Ode to Marie Zettels | Tireless hub of museum operations

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Maria Petronella Zettels (1893-1964) was one of those invisible women without whom the world would have looked different. For forty-five years, she worked at the Amsterdam Rijksmuseum, she ‘served’ five directors, was the tireless lynchpin of the museum business all that time, and yet she is almost forgotten. In the thick 2000 book on 200 years of the Rijksmuseum, she is mentioned only once, in the historical photo archive on the museum's website there are three photos of her, one of which is anonymous and one with a question mark after her name. 

As a 20-year-old, she joined the stately museum director Jonkheer Van Riemsdijk as a secretary in 1913. In the album he was presented in 1920 for his 70th birthday, there is a photo of her: a pretty young woman behind a typewriter, in a white dress.

Van Riemsdijk's successor in 1922 was the very ambitious Schmidt Degener. He had resolved to redesign the entire museum. He did just that, with little money and a lot of commitment and taste. Little time was left for current affairs, but fortunately there was Miss Zettels (nobody ever addressed her by her first name). She took care of the correspondence with the ministry, with lenders and donors, with all those who wanted something from the museum. And she had an eye for the staff, because the director was too busy for that.

The division between work and leisure was blurred. The director lived in the villa next to the museum, in Schmidt Degener's case with his mother, sister and from 1930 with his wife. In such a situation, the notion of office hours tends to blur. Endlessly, Miss Zettels worked overtime, the overtime was recorded and partly honoured with bonuses on the recommendation of the director. Meanwhile, she also did the bookkeeping because in 1925 she had been appointed head of administration, she had a good head for figures. 

The threat of war and the consequent necessary evacuation of the art collection in the autumn of 1939 depressed Schmidt Degener greatly, his life's work destroyed. But there was Miss Zettels, who with her well-known imperturbability supported the director, registered where the works of art went (initially to buildings - churches, schools - in North Holland) and made sure that things in the museum continued to run somewhat.

In 1941, Schmidt Degener died, unexpectedly. It must have been a huge shock for Miss Zettels, after so many years of close cooperation. His successor Henkels was sickly and had a lot of trouble with the demands of the occupying forces. Once again, Miss Zettels was supportive and helpful. She took care of the laborious correspondence with the authorities. Henkel's successor (he died in 1944) was curator Lindeman, who reluctantly accepted the heavy task. He must have been relieved when Jonkheer Röell was appointed director in August 1945. Röell was a director who knew what he wanted and who better than Miss Zettels, who knew everything and could arrange everything. Thanks to her excellent administration, the return of many of the works of art (by now from storerooms in Paasloo and Sint Pietersberg) went smoothly. As early as 15 July 1945, the exhibition Reunion of the Masters could be opened, which broke all records. On 3 August, Miss Zettels notes that it was so crowded that they had had to close the doors  - only if ten people left ten more were allowed in.

Miss Zettels' fortieth anniversary in 1953 was - quite rightly - celebrated in style. There are no photos of it. Five years later, she took her leave. She was appointed Knight of the Order of Orange-Nassau. 

Gradually, she disappeared from memory. Around 2000, an exhibition at the Rijksmuseum with historical photos showed the following next to the photo of her behind the typewriter: Photo of an unknown lady behind a typewriter.