H.A. Breuning (1901-1995) Hubert Albert Breuning was the son of Maximilian Emil Hubert Breuning and Jeannette Catherine Schilthuis. Hubert's ancestors came from the Moselle region of Germany. His grandfather was a notary in Jüchen, just south of Mönchengladbach. His father had studied civil engineering in Aachen and had himself naturalized as a Dutchman in 1882. Maximilian's specialty was railroad construction. This earned him several leading positions, including on Java and in South Africa. In 1897 he married teacher Jeannete Catharine Schilthuis in Pretoria. They had three sons: Martin Jan Breuning (born about 1899 in Pretoria), Hubert Albert Breuning (born Dec. 4, 1901 in The Hague) and P.J. Breuning (born Dec. 28, 1902 in Zwolle). In October 1899 a conflict broke out with England. This caused a threatening situation and increasing insecurity. By 1900, the British had captured Johannesburg and Pretoria. The settlers had to give up the fight on May 30, 1902. The Breuning family was interned by the British and deported to the Netherlands as non-South Africans. The family found temporary residence in The Hague, where Hubert was born on December 4, 1901. His father became director of the Noord-Ooster Lokaal Spoorweg-mij, so Hubert attended elementary school in Zwolle. In 1911, the Breuning family moved to Utrecht. Hubert enrolled as a student at the gymnasium and received the science diploma a few years later. He chose the subject of architecture and went to study at the T.H. Delft, where he graduated on Feb. 6, 1926. During his studies, he met his future wife Antoinette Elisabeth Johanna Lombert. Antoinette had spent most of her childhood in the Dutch East Indies, earning her HBS degree in Semarang. In the mid-1920s, the Enschede firm wanted to have a printing house built on Damstraat in Haarlem. First the Amsterdam architect A.A. Kok was asked to make a plan, but because Kok was still busy with other matters, he decided to hire colleague Hubert Breuning. Between 1926 and 1928, he worked on this project. Unfortunately, the building was demolished in the spring of 1994, due to relocation. Already at the Kok office, Breuning was fascinated by the idea that valuable things from the past should be preserved with extreme care. After printing in Enschede, there was no more work for Breuning because of the economic crisis. On the other hand, there were opportunities in the Dutch East Indies. Breuning applied to the Ministry of Colonies and got a job in the Government Buildings Department. Before the big trip to the Dutch East Indies, he married Antoinette on January 14, 1928. The decision to go to India was influenced in part by his father's wonderful stories and his wife's memories of her childhood in Semarang. February 1928 they left for India and arrived in Old Batavia, which struck him as a typically Dutch city. He studied its development history. Breuning settled in Batavia where he became director of the Urban Development and Housing Department. He was also responsible for the zoning plan for Koningsplein (now Merdekaplein). In 1928 he built station buildings for the Andir airports in Bandung and Cililitan in Jakarta. These two station buildings have the same design, probably for practical and financial reasons. In the years 1930-1931 he worked in the architectural office at Landsgebouwendienst in Batavia, in the Building Department of Public Works and became cooperating architect under architect W. Lemei. Together with architect W.B. Carmiggelt, Breuning was involved in the construction of the office of the Governor of East Java in Surabaya. From 1931 to 1935, Breuning was working in the Surabaya resort. His work included the remodeling of the Post Office Simpang Surabaya (1931-1932). He was also editor, together with ir. Th. Karsten, of the IBT, the local technical bulletin. G. Hendriks also worked on this. In late 1933 Breuning was loaned to the municipality of Batavia as acting head of Public Housing. Here he built a new municipal slaughterhouse for buffalo, cattle and small livestock. He lived in Batavia for about seven years. In 1935 he received European leave and in 1936 he returned to the Dutch East Indies. He went to work at the Department of Transport and Water Management in Bandung (he lived at 13 Ciliwung Street in Bandung). During this period Breuning designed, among other buildings, the Kemayoran station building in Jakarta and the Postspaarbank office in Makassar. From 1937 to 1941, Breuning worked at the headquarters of the Landsgebouwendienst, and from 1941 to 1942 he was head of the Landsgebouwen subdivision at the Department of Transportation and Water Management. To his list of works designed in the former Dutch East Indies, Breuning writes: "The designs for country buildings in the outer provinces (the islands outside Java) were designed at the headquarters of the Department of Traffic and Public Works in Bandoeng. The specification drawings, all detail drawings, budget and specifications were also made. These complete details were sent to the water department official concerned