Anton came from a socialist family, which influenced his views on matters such as Europe and the upliftment of man. He had a passion for reading and ended up at HBS in Schiedam. He also played sports fanatically and was actually still searching for the meaning of my life. During his time at HBS, he chose to study Tropical Forestry in Wageningen, with the ideal of improving the world. Wageningen offered a general propaedeutic year, which offered flexibility. Around the same time, Anton also started the youth exchange in Schiedam.
Although not part of the hippie movement, he was influenced by the spirit of the times that sought change and a better world. The idea was that if people learned about other cultures, there would be no war. He had acquired this feeling strongly from home, both from my grandparents and parents. That's why Anton was open to the idea of going to another country and living with a local family. His first experience with this was near Esslingen, where he stayed with a family and got to know their way of life.
Anton's father played a role in the youth exchange. He was chairman of the royal choir Orpeus and was on the executive board of the Schiedam Community, an organization that was then active with, among other things, the youth exchange. At the time, Esslingen had exchanges with Vienne in France, Udine in Italy, and possibly already with Neath in Wales. Schiedam was added to this and Anton was part of the first group to go to Esslingen as part of this exchange.
He has often participated in exchanges. Getting to know different cultures through youth exchanges had a big impact on him. Each place, such as Esslingen, Neath in Wales, Udine in Italy, and Norrköping in Sweden, offered unique experiences and diverse ways of thinking, unlike Schiedam. These experiences strengthened his conviction of the importance of a united Europe and his opposition to nationalistic ideas.
In the 1960s, after the war, the Germans viewed exchanges differently than other countries. Esslingen was the main initiator. Many people involved had consciously experienced the war, which influenced the atmosphere. Anton's grandfather was one of the first socialist mayors of the Netherlands, just before and after the war, and had a strong aversion to Germany. His grandparents even avoided Germany on their way to Switzerland. Although he was consciously given this, he never had that negative feeling towards Germany. He understood it and I read a lot about it, but it did not influence my experiences in Esslingen or my interactions with Germans.
During Anton's student days he had to gain practical experience for Tropical Forestry. This led to a self-organized world trip of two months in Nigeria, four months in New Zealand, and two months in Fiji, between my candidates and my engineering studies. This adventurous trip partly arose from his previous experiences with youth exchanges from Schiedam to different places in Europe.
Friends in a Cold Climate: After the Second World War a number of friendship ties were established between towns in Europe. Citizens, council-officials and church representatives were looking for peace and prosperity in a still fragmented Europe. After a visit of the Royal Mens Choir Schiedam to Esslingen in 1963, representatives of Esslingen asked Schiedam to take part in friendly exchanges involving citizens and officials. The connections expanded and in 1970, in Esslingen, a circle of friends was established tying the towns Esslingen, Schiedam, Udine (IT) Velenje (SL) Vienne (F) and Neath together. Each town of this so called “Verbund der Ringpartnerstädte” had to keep in touch with at least 2 towns within the wider network. Friends in a Cold Climate looks primarily through the eyes the citizen-participant. Their motivation for taking part may vary. For example, is there a certain engagement with the European project? Did parents instil in their children a a message of fraternisation stemming from their experiences in WWII? Or did the participants only see youth exchange only as an opportunity for a trip to a foreign country? This latter motivation of taking part for other than Euro-idealistic reasons should however not be regarded as tourist or consumer-led behaviour. Following Michel de Certeau, Friends in a Cold Climate regards citizen-participants as a producers rather than as a consumers. A participant may "put to use" the Town Twinning facilities of travel and activities in his or her own way, regardless of the programme.
The integration of West-Europe after the Second World War was driven by a broad movement aimed at peace, security and prosperity. Organised youth exchange between European cities formed an important part of that movement. This research focuses on young people who, from the 1960s onwards, participated in international exchanges organised by twinned towns, also called jumelage. Friends in a Cold Climate asks about the interactions between young people while taking into account the organisational structures on a municipal level, The project investigates the role of the ideology of a united West-Europe, individual desires for travel and freedom, the upcoming discourse about the Second World War and the influence of the prevalent “counterculture” of that period, thus shedding a light on the formative years of European integration.
