Boss of the fire

Hans is an ovenist, a centuries-old craft that revolves around temperature, wood, moisture, and flames. Three days a week, he fires up the ovens at various locations in Amsterdam, after which local residents bake their bread. “I’m working in a very positive way, and I meet interesting people.” 

Toorop’s City Greenhouse Community Gardens in Amsterdam Nieuw-West are bathed in sunshine as I arrive by bike. Hans is sitting at the picnic table, somewhat deserted, waiting for me. He’s here every Wednesday, tending the beautiful, handcrafted wood-fired oven. Early in the morning, he heats the oven to the perfect temperature for the neighbors, who arrive with their buckets of dough. The final kneading is done in the Greenhouse, and then Hans “pops” the loaves into the oven. “Some mornings I have ten to twelve Moroccan and Turkish women who come with their own buckets of dough and, very enjoyable, bake bread in various ways.”

An age-old tradition revives

He explains that Moroccan and Turkish bread baking is very different from Dutch. Not only do they bake flatbreads on the oven floor, but heat regulation is also a delicate matter. It’s specialist work. Communal bread baking was (and still is) very common in parts of Morocco and Turkey. But in the Netherlands, too, communal baking took place in “bakehouses” until well into the 19th ^century . These were community centers, where plenty of chatter took place during the baking process. De Kas, part of the Toorop Gardens, fulfills a similar function: a neighborhood meeting place. There’s also a space for coffee, cake, and conversation. And, once a week, a meal for a very reasonable price. Hans also steps in when needed. In any case, he can often be found there enjoying a meal, enjoying delicious food and conviviality.

From HR advisor to local baker

Hans wasn’t always a baker or oven operator. Until his retirement, he worked as an HR advisor. He encountered the oven life when an oven was installed at his allotment garden in Lisbon. Beautiful, but no one knew how to use it. Hans then apprenticed at De Eenvoud bakery in a community center in Amsterdam’s Geuzenveld district. They have an identical oven there. He was a good student; they didn’t want to let him go. “Well, I never left. I bake there every Tuesday.” Neighbors also bring dough there, baked in the oven he fires. “If they don’t have anything to bake, it doesn’t matter, because we always make sure there are enough buns.”

Fire and friendship

Three days a week, Hans is “in charge of the fire” and he thoroughly enjoys it! “What’s most important to me is that I’ve built a large network through this, interesting people I talk to or have lunch with outside of volunteering… I’m working in a very positive way, and I sense that other people appreciate what I’m doing for them. It’s a great way for me to spend my days, which would otherwise be less full.” He has, however, resolved to find successors by his eightieth birthday (in two years). But until then: “Even if they say, ‘Do you want to come for five days…'”

Also interested in volunteer work?

Choose something that suits you.   You’ll find 1001 possibilities  in our online job board for the Amsterdam Volunteer Center. Or feel free to stop by one of our consultation hours .

Photos: Marcel Jansen
Piet Renooy