Astilleros - Países Bajos: libros - historia y barcos

Paul van Vlissingen & zoon - Ondernemers in stoom

Paul van Vlissingen (1797-1876) is a pioneer in the field of steam energy. With his Amsterdam Steamboat Company he is the first in the Netherlands to open an overseas steam shipping connection: from Amsterdam to Hamburg.
With Abraham Dudok van Heel he starts the Royal Factory for Steam and other Machines Paul van Vlissingen & Dudok van Heel. They build the first iron steam ships with propeller in the Netherlands, the first steam locomotives in the Netherlands, balances for the steam pumping stations Cruquius and Lijnden for the draining of the Haarlemmermeer and steam engines for the sugar industry in Suriname, the Indies and West Brabant.

Son Paul Cornelis (1829-1906) further expanded the company from 1850 onwards. He took on major projects, such as the construction of the largest dry dock in Asia. He participated in the construction of the Paleis van Volksvlijt and in 1870 built the longest bridge in Europe, the railway bridge over the Hollands Diep near Moerdijk.
But the company went bankrupt and Paul C. emigrated to North America. At the end of the century he returned and was supervisor of the Stedelijk Museum in Haarlem, the later Frans Hals Museum, until his death.
In the meantime, the Factory made a fresh start under the name Werkspoor.

This Dutch book is a company history about a time when companies were still mainly family businesses. It is therefore also a dramatic family history, which extends over the entire 19th century. It is a story about pioneers, about forerunners.

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