BATA, SCHOENENREUS IN NEDERLAND: BERICHTGEVING OVER TOMÁŠ BAT’A EN DE AANLOOP NAAR BATADORP IN DE NEDERLANDSE DAGBLADEN
BATA, A SHOE GIANT IN THE NETHERLANDS: WHAT DUTCH NEWSPAPERS WROTE ABOUT TOMÁŠ BAT’A AND THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE BATADORP

Summary/Abstract: When Tomáš Bat’a died in a plane crash on 12 July 1932, he had already built a largeinternational shoe empire. Largely, this was due to his revolutionary business management, namelyrationalisation of production. By taking control of the entire production process in one place andhaving regard for employee welfare in the form of housing, training and leisure, the Bata companywas able to offer very competitive prices. This allowed Bata to open shops worldwide in the 1920sand from the early 1930s – owing to protectionist measures during the global economic crisis – toopen factories, including company towns copied from the home town of Zlín. This also happenedin the Netherlands, where Batadorp arose in 1934 near the Dutch town of Best. This article firstlooks at the image Dutch newspapers painted of the industrial pioneer Tomáš Bat’a after his deathin 1932. It then examines the coverage of the plans for the establishment of a Bata factory nearBest – all in times of economic crisis in general and in the Dutch shoe industry in particular.

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