Amstelveen – 2009-07-10

The 90th KLM Delft Blue House is a replica of ‘Wester-Amstel’ house in Amstelveen, one of the oldest surviving merchant’s houses in Holland. This was announced by KLM President & CEO, Peter Hartman, on Wednesday at the KLM 90th anniversary celebrations. Hartman also presented the first copy of the book ‘House No. 90’ to Prof. Pieter van Vollenhoven, a member of the Dutch Royal Family. This is a special publication about the KLM Houses collection. The photographic exhibition ‘90 Years of KLM’ was also opened on Wednesday at the Museum Jan van der Togt in Amstelveen.

KLM has been presenting the Delft Blue houses to passengers on its flights since the 1950s. The houses are all replicas of historic Dutch buildings. Since 1994, the number of houses in the collection has matched the age of KLM. Every year, on 7 October, a new house is added to the collection. The houses are presented to World Business Class passengers on intercontinental flights.

KLM President & CEO, Peter Hartman explains, “Our Delft Blue houses are popular collectables. Around the world collectors do all they can to complete their collections. And I can promise, they can’t stop collecting yet, because KLM will be presenting these houses for many years to come. We have faith in the future and plan to celebrate many more birthdays.” The 90th house is a replica of ‘Wester-Amstel’ house, one of the oldest existing merchant’s houses in Holland. ‘Wester-Amstel’ house was built in 1662 by Nicolaas Pancras, then Mayor of Amsterdam and a governor of the Dutch East India Company (VOC). Peter Hartman presented the first copy of the 90th KLM Delft Blue House to the Mayor of Amstelveen, Jan van Zanen, and to the owner of the original building, Mr. Søren Movig.

To mark KLM’s 90th anniversary a special book has been compiled on the KLM House Collection, entitled ‘House No. 90’. It contains all 90 houses along with a history of the original buildings and stories about the previous residents. Mr Hartman presented the first copy to Prof. Pieter van Vollenhoven.

The book presentation was followed by the opening of the photographic exhibition ‘90 Years of KLM’ at Museum Van der Togt. The exhibition presents images of KLM’s rich history and has drawn strongly on the KLM Historical Photo Archive, which is managed by the Maria Austria Institute. Paul Huf and Rineke Dijkstra are among the photographers whose work gives a wide-ranging impression of 90 years of KLM history. There are historical images of Amsterdam, old Schiphol, the airfield at Waalhaven in Rotterdam, and famous and less well-known passengers. Ten recent photographs by Hans Willemsen and Marco Borggreve are also included. The exhibition of photographs is supplemented with historical posters, material that used to be used on board, and the new women’s uniform, designed by Mart Visser. The complete collection of KLM Delft Blue Houses is also on display at Museum Van der Togt.

For more information: KLM Media Relations, Marisca Kensenhuis: tel. +31 (0)20 – 649 45 45. Images of house no. 90 can be found on:  www.presslink.nl/klm
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