In 1913 the ENKA factory producing artificial silk
started production in the city of Arnhem. The name of this artificial fiber
producer is an abbreviation of Eerste
Nederlandse Kunstzijdefabriek Arnhem (literally: First Dutch artificial
silk manufacture Arnhem). Because of a lack of room for expansion on the
Arnhem-site the company bought a secondary site in Ede in 1919. A large plot of
heathland was acquired along the railway connecting Utrecht and Arnhem. The small
village of Ede had been designated as a location for housing several garrisons
of the Dutch land forces in 1900. This lead to a subsequent expansion of the
small farming village located on the edge of the Veluwe hills and an impoldered
floodplain (the Binnenveld).
Ede was considered a favourable location for the
second ENKA factory as the land was cheap, there was plenty of clean water
rising at the foot of the hills and the railway connected the site to the mayor
urban centres in both the Netherlands and Prussia. There were few skilled laborers available in
the area. So from the onset the plan was to build a factory with housing and
amenities for factory personnel. The local council agreed to the sale of the
land. The construction of 300 houses for factory workers to be built as a garden village was included in the deed.
This Dutch variant of the garden city
model was advocated by council members who were greatly influenced by 't
Lansink in Hengelo.
The ENKA company founded the Woningbouwvereniging
Vooruit (literally: building society Forwards) in 1919. This building society
stood under company control, with the local council as a board member on paper.
Through this construction the company could build the housing it needed within
the Woningwet*. The name that was chosen for this building society speaks
volumes of the intensions behind it.
The complete factory village was constructed in
several phases and comprises the ENKA factory in the east (shown in violet), a row
of villas for higher management (shown in dark green), a public park, a
playground, a school, sporting grounds, a small villa park with some detached and
semidetached houses for middle management (amber) and two workers colonies with
a few houses for the overseers (shown in red). An older road (a so-called
Grindweg) separates the factory site from the various housing areas. East of
the factory the HORA-park (HORA is an acronym of: Herstelingsoord voor
Rustbehoevende Ambtenaren, literally Convalescence Home for Civil Servants in
need of Repose) was built in 1922.
In November 1920 the first building phase of 150
dwellings was approved by the local council. By December 1922 all houses were
occupied. The project, designed by the architects Van der Burgh and Eschauzier
was never intended to be a complete model community. The garden village focused
solely on housing, no amenities or shops were included. The garden village is
however part of a socially stratified neighbourhood that also included a small
villa park and the Reehorst (a theatre and cinema venue that sat in a large
strolling park and is comparable to the Casino
often seen in Germany). With the completion of the second building phase in
1925 some shops were added together with another 150 dwelling. In 1934 a large
school was built between the two phases. Architecturally the components
differed greatly. Only the school and the larger part of phase 1 still remain.
The buildings have been given heritage status. Phase 2 has been demolished and
replaced with new buildings in a similar style.
*The Woningwet
(Housing Act) of 1901 sought to improve the living conditions of all Dutch
people and focused on both rental and owner-occupied housing. The Housing Act
prescribed minimal standards for new housing and made state advances and contributions
available to building societies. This lead to many companies founding building
societies that were only independent in name.
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