Overview
In 1982, ALA (Aloys Lurvink Aalten), a paintbrush factory on Piet Heinstraat in Aalten, was the smallest of the five remaining paintbrush manufacturers in the Netherlands. The company’s history went back to the mid-19th century. Craft quality and a strong family tradition remained central to the business for generations. The factory has since become part of Aalten’s industrial past.
The early years on Stationsstraat
The story began in 1840, when founder Herman Lurvink opened a brush workshop on the corner of Stationsstraat and the present-day Admiraal de Ruyterstraat. In its early years, the range was extremely varied. An old cashbook from 1857 shows that the workshop made many different kinds of brushes for customers in the Achterhoek and Twente. Order books mention window-cleaning brushes, room brooms, scrubbing brushes, weaving brushes and small ‘pikkwastjes’ supplied to regional textile companies such as D. Jordaan in Haaksbergen.
In 1901, his son Aloys Lurvink joined the business. He moved the company to an upper floor further along Stationsstraat, on the site later known as number 22. In 1907, he formally registered the business with the Chamber of Commerce. His initials — A. Lurvink Aalten — formed the basis of the ALA trademark, which continued to be stamped on paintbrush handles until the business closed.
Move to Piet Heinstraat
A major milestone followed in 1931. Needing more space and more modern facilities, the company moved to Piet Heinstraat. Brothers Herman and Josef Lurvink, sons of Aloys, built a new workshop behind their houses there.
In 1947, an extension to the brush factory of “fa. A. Lurvink & Zn, Piet Heinstraat”, designed by the Aalten architectural practice of Willem Hebly, was awarded to Boschker & Zn of Bredevoort.
By the early 1980s, the company was managed by cousins J.H. and J.L. Lurvink, representing the fourth generation. Over the years, the firm had made a deliberate strategic choice: production of ordinary brushes was discontinued so it could concentrate entirely on high-quality paintbrushes.
Royal recognition and market position
Although ALA remained small in production volume, its paintbrushes became known throughout the Netherlands and even abroad. Products were exported to places including Aruba and Curaçao. A notable distinction was the company’s direct supply to the Dutch Royal Household for many decades, which was regarded as recognition of its quality.
Alongside its own factory, where pig bristle from China was the principal raw material, ALA had a trading division that imported and distributed related painters’ supplies.
In 1982, the Piet Heinstraat factory was hit by changing economic conditions. High unemployment in the construction industry and stagnation among painting firms depressed sales. Although the factory was still firmly in Lurvink family hands at the time, production on Piet Heinstraat eventually ceased in the decades that followed. With it disappeared a distinctive part of Aalten’s manufacturing history.
Piet Heinstraat 10, Aalten
Address history
1934 address directory
Aalten 96/7 > Piet Heinstraat 10
Workshop
1967 address directory
Piet Heinstraat 10
Lurvink Brush Factory
Cadastre
This overview is not complete.
| Year | Plot | Owner | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1934 | I-6546 | ½ J.B. Lurvink, brush maker (Piet Heinstraat 6) ½ H.T. Lurvink, brush maker (Piet Heinstraat 8) | 1,390 m² brush factory, 2 houses, yard |
| 1978 | K-1060 | ½ J.B. Lurvink ½ H.T. Lurvink | 2,176 m² workshop, yard, garden |
| 1988 | K-1716 | J.W.C. Ebbers-Lurvink, dressmaker | 1,576 m² workshop, garden |