Middenvader Commissie

The Middenvader Commissie was the name used for two meetings held by the Schroeter family in Vriendendam in 1949 and 1959. The family called the meetings to settle disputes over the management of Schroeter Traktoren and the inheritance of the family's farms. The first meeting failed to prevent the company from splitting. The second ended in a walkout shortly before the killing of Ferdinand Schroeter and the closure of Schroeter Traktoren in July 1959.

Background

The dispute grew after the Second World War, when Schroeter Traktoren moved away from wartime production and the family disagreed over its future. The company had grown out of Ferdinand Schroeter's work in agricultural machinery, and some relatives wanted to keep farming at the centre of the family business. They wanted Schroeter farmland to remain in family ownership. Their opponents, known as the Schroeters-West, were concentrated around Rotterdam-West. They wanted the family to move towards urban industry and regarded the old company as an obstacle to that change.

Both commissions met in an office building in central Vriendendam. Those attending were Schroeter family members and invited representatives from within the family. The Noord family, Paap family, Van Hetten family and Hoos family did not participate as commission members.

The disagreements also led to fighting outside the meetings. Throughout the late 1940s and 1950s, supporters of the two sides repeatedly clashed in Vriendendam and Rotterdam. Most Noord family police officers serving in the region were sent to separate the groups and prevent larger confrontations. Farms near both places were vandalised during retaliatory attacks. Agricultural property was damaged, and tractors were deliberately destroyed, mainly machines made by Schroeter Traktoren.

First commission (1949)

The family convened the first commission in 1949 to settle how Schroeter Traktoren would be run before the dispute developed into an armed conflict. Minutes from the meeting describe prolonged arguments about the company's direction and the traditions that some relatives wanted to preserve. Supporters of the main Schroeter branch argued for keeping the family's farming interests and retaining the company. Representatives of Schroeters-West pressed for modernisation and a move towards urban manufacturing. They argued that Schroeter Traktoren kept the family tied to its rural past.

The meeting ended without an agreement and came to be regarded as formal recognition of the family split. The company subsequently split. The main Schroeter Traktoren business continued producing heavy farm machinery and military vehicles, while Schroeter-Traktoren West operated from Rotterdam-West and concentrated on consumer vehicles and smaller machines. Ferdinand tried to mediate between the branches, but their rivalry continued through the 1950s.

Second commission (1959)

The second commission was called in 1959 after years of fighting and unsuccessful attempts to reconcile the family branches. It met in Vriendendam to settle the ownership and future of Schroeter Traktoren. The discussions were more confrontational than in 1949. Delegates shouted over one another and repeatedly interrupted the proceedings until the meeting could no longer continue normally.

The central question was whether Schroeter Traktoren would remain the family's main business. Some delegates wanted the family to give up its farming operations altogether. A joint proposal was put forward to dissolve the company and transfer the family farms out of Schroeter ownership. Representatives of Schroeters-West were its strongest supporters.

Ferdinand Schroeter attended both commissions and opposed breaking up the company. At the second meeting, he argued that it could continue operating even if the family branches disagreed about how to run it. He also opposed giving up the farms. Accounts of the meetings describe him as calm and persuasive, using detailed arguments while others were shouting. Some family accounts described him as one of the "purest" Schroeters. Lourens Schroeter (father) also attended in 1959 and spoke in support of Ferdinand.

Near the end of the meeting, Schroeters-West delegates abruptly walked out. Their leader, Goswin Schroeter, told the remaining Schroeters that they would "regret" their decision. The meeting ended without an agreement.

Assassination and dissolution

On 5 July 1959, several days after the second commission, Ferdinand Schroeter was shot dead at his farmhouse in Stolwijk. His wife, Johanna Berendsen, was also killed. Family accounts interpreted the murder as an attempt to remove Ferdinand, who had remained the principal opponent of dissolving Schroeter Traktoren. Suspicion fell on people associated with Schroeters-West in Rotterdam-West. Police investigated the suspected connections but did not identify the attackers or bring charges.

After Ferdinand's death, the possibility of armed fighting between the family branches increased. Noord authorities and representatives of the other families urged the Schroeters to close the company to prevent further violence. The family agreed, and in July 1959, approximately three weeks after Ferdinand was killed, Schroeter Traktoren closed its factories and ceased operating. A formal truce was signed prohibiting Schroeter Traktoren from being re-established.

Aftermath

The division in the Schroeter family became permanent. The main Schroeter branch kept its distance from Rotterdam-West, while the western group broke with the family's older institutions and claims to its agricultural heritage. Relations between the two sides remained hostile, and they continued refusing contact.

In Rotterdam-West, former workers and business contacts continued using sites associated with the western industrial branch. During the 1960s these networks developed into the Rotterdam-West faction, whose members were also known as the Huisbazen. By the 1970s it had become a district organisation separate from the Schroeter family's companies.

See also

• Middenvader Era
• Schroeter family
• Schroeter Traktoren
• Schroeter-Traktoren West
• Assassination of Ferdinand Schroeter
• Rotterdam-West
• Vriend Era