Morgenster

The former small plantation Morgenster, popularly also known as Mòrrustėr, lies north of Wishi, east of Veeris and west of Gasparito. Here there formerly stood a charming little country house, built on a small hill in one of the gardens situated around the Schottegat. This little country house has been restored and extended many times and is nowadays the studio, exhibition and work space of the iron artist Giovanni Abath.

Troubles in the militia

The history books mention Morgenster in August 1821, during "troubles in the militia" (schutterij). The recently appointed governor Paulus Roelof Cantz'laar wanted to cut costs on the garrison by combining it with the Service of the militia, in connection with guarding, among other things, the city gate and the bastions. At the installation of this rural militia there were disturbances on 9 August at Kirindongo (east division), on Sunday the 12th at Morgenster (middle division) and finally also at Fontein (west division). The men refused the oath because they did not understand the regulations. After explanation it was nevertheless taken, and the militia continued to function under the name Stedelijke schutterij (City Militia). Gradually the training was stopped, no new uniforms were issued, and the garrison and police force were moreover better organised. In the end the militia retained only a decorative function at important ceremonial occasions before the whole thing disappeared in 1902.

Planken huisje

At the beginning of the 19th century the location was known as "planken huisje" (plank house), referring to the small wooden dwellings on the grounds of the garden Morgenster. These dwellings probably stood on small plots of land that the plantation owner had given to his enslaved people.

The traveller/writer Maarten D. Teenstra wrote at that time that from the Planken huisje one could reach the nearby neighbourhood Bethlehem.

In the background of the plank houses, on a small hill, stood the little landhuis which reportedly served as a stopover for travellers going from Bándabou to Bándariba or the reverse. Morgenster was also offered for rent or for sale as a "tuintje" (little garden) or as a "buitenhuis" (country house).

In 1859, for example, it was offered for sale as a "well-appointed house with outbuildings". Included in the sale were also 2 draught horses and a horse carriage. In the following years the house was regularly offered for rent, but the outbuildings disappeared.

Sisters

The chaplain and later Monseigneur Kieckens came in 1855 with the plan for a new hospital, and a collection was held to buy the property IJzerstraat no. 65 — now situated in Kurá Hulanda. A collection was then held again for the passage of the first sisters from Breda who were to staff the hospital. According to Brenneker they first recovered their strength on the Morgenster estate.

The author N. Römer-Kenepa writes, however, that the sisters Maria Ursula, Maria Dorothea and Maria Johanna left Den Helder on 7 September 1855 and arrived on Curaçao after 45 days, namely on 22 October. They are said to have stayed for some time in the Sint Martinus boarding school for girls, situated on the present Brionplein. Because the Brionplein is closer to the hospital, this version seems more plausible. Or might the pioneers of the Gasthuis (hospital) also have stayed at the charming little landhuis of Morgenster? In any case they were present on 3 December 1855 at the official opening of the forerunner of the Sint Elisabeth Gasthuis.

Guido Vetter

A special owner of Morgenster was the Austrian architect Guido Odilo Vetter. Christel Monsanto writes that he was born in Vienna in 1891, the son of a bookseller/publisher. He studied architecture and during his studies won a medal for the design of a hangar for airships. He arrived on Curaçao with his family in 1938 and then entered the service of the Catholic vicariate.

Vetter is the architect of seven church buildings on Curaçao, namely Soto, Steenrijk, Coromoto, Sufisant, Buena Vista and Lagun. The last remarkable church built by him, that of Zuid Bonam (1963), was inspired by the historic dwelling houses in the city. He also rebuilt the façade of the former bishop's palace on the Brionplein and designed various schools, hospitals, convents and other Catholic buildings on Curaçao, Aruba and Bonaire as well as on the Windward Islands.

Seizure of Morgenster

At the outbreak of the Second World War, all those who held German or Austrian nationality were forcibly interned between 1940 and 1945 in camps on Bonaire. The architect was no longer allowed to practise his profession, and so no buildings by him are known from that period. During the internment Vetter's landhuis, Morgenster, was seized as one of his first possessions and sold. And the interior of the house was stolen or destroyed. Vetter also had a dwelling at Weis Afó, near Rio Canario, where the detective bureau now stands. That too was seized. His wife and children fled with the help of the Red Cross via Panama to America. Only on 16 September 1948 was Vetter reunited with his family on Curaçao.

