Press Release
PUTTING DOWN ROOTS. On the Trail of C&A in Sneek
DAS Forum ǀ November 26, 2025, to April 26, 2026

The fashion company C&A is active internationally, but where exactly was it founded in 1841? This seemingly simple question has evolved into a complex search for clues, the subject of this exhibition. The focus is on what is known as the Stammhaus (original home) in Sneek, Netherlands, which was considered the company’s place of origin for decades—but is most certainly not. Using historical documents, photographs, and research, the exhibition traces the actual history of C&A’s founding location. The exhibition documents this process and clarifies that the founding myth is not just a place—it is also a construct.

The Myth of the “Original Home”
Places of origin have something mystical about them. The small half-timbered house considered the “original home” of the steel company founded by Friedrich Krupp in 1811 still stands on the grounds of its headquarters in Essen. It looks like a foreign object amid the modern administrative buildings that have been erected around it. Similarly, the garage where Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak assembled the first Apple computer is now a historical site. Companies need such historical anchor points. This is especially true for family businesses like C&A. For a long time, the house at Oosterdijk 7/9 in Sneek was considered the company’s founding location. Until recently, a plaque on the current building—a semidetached house with two boutiques—commemorated this special place. However, it was actually the site of Clemens and August Brenninkmeijer’s first shop, which they opened in 1860—nearly twenty years after founding the company. The Brenninkmeijers started their own business in 1841, initially working as traveling salesmen. But where exactly was the building where they had their first warehouse and conducted their early business activity? Where did the history of C&A actually begin? This exhibition exemplarily addresses these previously unanswered questions.

A Visible Sign of Success
Although the “original store” was not where the company was founded, it was the first shop owned by the family and a visible sign of their business success. In the 1950s, C&A featured the building in advertising materials as a symbol of its roots and tradition. Although C&A no longer has a store here, this place remains significant—perhaps precisely because the exact location of its founding remains unclear to this day.

In the exhibition PUTTING DOWN ROOTS, visitors can look forward to an exciting, multilayered journey of discovery through archives, city history, and corporate memory.