Peter-Vincent Schuld

Nothing in a society remains the same. The same goes for the economy. Factories are closing, people are losing their jobs, brands are disappearing.
Even if they were once iconic.

Even at the end of the 19th century, Antwerp had a pull effect on the Dutch. Actually, with the exception of the war years 1914-1918 and 1940-1945, this has never been different. Antwerp has always been a vibrant and irresistible city. Amsterdammer Sylvain De Jong
also exchanged Amsterdam for “Anvers”. He went there to try his luck in mobility. In 1895 he started a company under the name Mercury Cycle Co. with his two brothers Jacques and Henri + three other Antwerp merchants who produced bicycles.
Just a few years later, Sylvian De Jong started his own company under the name Sylvain de Jong & Co. and introduced his brand name Minerva, named after the Roman goddess of wisdom.

He opened his factory gates in Antwerp’s Karel Oomsstraat and soon about 200 bicycles were being produced per week. It didn’t stop at cycling. In 1900, Zürcher & Lüthi engines were added to the tubular frames, making the traded means of transport motorized. However, the technical idea of driving did not go so smoothly. An employee of the company started to focus on it and eventually managed to manufacture a motorcycle that functioned it. It was none other than Jan Olielagers who later managed to establish unparalleled name and fame with racing and flying. Later, a license was obtained from the manufacturer of the engines, which allowed them to produce the single-cylinder engines in-house. The engine was further developed, giving an engine the power of 1.5 HP. In 1901, the motorcycle trade began to flourish far beyond the Belgian borders. An assembly plant was set up in London, but it was liquidated again in 1904.

Yet they had a taste for it at Minerva. The engines became more powerful and better and several races had already yielded the necessary successes that left us wanting more. Later in 1904 the company name changed to Minerva Motors Ltd. and the Dutch David Citroen, who was already an importer of Minerva in the United Kingdom, became co-director in Antwerp. A new era dawned. Nowadays we would call them R&D departments (Research & Development -ed), but there was some testing in and from Antwerp.

The power of the engines increased. This went at such a rapid pace that at a certain point Minerva became the world’s market leader in motorcycles for motorcycles.

In 1904 a new period began in the great Minerva adventure. They started building cars. Initially with moderate success, but around 1908 things really took off when they acquired a license for a quieter engine developed by Charles Yale Knight. The engine did not use intake and exhaust valves, but sliding plates on the engine block, which significantly reduced the noise of the traditional engines at the time.

The car brand quickly grew into a prestigious brand.
You may not be able to imagine it now, but at the beginning of the last century, the greats, heads of state and other well-to-do of the earth were only too happy to be transported in vehicles of that one Belgian brand that could easily compete with Rolls Royce in terms of quality, finish, appearance, class and grandeur. Even car manufacturer Henry Ford owned one. Minerva gradually started to focus entirely on the construction of cars, especially after the construction of motorcycles was stopped in 1908. In 1911, the company even grew to become the largest employer.

But, dear readers, dark times also dawned for Minerva. The First World War broke out, Belgium was occupied by the Germans, countless Belgians fled to the Netherlands and so did the Dutch management of Minerva. The factory halls in Antwerp-Berchem were looted by the Germans. In 1920, De Jong and Citroen returned from Amsterdam to Antwerp. Minerva would rise from the ashes like a Phoenix. Cars and trucks with power and class as they are no longer made today.

In 1921, Minerva received permission from the municipality of Mortsel, near Antwerp, to open a new production facility in the Luithagen district. These factories built vehicles with powerful four- and six-cylinder engines.

But something was missing, that one symbol that makes a class car so recognizable, like the jaguar on the jaguar, the star on the Mercedes and the Spirit of Ecstacy on the Rolls Royce. In 1922, Paul de Soete designed an unmistakable Minerva mascot that would show off on the noses of the classy brand.

The company had its heyday with 6,500 employees at one point. Owner De Jong wanted to expand and invest.
So it happened that his own share in the firm shrunk in favor of lenders who invested in this iconic company. De Jong could not enjoy his success for long. Sylvain de Jong died of cancer in April 1928 at the age of 60.

A year and a half later, the company suffered another blow when the New York stock market plummeted. The demand for luxury cars decreased drastically. The years of the massive recession set in. In 1934 the company ran into great difficulties and failed, but a merger with another Belgian car brand, Imperia, allowed the company to continue to exist.

The Second World War again caused Minerva’s activities to cease. Nazi Germany confiscated the Minerva factories and started manufacturing and storing aircraft parts there. It became an attack target for the Allies. However, it failed tragically. The bombings did not hit the factory but the Mortsel district of Oude-God, which is located about a kilometer from the old Minverva factory, causing 936 civilian casualties in Mortsel, including 200 children. Something that is hard to realize when you drive through Mortsel these days. At first glance, there is nothing reminiscent of this tragedy. Nevertheless, there is a monument to the victims of the failed bombing of 5 April 1943.

In addition to the never-to-be-healed scar for the victims and surviving relatives, Minerva would never again be what it once was.
After the war, the Nieuwe Maatschappij Minerva was founded by Mathieu van Roggen, who also owned the car brand Imperia.
Under license, it started to build modified versions of Landrover off-road vehicles for the Belgian army. For the civilian market, all-terrain vehicles were built under the brand name Minerva Landrover for export to the Belgian Congo, Portugal, Brazil and even Australia.
After building scooters under license for a while in the fifties, the curtain fell for the company. Minerva was no more.

If you look at the photos accompanying this article, you will certainly see similarities with vehicles drawn in the older comic strips of Suske & Wiske.

Although Minerva as a car brand is now faded glory, it is and remains a glory that once celebrated its heyday.