The "church builder" left Curaçao for good in 1967 and returned to his native Austria, where he died on 17 October 1977.

Chickens at Morgenster

In 1964 Morgenster was inhabited by the Casimiri family, who owned a chicken farm. Pedro Casimiri was a jack of all trades at the vicariate and was looking for accommodation for his family. The vicariate allowed him to live in landhuis Habaai on condition that he maintain the house. He did so, and then also began keeping chickens: first 10 birds, which gradually grew to 3,000. When landhuis Habaai was to be given a new purpose, he had to move to a location with enough room for the poultry, and the nearby Morgenster proved the ideal location. When his children later went off to study and the landhuis became too big for them, the couple swapped Morgenster for a smaller home. Through disease the poultry was thinned out, and eventually the chicken farmer called it a day.

Cemetery

Besides the outbuildings, the little cemetery that once lay at Mòrrustėr also disappeared over the years. According to Father Brenneker it lay on a bare plain on a small hill behind that of the landhuis. People from the neighbourhood were formerly buried there, and neighbourhood residents can still remember that a large iron cross stood here, clearly visible from the main road. But in 1972 this little cemetery too was demolished, and apartments now stand on that location. A large well and a water tank next to a tamarind tree behind the landhuis have also disappeared.

Around 1972 Morgenster was also known as the location of an open-air theatre: every so often the Cinetruck stood there, showing, among other things, cowboy and Zorro films. Visitors did have to bring their own chairs.

MAN at Morgenster

The Beaujon family was around 1980 owner of the property, which was then almost on the point of collapse. South-east of the landhuis, in the ANAC building, was the party office of the MAN. On the first floor, from which the party leader, the late Don Martina, had a good view of the dilapidated little landhuis. The ruin was bought, restored and officially opened in 1983 as "sede", the party building, of the blue party. Many parties were organised at the landhuis, especially at election time. The customary "caravana" (campaign motorcade) also departed, literally with a great deal of horn-blowing and bells, from the by then blue-painted landhuis.

Fire in Morgenster

Two years after the purchase of the building, a fire broke out in the property and the left wing proved so damaged that the whole had to be rebuilt.

During the last restoration of Morgenster, burnt wood was discovered that is now exhibited as an artwork. Possibly it was a remnant of the above-mentioned fire.

But around 1990 the landhuis was also squatted by two brothers from Marchena who set up a car garage there. For lack of electricity, fires were lit in the evenings for lighting. Which is possibly also an explanation for the burnt wood in landhuis Morgenster.

In the time of the MAN various parts of the estate were sold, with the exception of the terrain directly around the little landhuis. Thus the "hardware" and ironmongery factory east of the landhuis stands on former plantation terrain of Morgenster.

From 2016 the MAN had a new home on the Rooseveltweg, and the little landhuis stood there neglected and dilapidated again.

Experience 7.1

But behold! In September 2023 the Morgenster rose again in full glory: at the entrance stands The Light Bearer, the Morgenster (Morning Star) in the form of a life-size metal statue, the patron of the project Experience 7.1, made by Giovanni Abath in his own likeness. The versatile artist and his wife had bought and restored the landhuis to establish his studio and gallery here.

The numbers 7.1 stand for his name, the 7th and the first letter of the alphabet (GA); it is the artist's "signature", and even the iron giant, the Morgenster, is exactly 7.1 metres high.

Sources

• Monsanto: "Guido Vetter (1891–after 1965)", De archiefvriend, Dec 2023, vol. 29, no. 4
• van Ditzhuijzen: Kas di Shon, plantation houses of Curaçao
• Brenneker: Sambumbu no. 9
• Dr J. Hartog: Curaçao van kolonie tot autonomie, part 2
• M.D. Teenstra: De Nederlandsche West-Indische Eilanden
• N.C. Römer-Kenepa: Sint Elisabeth Hospitaal 1855–2005, 150 jaar van zorg en toewijding
• J. Thissen-Rojer: Curaçao Art® www.curacao-art.com

With thanks to: Christel Monsanto, François van der Hoeven, André Rancuret, Giovanni & Angelica Abath-Delgado, Indirah Peny, Aishel Commenencia, Jeroen Heuvel, Maiky Eustatia and the Mongui Maduro Library.