Leo van der Linde

Leo van der Linde, correspondent for Aalten Vooruit among others, passed away on King’s Day 2023. He had been struggling with his health for some time, but he persevered with his work. Almost until the very last day, he died in harness.

By Karin Stronks and Jos Wessels

Leo van der Linde was born on 19 September 1958, in Aalten, but one set of his grandparents lived in Bredevoort. This shaped his interests: he was focused on Aalten, Bredevoort, and the rural districts. As a child, Leo already collected everything: pins, keychains, stamps, coins. Eventually, he specialised in old postcards. For years, he scoured countless fairs with his brother-in-law Hans Lammers to make purchases. He supplemented his collection with company letterheads, old festival guides, and similar items. Leo worked as a teacher at primary schools in Hoogvliet and Lathum. He had to stop for health reasons. Leo continued as a journalist for various media, including Aalten Vooruit. Later, he also published extensively on Facebook. He continued this until his death.

Photojournalist and filmmaker

Leo van der Linde was first and foremost a photojournalist. For years, he was seen everywhere, armed with a camera and video camera. The Bredevoort Gondola Parade could also count on his great interest. His standard opening question was: ‘What are the dimensions of the gondolas and how many lights are on them?’ In a similar fashion, he reported on numerous school and folk festivals, shop openings, the start of construction projects, and other events. A characteristic of Leo was that he was always exceptionally quick to arrive at the scene of fires and accidents. Sometimes even faster than the fire brigade or the police. Due to his declining health, he was unable to go out himself in recent years. He received a lot of help from others, who provided him with photos which Leo then posted on Facebook or on the Aalten Vooruit website.

Print journalist

Although it was not his first love, Leo wrote a great deal, particularly about politics. For this newspaper, he followed council meetings for years. He did not mince his words when expressing his own opinion. He preferred to write about concrete matters in the municipality: events, construction projects, festivals. He had a special eye for ‘small news’ in neighbourhoods or rural districts, something that others often overlooked.

Local historian

Leo’s great love concerned the history of Aalten, Bredevoort, and the rural districts, from the distant past to a few decades ago. In this, he was no stranger to nostalgia. For instance, he had a great interest in the paintings of Piet te Lintum. In recent years, he therefore worked extensively on the Helenahuis.

Famous is the series of booklets he published himself. All booklets are square, 19 by 19 centimetres, hardback, 96 pages filled with many of his own photos and concise text. As early as 1991, he created ‘Groeten uit Bredevoort’ (Greetings from Bredevoort) with his sister Dinie, and later ‘Bedrijvig Bredevoort’ (Industrious Bredevoort). These were followed by titles such as ‘De Knoop doorgehakt’ (The Knot Cut), ‘Van Maire Stumph tot Burgemeester Stapelkamp’ (From Maire Stumph to Mayor Stapelkamp), and ‘Feest!’ (Festival!).

He always generously made his photos available to other writers. Leo also contributed to the ‘Contactorgaan’ of the Archaeological Working Group ADW. The municipality appreciated his work for history by awarding him the 2021 Heritage Prize of the Municipality of Aalten, together with Ben Maandag from Dinxperlo. In this way, Leo van der Linde made history popular. Special mention should be made of his column ‘Zoekplaatje’ (Mystery Photo) which appeared every week in Aalten Vooruit. It was always in the form of a guessing game: ‘Which photo is this?’ coupled with a request for additional information.

Leo van der Linde passed away on 27 April 2023. He was buried at Berkenhove Cemetery.