in the place where the building was to rise and executed under his direction.' Breuning had suffered a physical illness during the war years that had weakened him. He was therefore honorably discharged in April 1947, due to physical unfitness. Breuning and his family had been repatriated to the Netherlands in 1946. They were given temporary shelter with Breuning's younger brother, Dr. P.S. Breuning, in Utrecht. When a vacancy arose as city architect at B.O.W. in Haarlem, Breuning applied for it. This position had been held by ir. G. Friedhoff, to whom this title was first awarded. With the experience Breuning had gained in the Dutch East Indies and the important positions he had held there, he got the job. Still, the city council hesitated because of Breuning's state of health. Therefore, a probationary period of one year was agreed upon first (twice six months). Breuning was appointed Chief Engineer on October 1, 1947, and permanent employment finally followed a year later. As of September 1, 1956, the title city architect was also granted to Breuning. Breuning and his family first lived in a rented house at 28 Bos en Hovenstraat in Haarlem. When his future in Haarlem became more certain, he decided to have his own house built. He bought a lot at Frederik Hendriklaan 4. The design for his own house was completed in 1950. Besides the position of city architect, Breuning also took over Friedhoff's position as advisor to the beauty commission and his position as board member of the Haerlem Association (1968-1975). He was also a member of the Committee for Applied Monumental Art. In Haarlem, he designed a number of important buildings. His greatest work is the Coornhert lyceum at Lyceumlaan 1. It was built on the south side of the city, between the Leidse vaart and the Herenweg on the border of Heemstede. This new building consisted of a northern three-story wing and three parterre wings south of it, grouped around a courtyard. The east wing contained the subject classrooms and the north wing the classrooms, which were designed as semi-outdoor classrooms, equipped with radiant ceiling heating for this purpose. The northeast wing contained the management department, auditorium with adjoining rooms, music hall and second drawing room (the first drawing room was located on the second floor in the northwest corner) and a gymnasium and two halls with adjoining washing and changing rooms. Above a bicycle cellar sat an etched and sandblasted window designed and installed by drawing teacher Korff. At the south entrance were reliefs, designed by Mrs. Cro-Kruyer, with representations relating to the classes taught in the subject rooms. The most important work of art, created by Levinus Tollenaar, was in the back wall of the main stairwell with a figurative symbolic representation of Coornhert's mind and work. The Port Office at 1 Spaarndamseweg was completed in September 1957. It was built to replace the old small office from 1902. It was built out over the Spaarne, where the space below the office could be used as a berth for service vessels. To the right of the main entrance, against the gray-yellow brick wall was placed a decoration cast in bronze by the hand of Mrs. Marianne Gobius. The artist had included the inscription "Haven- en Marktwezen" in the decorative representation. The "Haarlems Bloei" building is perhaps Breuning's most visible work. It is located at the Stationplein, next to Haarlem Central Station, now the V.V.V. Haarlem. Levinus Tollenaar made a wall decoration in her own technique: a mosaic, symbolizing Haarlem as a flower city, executed in colorful strips of marble and natural stone. Breuning retired Dec. 4, 1966. At his farewell reception on Jan. 2, 1967, he received the distinction of Knight of the Order of Orange-Nassau. In his spare time, Breuning went traveling and lecturing. He also wrote books, including "Het voormalige Batavia" volume 74 of the 1954 Heemschut series and "Over Bruggen", a history of the development of bridges illustrated with many pen drawings. Hubert Albert Breuning died on August 13, 1995 in Haarlem, almost 94 years old. At his funeral, in the auditorium of the Velsen Crematorium in Driehuis, H.E. Phaff, the former municipal secretary of Haarlem, spoke of Breuning's contributions to the city of Haarlem in general and to the Haerlem Association in particular. As an architect, Breuning followed no particular movement. He did, however, clearly value functionality in his designs. Thus we see that he applied few or no ornaments at all that had no functional significance. In his work in the Dutch East Indies, we see his preference for many windows or openings to provide natural lighting in a building and that he worked a lot with limestone. One of Breuning's characteristics are round windows. His colleagues called this "Breuning's eyes." We can see this in: the Governor's residence at Medan, the Rubber License offices at Palembang and Tanjung Pinang, Agency Postal Savings Bank at Medan and the Resident residence at Purwokerto. Honors: Knight Order of Orange-Nassau/1967