Cycling Route Death Valley De Peel - German Homes Houtse Parallelweg 102-111 (#17)

German houses Houtse Paralleweg 102 -111
This complex of 10 houses is designed by the German design agency Schütz and Bangert from Dusseldorf. The client is the textile company NV Helmat from Germany, which started in Helmond in 1919. The aim is to offer German-looking housing for qualified personnel from Germany.

Client NV Helmat goes bankrupt in early 1921. The houses have not yet been completed after the bankruptcy of NV Helmat. They are phased out and rented out under the supervision of the Lotichius bank.

Notable residents of the German houses are Georg (Fritz) Potzler, his wife Charlotte Vorläufer and their daughter Ilse. In 1932, the German Potzler family moved into the house at Zuidelijke Parallelweg 22 (now Houtse Parallelweg 110). Potzler is director of the small metal company Metallo and is a convinced supporter of National Socialism. Around May 24, 1940, Reich Commissioner Arthur Seys Inquart was said to have been a guest at the Potzler house in Helmond.

Spy or no spy?
We know from him that during the war he kept a list of Helmonders who were not German-minded. His photo album also contains photos of the Zuid-Willemsvaart with calculations to make an alternative crossing after destruction of the bridges. It is not known when the Potzler family left Helmond.

Joseph Rosenberg and his family live at 21 Zuidelijke Parallelweg (now Houtse Parallelweg 111). He comes from Berlin and was registered as a Jewish in Helmond in 1929. After his marriage to the Dutch Reformed Petronella Kuiken, he is somewhat protected from deportation. Yet he went into hiding in 1943 and survived the Second World War.

General
The bicycle route in Helmond is a collaboration between Death Valley De Peel of the Museum Klok & Peel, Heemkundekring Helmont, Stichting Helmond September 25, 1944 and TracesOfWar.nl. The route consists of a number of points, not all of which have a sign.

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Source

• Text: TracesOfWar
• Photos: Jeroen Koppes (1), Martin Damen (2), Death Valley De Peel (3)