The story of Ackermans & van Haaren began 150 years ago, in 1876, in the Dutch village of Kerkdriel.
Two business partners with an entrepreneurial spirit would form the foundation for a company that holds family values in high regard and that continues to grow, evolve, and invest for the long term. In 1876, Nicolaas van Haaren, a seasoned contractor known for his role in constructing the Moerdijk Bridge (photo above), joined forces with Hendrik Willem Ackermans, who came straight out of the Polytechnic School in Delft. Here follows a brief portrait of both founders.
1835-1904
Nicolaas van Haaren
Nicolaas van Haaren was born on 10 October 1835 as the first of seven children in the family of Hendrikus van Haaren and Elisabeth van Asten. On 19 May 1876, he married Maria Luyben, who passed away shortly after the birth of their fifth child in 1872. In 1876, Nicolaas van Haaren remarried Elisabeth Ackermans, the sister of Hendrik Willem. From this marriage, a large family of eight children was born.
Of the three sons whom father Hendrikus intended to succeed him in the contracting business, Nicolaas developed into a true entrepreneur. Alongside the dry contracting, which he learned from his father, Nicolaas also developed wet contracting. He played a significant role in the development of Dutch infrastructure, including railways, waterways, fortress construction, and defence works. To carry out these public works, Nicolaas van Haaren formed various partnerships with other contractors.
As a contractor, he followed in the footsteps of his employees, moving from place to place and working at numerous locations in the Netherlands. To be able to supervise the work, the family settled near the sites, as evidenced by the various birthplaces of the children.
(Picture: works at the Moerdijk bridge, at that time the largest bridge in Europe)
1855-1945
Hendrik Willem Ackermans
Hendrik Willem Ackermans was born on April 6, 1855, in Kerkdriel as the eldest of six children—with two brothers and three sisters—in the family of Jan Ackermans and Christina Belle. On May 6, 1890, Hendrik Willem married Elisabeth van Haaren in ’s Hertogenbosch, the daughter from the first marriage of Nicolaas van Haaren.
After attending boarding school and the Higher Civic School, Hendrik Willem Ackermans pursued engineering studies at the Polytechnic University of Delft. From 1876 onward, he worked together with his fellow villager and brother-in-law, Nicolaas van Haaren.
Following a successful first project in Belgium, where the company worked as a subcontractor on the construction of forts along the Maas, Hendrik Willem settled with his family in Antwerp, from where he managed various hydraulic engineering works in and outside Europe. He distinguished himself technically by always seeking innovation and improvement of existing materials and techniques. No effort or expense was spared to increase the productivity of dredgers and suction dredgers.
For the business, Hendrik Willem Ackermans himself established several supply companies or accepted important board positions. He also participated in numerous other enterprises, thereby building a significant business empire. His years of dedication as an innovative entrepreneur were crowned at the age of 70 with the founding of NV Ackermans & van Haaren at the end of 1924.
(Photo: Kerkdriel main street at the end of the 19th century)