You can hardly get more Hague than Jan Vermolen. Straight to the point, lots of humor and enough stories for a biography. We meet Jan at Paviljoen Malieveld. Known to the people of The Hague as the poffertjes tent on the Malieveld. A household name since 1941. And Jan wanted to have his picture taken with the skyline of The Hague. And that is clearly visible from here. 

Over a cup of coffee and a glass of cola, Jan tells us about his youth, his life as a funfair operator and the famous oliebollen bakery on the Grote Markt. And of course his love for the city and the culture of The Hague.

'The Hague culture is dying out a bit and that's a shame. People from outside the city always have to get used to our directness, but in the end they like it. I've been in villages and cities all over the country for years. Including a village in the Achterhoek. At first they were shocked by my directness. Afterwards we always went for a drink in the local beer tent. The last time I was there, I went on their shoulders and everyone shouted "Jantje bedankt". That's nice.

'What I also introduced in many places at that time is the Katjang bacon sandwich. In The Hague you can get it at many sandwich shops such as Broodje van Dootje and De Vrijheid. At one point we sold almost 1500 a day. They liked it so much, they almost got a curly tail,' Jan says laughing.

'Freedom for me means: not having any worries on your mind'

Freedom

For Jan, freedom is very important. His eyes light up even more when he says: 'Growing up and living in a caravan feels like freedom. I'm an outdoors person. People living above and below you, I don't want to think about it.' He adds: 'It's sometimes difficult that people don't understand our way of life and that there are a lot of prejudices about it. Freedom for me is: not having any worries on your mind and not being uncertain about your existence.'

Trailer park

Jan is the seventh generation that earns its money with fairground exploitation. And they have always lived on a trailer park. As a child near the Westeinde. Where as a child he removed the needles from the syringes at the garbage, there indeed water and thus made his own water pistol.

NATO in The Hague

When we talk about the NATO summit that will take place in The Hague at the end of June, Jan indicates that he is afraid that this will have negative consequences for entrepreneurs in parts of the city. Some parts of the city are difficult to reach and he wonders whether people will take the trouble to drive around or just go to other places. 'It will be good for other sectors and will certainly contribute to the reputation of The Hague in the world.'