Facade Portrait: Jelle & Kees Hofstede

Jelle & Kees Hofstede

* Jelle born in 2002 in Utrecht/Netherlands

* Kees born in 2005 in Blue Hill/USA

Immigration to Bremerhaven: 2008

Jelle Hofstede is born in 2002 in Utrecht. Just a year later, his parents receive an offer to write their doctoral theses at the University of Maine. Together, the family emigrates from the Netherlands to the USA. In 2005, Jelle gets a little brother: Kees is born. Following a job offer at AWI in Germany, the family packs their bags again three years later. This time, they are heading to Bremerhaven.

The beginning in the port city is challenging and sometimes isolating for the two brothers, as they first need to learn German. Jelle starts attending a German course twice a week, and Kees learns the language in kindergarten. But soon their multilingualism becomes an advantage: Jelle helps with translations on school trips in the Netherlands, and Kees notices that the other kids find it interesting that he comes from the USA and speaks different languages fluently:

Jelle & Kees Hofstede, 2011

“We speak Dutch with our parents. My brother and I just mix everything together. We switch in the middle of a sentence from English to Dutch to German.”

Jelle graduated from high school in 2020 and hopes to start a physics degree at the University of Groningen. Kees continues attending school and uses his language talent for voice acting in self-written short films. 

At home, the family maintains Dutch traditions. Particularly important to them is the celebration of St. Nicholas, as St. Nicholas Day is celebrated in the Netherlands as a large family festival, similar to Christmas in Germany. Jelle and Kees feel connected to multiple cultures. Jelle says:

“I don’t think there’s a label for me like, ‘I am a Dutchman, I am an American, or I am a German or Bremerhaven local.'”