A new bridge-builder on Alter Steinweg

The Centre for Netherlands Studies © WWU - Peter Grewer In the end, it all went very quickly. So quickly, in fact, that the University of Utrecht even turned a blind eye to the customary period of notice and - in the spirit of close German-Dutch partnership, and due to the high regard in which the university held Prof. Jacco Pekelder - it allowed him to move in double-quick time to the University of Münster. The consequence of this speedy process is that, on this misty Wednesday, Pekelder is now standing in his echoing office containing just the bare essentials, with naked light bulbs hanging from the ceiling. Pekelder, an expert on the early modern and modern history of the Netherlands, has been Director of the Centre for Netherlands Studies (ZNS) in the Krameramtshaus on Alter Steinweg since October 1st. "The furniture hasn't arrived yet, but at the moment you hear about delivery problems everywhere," he comments with a laugh. Although he has just fetched a chair for me, his interviewer, from another office, Pekelder suggests that we talk not in the sparsely furnished ivory tower but in the MarktCafé. On market day.