Ode to Greet Hofmans | Call for honor restoration

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Ode to Greet Hofmans, call for rehabilitation

'Enchantress' and 'Dutch Rasputin' are the extremely unfriendly words Prince Bernard used when speaking of Greet Hofmans. Amsterdam's Greet had arrived at court partly at his request as a faith healer but, according to Bernard, gained too much influence over his wife, Queen Juliana. What followed was a real “Greet Hofmans Affair” in which the survival of the royal marriage, indeed of the monarchy, was briefly at stake in 1956! But what do we really know about Greet Hofmans? High time to get to know her better. 
 

Margaretha Hofmans was born on June 23, 1894, at 171 Vinkenstraat in Amsterdam. The oldest of four children from an Amsterdam working-class family, Greet had to go to work at an early age. She is a servant, factory worker and seamstress at a clothing workshop. She dreams of a career as a dancer or actress. In her spare time, she attends “folk concerts” at the Concertgebouw and theater and dance performances. She enjoyed going out, often with her fiancé Louis Visser, an Amsterdam police inspector. A marriage with him never materialized. She did not feel much like it and he found her a little too eccentric. When her mother became paralyzed in 1914, and her father and sister also became seriously ill, Greet took on housekeeping duties in addition to working outside the house. In 1929 her mother dies, in 1930 her father and in 1936 her sister. Greet is 42 and for the first time in her life has no one to care for.  

War years

During German occupation from 1940-1945 Greet is in the resistance, she is involved in the Amsterdam group Waterman. About her choice to join the resistance, Greet later recounted in Weekblad Elsevier: “I worked at a Jewish firm. The Germans carried off the firm's partners. That led me to help other Jews. (...) The urge to assist others was so strong in me that I took risks.” Greet was active in illegal ticket distribution and helped smuggle Jewish children out of the Hollandsche Schouwburg and safely house them at hiding addresses. “Helping people during the war was wonderful. I could indulge in it in a way. As a result, liberation became an inner conflict for me. I wondered why people are in the world and why there is suffering. Why I myself was in the world. I struggled and begged and was desolate.” 

Hearing voices

Through her parents, Greet was introduced to Theosophical thought from home. The Hofmans family is active members of the Theosophical Society. So is Greet but she breaks with the society in 1922 after being assaulted by an elderly theosophist. During the war years, Greet Hofmans comes into contact with occultism. In early 1946, she hears the voice of a “Master” who wants to make her his tool for the healing of suffering humanity. The voice instructs her to leave Amsterdam. She lives for a time in the Frisian countryside where she lectures and makes a name for herself as a psychic healer. This is how she comes into contact with well-to-do spiritualists. In 1947 she moved to Hattem, where she was allowed to live at the Molencaten estate of Baron W.J. van Heeckeren. The discussion groups she organizes on the estate attract wealthy listeners from far and wide. And so in 1948 “Miss Hofmans” was also introduced to the royal family. Hopefully the faith healer can do something for the princess Marijke (later Christina) who was born in 1947 with a serious eye defect?  

Friends  

Queen Juliana and Greet Hofmans immediately hit it off, Greet becoming Juliana's friend and confidant. Sharing a social and ethical enthusiasm, they are both advocates of pacifist ideas. The latter in particular horrifies Prince Bernard. It is the time of the Cold War and the prince supports the militarism of NATO. He is exasperated by his wife Juliana's pacifist speech during the state visit to the United States in 1952. He sees Greet Hofmans as the evil genius of this.  

Royal power struggle

In 1956, tensions run high in the marriage of Bernard and Juliana. The atmosphere at Soestdijk Palace is cutting edge. It is a real palace soap opera in which it seems that the two spouses each live in their own palace wing and only have contact with each other through bills. Back and forth, Juliana and Bernard accuse each other of conspiracy theories. In the weekly Der Spiegel, Bernard portrays Greet Hofmans as a true Rasputin with great influence on affairs of state. It is rumored that Bernard wants his wife declared insane. Beatrix, then only 17, will then have to ascend the throne early and Bernard can then be regent. Juliana, for her part, is considering filing for divorce. To prevent further escalation and save the kingdom, the government intervenes. The royal couple is called to order and both must make concessions. Juliana just a little more. She must agree to deny Greet Hofmans access to the palace immediately. Thus ends the friendship between Juliana and Greet abruptly. Greet goes back to Amsterdam where she continues her practice as a healer in the Bosboom Toussainstraat number 3.  

A lot of secrecy

In the Greet Hofmans Affair, as the constitutional crisis has come to be called, it was mainly men who got involved. First of all, there was a committee of 4 wise gentlemen who were commissioned by Prime Minister Willem Drees to investigate what was going on behind the palace doors and how the monarchy could be saved. There were also ex-Englanders who might have carried out an attack on Greet Hofmans in 1957. The fact is that Greet was involved in a bizarre car accident that nearly killed her. It left her with severe headaches and a scar on her face for the rest of her life. And then there is historian Cees Fasseur, another man, who in 2005 was the only person granted access to the Royal Family Archives to write about the Greet Hofmans Affair. He recorded his findings in his book “Juliana & Bernard. Many people believe that Fasseur wrote too much from the prince's perspective.  

Witches and witchcraft

Accusing women of witchcraft has been done for centuries. Since the Middle Ages, it has been a tried and true means of frightening and defusing women who don't toe the line. In the days when Greet Hofmans was put away as a witch, you may not have ended up being burned at the stake, but Prince Bernard's accusations did brand her.

Helping others

Greet Hofmans was undeniably an extraordinary woman who did not seek fame, honor and personal gain. She was born poor and later also consciously chose a frugal and simple existence. She never asked for money for her healings, not even from the very rich; she lived on donations. Everything she had she gave away to people who needed it more than herself. She saw helping others as her vocation and did so all her life.  

On November 16, 1968, Greet Hofmans died of cancer at the age of 74. She was buried at Amsterdam's Zorgvlied cemetery although she herself would have preferred to be cremated and scattered at sea, leaving no trace. 

Afterword

The last word about Greet Hofmans has not yet been said and will not be said until the royal archives are made public. She herself never defended herself against all the allegations, as if she resigned herself to the fact that she could never take on the Dutch state and the Royal House on her own. Because she did not talk about it, we are doing it for her. With this ode, we make a start with that. 

Sources:

Hofmans, Margaretha (1894-1968) (knaw.nl) 

Een hollands sprookje – De Groene Amsterdammer (16 december 1998) 

https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greet_Hofmans 

https://www.volkskrant.nl/mensen/fasseur-ontwaart-feministisch-complot-uit-linkse-hoek-tegen-zijn-bestseller~ba4602ad/ 

All quotes are from The Elsevier's Weekly, June 23, 1956