G. Drexhage (1914-1982) and DSBV The architectural firm Drexhage, Sterkenburg, Bodon & Venstra (DSBV) grew out of an initiative by architect A. van der Steur (1893-1953), who came from a family of architects and engineers. Ad van der Steur graduated as a structural engineer from the Technical High School in Delft in 1918 and then worked for the Dutch Railways for some time. In 1924 he joined Gemeentewerken in Rotterdam as architect first class. In 1931, Van der Steur was appointed city architect of Rotterdam. Van der Steur was assigned increasingly large and complex projects. To develop his talents further, he spread his wings and started his own architectural firm. In 1941 he entered into a partnership with W.A.C. Herman de Groot (1898-1952) and architect K.I. Ruige (1914-2003), combining architecture and civil engineering in a single firm. Because of Ruige's departure in 1950 and Herman de Groot's sudden death on Oct. 30, 1952, Van der Steur sought collaboration in 1953 with former chief director of Gemeentewerken J.P. van Bruggen (1896-1985), architect G. Drexhage (1914-1982) and engineer J.J. Sterkenburg (1906-1998). Van der Steur became unwell shortly after the start of this partnership during a stay in Paris and died a few days later in Rotterdam. On his deathbed, he asks architect Alexander Bodon (1906-1993) to succeed him. The later firm Drexhage, Sterkenburg, Bodon & Venstra changed its name to DSBV Ingenieurs en Architecten in 1974.