Overschie, Holland, c. 1826 to 1988
The Overschiesche Land- en Tuinbouw Maatschappij
A family business founded around 1826 and restructured in 1917. The story of the De Kroes family, the Primula factories, Gekro and polder Zestienhoven.
“More than a hundred years of enterprise in a Dutch polder. Four generations of one family shaped the land between Overschie and the airport.”
The common thread
A family timeline
c. 1826
Cornelis Rodenburg marries and founds the family dynasty.
1907
The De Kroes brothers found the OLTM at the Bovendijk.
1917
The company becomes a public limited company, N.V., with Jacob de Kroes as director.
1928
Most of the land is sold to the city of Rotterdam.
1932
Gekro, the rendering company, is founded.
1988
Gekro closes and the site becomes a business park.
The story, chapter by chapter
Follow the history from the polder of the 17th century to the business park of today.
The Company
Five periods, from the first market garden to the end at the Bovendijk.
Read the chapter
History before 1907
The Rodenburg lands, the marriage of 1874 and the inheritance.
Read the chapter
Related Companies
Gekro, Melkstal Reinoord, Orgaminer and Hoog16hoven.
Read the chapter
People Involved
Five generations of Rodenburg and De Kroes.
Read the chapter
Related Matters
The Destruction Act, a sperm whale and the drying technology.
Read the chapter
Pictures
Galleries of the family, OLTM and Gekro.
Read the chapter
Overschie before industry
Long before the chimneys of the Primula factories rose above the polder, Overschie was a quiet town on the Schie, painted at sunset and by moonlight by Johan Barthold Jongkind. The land around it was farmed by families such as the Rodenburgs.
From the archive
The factories, the farmsteads, Melkstal Reinoord and the family.
Do you remember OLTM, Gekro or Melkstal Reinoord?
Did you or your family work at the Bovendijk, or do you have photographs, documents or stories? Every contribution helps to complete this history.
