Nienhuis Heutink International (English)

Nienhuis – Now And Then On The Connections With Maria Montessori And AMI

Around 1926 a carpenter named Albert Nienhuis joined the Leermiddelen company. He was experienced in making small wooden objects, and was asked to assist with the Montessori materials. He first created the abacus, then The Geometric Cabinet and progressed on to more intricate materials such as the 1000 cube. As business grew, Mr Nienhuis’ two sons also joined the company. In 1929, Maria Montessori herself took the initiative to create the Association Montessori Internationale (AMI). She wished to have the full support of a strong and dynamic organisation that could respond to the growing interest in Montessori education worldwide; an organisation that was excellently positioned to further a full understanding of her ideas, to coordinate the publication of her writings, and license the manufacture of the carefully crafted developmental materials. During the Second World War, when most goods were in short supply, Albert Nienhuis proved to be exceedingly resourceful in finding the necessary ‘raw materials’ that allowed him to continue production of the Montessori ‘apparatus’. In 1945, after the war, the showroom of materials was moved to the Nienhuis family home in The Hague — and from that time the manufacture and sales were managed by the same company. As the demand for materials grew, the company found itself short of the necessary space and eventually, it was decided to relocate to the small town of Zelhem, in the East of the Netherlands. There it evolved into a truly international manufacturer of Montessori materials, making the materials according to the blueprints as specified, first by Maria Montessori and Mario Montessori, and later by the AMI Materials Committee to which the Montessoris’ had delegated the responsibility of liaising with Nienhuis. Over the years, AMI and Nienhuis, which almost share their “date of birth”, have grown together and both have become household names in the Montessori world.

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