Not the most likely canditate for artistic photographer, Hubertus Salomon Hordijk (1862-1930) kept his passion to himself for a decade. No-one was going to argue. He was the police chief.
On April 22 1903 and by Royal decree an infantry captain by the name of Hubertus Salomon Hordijk succeeded the outgoing Amsterdam police commissioner to the top job.
Hordijk, who was known to his troops as “Steel Bart” due to his strict demeanor and appearance came to the notice of those who select potential police chiefs by using troops to maintain order during the widespread railway strikes earlier in 1903. As Chief of Police, Hordijk behaved completely autonomously, arranging and deciding as much as possible himself. He had little or no contact police on the beat or with the police unions. He also avoided the press as much as possible which caused a certain degree of animosity. In 1907, he was unable to work for several months due to a nervous disorder, at which the press wrote that “Steel Bart” had apparently lost his nerves of steel.
Hordijk had controversial opinions and his mouth got him in trouble. In 1908, as the Chief of Police in Amsterdam he automatically became the director of the National Office for the Suppression of the Trafficking in Women and Girls. Then, in 1909 he misguidedly warned the female population of the Netherlands against the Mormon religion. His broadside addressed in particular those who were considering settling in America; probably because of the risk of becoming involved in the perceived sexual slavery of a polygamous relationship. This incurred massive objections on the grounds of freedom of religion and that the case for Mormons being involved with the trafficking of women was far from proved.
Hordijk was a keen photographer and he took endless images of all kinds of events that he had privileged access to; crime scenes, state visits, criminals, fires, police procedures, the visits to Amsterdam of foreign dignitaries, Royal events; it wasn’t part of his job, just something the Chief of Police wanted to do.
Hordijk was Chief of Police in Amsterdam for a decade. From 1903 to 1913 when he resigned due to his nervous disorder. During that decade he filled five huge albums with photographs which now sit in the Amsterdam Municipal Archives.
Hordijk’s images, like a decade of life in 1900s Amsterdam, are an eclectic, chaotic and diverse miscellany.
The captions are his. Police issue.
Seen over the Oudezijds Achterburgwal from the Police Headquarters on the Spinhuissteeg. February 1908.
Photo from album II of the Amsterdam Police, compiled by Chief HS Hordijk. 20 October 1906.
The burglary took place during the electricians’ strike, directed by striker who is an ex-employee. Approx. 2000 guilders looted. 1911.
From album I of the Amsterdam Police, compiled by Chief HS Hordijk.
From album I of the Amsterdam Police, compiled by Chief HS Hordijk.
Photo from album V of the Amsterdam Police, compiled by Chief HS Hordijk. July 1911.
Photo from album I of the Amsterdam Police, compiled by Chief HS Hordijk. 1903.
A harbour police boat is towing the seaplane to the Oosterdok.
Photo from album V of the Amsterdam Police, compiled by Chief HS Hordijk. 13 July 1913.
The bedroom in which burglary was committed. March 1905.
Photo from album V of the Amsterdam Police, compiled by Chief HS Hordijk. May 1913.
the Zandstraat 19 school building. April 1907.
In the offing, the building for the Algemeene Dienst at the head of the Oostelijke Handelskade. 8 May 1912.
14 February 1912.
Photo from album V of the Amsterdam Police, compiled by Chief HS Hordijk. 21 July 1911.
Photo from album V of the Amsterdam Police, compiled by Chief HS Hordijk.
Photo from album V of the Amsterdam Police, compiled by Chief HS Hordijk. 1914.
Photo from album V of the Amsterdam Police, compiled by Chief HS Hordijk. 1914.
after the fire on the night of December 22-23, 1909.
after the fire in the night of December 22-23, 1909. Chief HS Hordijk.
Photo from album II of the Amsterdam Police, compiled by Chief HS Hordijk.June 21, 1906.