist Movement) mayor. At the same time, there is evidence that he occasionally helped prevent residents of Kollum from being sent to Germany for forced labour by employing them on his farm. Because of his wartime record, his name is not always included in historical accounts.
His brother, Jan Feitsma, became notorious for a different reason. As Prosecutor General, he ordered signs reading "Jews Forbidden" to be displayed throughout the occupied Netherlands. The policy caused considerable controversy in Kollum during the war. The local tennis club preferred to close its courts rather than display such a sign. In early 1945, Jan Feitsma was shot dead by members of the Dutch Resistance. His funeral in Kollum was attended by numerous members of the SS.