Frederic Adolph Hoefer (14 April 1850 – 7 October 1938) was a Dutch lieutenant-general, militaria collector and archivist. He trained at the

Koninklijke Militaire Academie The Royal Military Academy ( nl, Koninklijke Militaire Academie or ''KMA'') is the service academy for the Dutch Army, the Dutch Air Force and the Royal Marechaussee. Located in Breda, Southern Netherlands, the KMA has trained future office ...

and is notable for founding the

Legermuseum The Arsenal building in Delft The former museum building by night Stone coat of arms on the Armamentarium (Oude Delft side) The Koninklijk Nederlands Legermuseum (''Royal Dutch Army Museum'') is the former national museum of the Dutch Army. U ...

and restoring Doorwerth Castle. Hoefer was born in

Sittard Sittard (; ) is a city in the Netherlands, situated in the southernmost province of Limburg. The town is part of the municipality of Sittard-Geleen and has almost 37.500 inhabitants in 2016. In its east, Sittard borders the German municipali ...

and was in the middle of a successful military career when a fall from his horse in 1880 forced him to take honorable leave from the service.Biography
in the

NNBW The ''Nieuw Nederlandsch Biografisch Woordenboek'' (''NNBW'') is a biographical reference work in the Dutch language. It has been succeeded by the ''Biografisch Woordenboek van Nederland''. It was published in ten parts between 1911 and 1937 by ...

He began to write historical works, starting with the history of public clocks, when he was invited to work on the archives of

Hattem Hattem () is a municipality and a town in the eastern Netherlands. The municipality had a population of in . The municipality includes the hamlet of 't Zand. Name origin The name “Hattem” is a typical farmyard name. The exact origin of “H ...

, where he became the unpaid city archivist in 1895, a position he kept until 1931. Among other things, he is remembered there for his many publications on the history of Hattem, and his commission to restore the Dijkpoort as a new location for the Hattem archives. In 1894 he became director of the Provinciaal Overijsselsch Geschiedkundig Museum in

Zwolle Zwolle () is a city and municipality in the Northeastern Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of Overijssel and the province's second-largest municipality after Enschede with a population of 130,592 as of 1 December 2021. Zwolle is o ...

, a position that he also kept until 1931. Under his direction, that museum moved to its present location the 1551 patrician building ''Drostenhuis''. From 1903 he was active in the monumentenzorg and was responsible for saving the buildings ''Gothische Huis'' in Kampen, the city hall of

Hasselt Hasselt (, , ; la, Hasseletum, Hasselatum) is a Belgian city and municipality, and capital and largest city of the province of Limburg in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is known for its former branding as "the city of taste", as well as its ...

, Huis Helmich in Zwolle, and the Romanesque church in

Wilsum Wilsum is a small city in the Dutch province of Overijssel. It is located in the municipality of Kampen, about 4 km southeast of that city. History The city was first mentioned in 1213 as Wilsem, and means "settlement of Willa (person)". ...

. He is remembered most today for founding the museum ''Het Koninklijk Leger- en Wapenmuseum'' in Castle Doorwerth, which was bombed during October 1944. The remnants of the collection are in the Legermuseum in

Delft Delft () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, Netherlands. It is located between Rotterdam, to the southeast, ...

. A memorial to him was placed in Doorwerth on the occasion of his 80th birthday.Photo of Hoefer and his wife
on the occasion of his 80th birthday, in the Geheugen van Nederland Hoefer died in

Zeist Zeist () is the capital and largest town of the municipality of Zeist. The town is located in the Utrecht province of the Netherlands, east of the city of Utrecht. History The town of "Seist" was first mentioned in a charter in the year 83 ...

References

Generaal Hoefer Foundation

External links

* 1850 births 1938 deaths Dutch art collectors Dutch curators Royal Netherlands Army personnel Graduates of the Koninklijke Militaire Academie People from Sittard {{Netherlands-mil-bio-stub