Hans Bulte

Johannes Jozephus (Hans) Bulte was born in Amsterdam on 14 February 1937. He was born in Amsterdam-West and grew up in Tuindorp Oostzaan, a garden village in the north of the city.

He studied mechanical engineering and physics at a higher technical school (HTS). He then went into teaching, and worked as a teacher of mathematics, physics and chemistry in secondary education in Lichtenvoorde, in the province of Gelderland. According to the Dutch Wikipedia, this included teaching at a Roman Catholic boarding school in Harreveld for boys who needed special care.

Bulte's political career began in 1970, when he was elected to the municipal council of Lichtenvoorde for the Catholic People's Party (KVP), which later merged into the CDA. From 1976 to 1980 he was an alderman and deputy mayor in Lichtenvoorde, and for a period he acted as its mayor.

In October 1980 he was appointed mayor of Sint Pancras in North Holland. After the departure of H.W. van den Brink in 1984 he also became acting mayor of neighbouring Langedijk, combining the two posts. When Sint Pancras was largely merged into Langedijk on 1 January 1990, Bulte was appointed mayor of the new municipality. He remained in office until he took early retirement in 1999. During these years he was also vice-chairman of the Samenwerkingsverband Noord-Kennemerland, the regional cooperation body, and chairman of the Public Safety Committee of the Ministry of the Interior.

In 2000 the Queen's Commissioner in North Holland asked him to serve as acting mayor of Anna Paulowna. Less than a year later he was asked to go to Edam-Volendam instead. The fire in café 't Hemeltje in Volendam during the New Year's night of 2000 to 2001 killed fourteen young people and left many others badly injured, and mayor Frank IJsselmuiden resigned in its aftermath. Bulte served as acting mayor of Edam-Volendam from 2001 to 2003. Looking back, he told the newspaper Trouw that the grief and anger were so great that his first concern was how to deal with them, and that he came to see that victims, bereaved families and residents above all needed attention and recognition. He did not take up another mayoral post after 2003.

Bulte was known as a first citizen with a great heart for the fire brigade. He wrote several publications on volunteer fire services, and public order and safety remained a lifelong interest.

Outside his work he was a keen breeder of ornamental pigeons. For many years he chaired the Koninklijke Bond voor Sierduivenliefhebbers (NBS), the Dutch royal association of ornamental pigeon fanciers, and he remained its chairman after leaving public office. In 1998 he attracted attention with a publication on heredity in ornamental pigeons.

Hans Bulte died on Saturday 10 October 2026, aged 89. The place and cause of death were not made public. The municipality of Edam-Volendam announced his death on 12 October, and it was reported by Rodi, the AD and the local broadcaster RTV LOVE.

His funeral service was held on Friday 16 October 2026 at 14:00 in the Sint-Jan-de-Doperkerk in Noord-Scharwoude, followed by a burial in private.

Rodi described Bulte as an administrator who did not seek the spotlight and whose authority lay in thoughtfulness: he listened, consulted and tried to bring calm. In administrative circles he was regarded as a heavyweight.

For many in North Holland his name remains tied to the dark period after the Volendam café fire, not because he lived through the disaster himself but because he was asked to help the community through it. Rodi called it the heaviest task of his life and perhaps also the most important. He received several honours for his work, among them a knighthood in the Order of Orange-Nassau.