History
In 1679, Jan Bierman started a spirits and liqueur distillery on the Pijlsteeg in Amsterdam. Some 50 years later - in around 1730 - Wynand Fockink (born in Steenwijk in 1693) took it over. Wynand married for the second time in 1733. Of the many children born of this marriage, only his daughter Maria survived, leaving Wynand without a male successor. In 1775 - three years before his death - Wynand invited a partner to his business: Johan Dentzel.
Under Wynand Fockink, the liqueur distillery had already grown into one of the largest in the Netherlands, helped to a great extent by the many connections which Wynand had built up as a wine trader. Johan Dentzel expanded the enterprise even further and, around the turn of the century, the business owned six buildings on Amsterdam's Oudezijds Voorburgwal, along with six more buildings on the Pijlsteeg. In the early 19th century, the business expanded even further by exporting their liqueurs and jenevers abroad. By this time, Wynand Fockink owned trading houses in Berlin, Vienna, Brussels and Paris.
France was one of the largest buyers of liqueurs in the period 1815 - 1860. The two brothers Johannes and Petrus Schmitz, who both married great-granddaughters of Wynand Fockink, took over the business in the early 19th century, increasing business activities even further. This meant that they needed more space, so they bought up various buildings nearby. It was also round this time that an alleyway was built from Damstraat to the Pijlsteeg to make the shop - now a public house - even more visible.
By 1870, Wynand Fockink had five distilling vessels, was using a 30-hp steam engine and employing around 80 people. This period also saw export to America taking off. In 1920, Wynand Fockink changed from being a family business to becoming a public limited company.
In the years following World War II, Wynand Fockink found it increasingly hard to face competition from the Bols company and in 1954, Bols took over Wynand Fockink. The distillery was dismantled and production and trade relations were now conducted by Bols, first from Amsterdam's Rozengracht and later from Nieuw Vennep. The Wynand Fockink products remained on the market until 1970. Upon the dismantlement of the business, the public house continued to exist as a catering establishment. Pieter Gijsberti Hodenpijl leased the public house from 1948 to the autumn of 1988 and turned it into an establishment with a world-famous ambience in his own unique way. When it was vacant from 1988-1993, it was occupied by squatters. In 1993, Jaros Janssens and Jan Galesloot took the initiative of reopening the public house and setting up a distillery in the adjacent buildings. These days, the distillery is a museum/information centre for liqueurs and jenevers, where its history, knowledge and techniques are treasured.
Rob Koning and Paul Wanrooij have been running the business since January 1. 2008. Their ambition is to bring WF back to the domestic market as a recognized and high quality brand in 2011.
