Municipal Overseer and Architect
Jan Brill (1878–1924) served as the municipal overseer and architect in Aalten from 1906 to 1924. He designed various residential and commercial buildings throughout the municipality and was remembered after his passing as an honest, sincere, and humane individual who enjoyed great trust and appreciation.
Jan Brill was born on 23 April 1878 in Wildervank, the son of Cornelis Jacobus Brill and Roelfina Fennechina Prummel. On 6 July 1909, he married Anna Imke Oostingh in Winschoten. The couple had two daughters and one stillborn child.
Career
In 1903, Brill was appointed municipal architect of Winterswijk. His appointment as municipal overseer and architect of Aalten followed in 1906. Additionally, in 1922, he was appointed a member of the Health Commission in Winterswijk, and in early 1924, he became the secretary-treasurer of the Oude IJssel Water Board, Slingebeken Section.
Brill initially lived at Prinsenstraat 42. Following his marriage, he and his wife moved to Ormelstraat 23 (Klein Beth San). During his years in Aalten, he designed several characteristic buildings in and around the town, including various private houses and shop premises.
Illness and Death
Brill struggled with health problems for a considerable time, during which his duties were temporarily assumed by others. A few months before his death, he returned from Arnhem, where he had presumably been receiving medical care. He lost consciousness the evening before his passing and died in Aalten on 18 December 1924, aged 46.
There was a large turnout for the funeral: attendees included the mayor and aldermen, the town clerk, council members, municipal police, administrative officials, and municipal workers, as well as many friends and local residents. Tributes were paid at the graveside by Rev. J. Thomson (Varsseveld), Mayor A.J.W. Monnik, and H.J.G. ten Dam.
According to reports, Brill was remembered for his honest and sincere conduct, being highly valued by his superiors and humane in his interactions with staff; his irreproachable integrity and the courage with which he bore his illness were explicitly noted.
Brill found his final resting place at the Old Cemetery on the Varsseveldsestraatweg in Aalten.
Designs
As municipal architect of Aalten, Brill’s designs included:
- Bodendijk 1-3 (1910)
- Bodendijk 19 (1911)
- Bredevoortsestraatweg 23 (1919)
- Bredevoortsestraatweg 37 (1912)
- Bredevoortsestraatweg 39 (1911)
- Dijkstraat 62 (1911)
- Heuvelweg 2 (1911)
- Hoekstraat 8 (1907)
- Hogestraat 50 (1912)
- Kerkstraat 12 (new facade, 1910)
- Landstraat 5 (1911)
- Polstraat 3 (1913)
- Romienendiek 2 (1924)
- Stationsstraat 20 (1924)
- Co-operative Shop ‘De Eendracht’ (1913)
- Municipal slaughterhouse (1915)
