In 1975, the Naberpassage with the Naber parking garage was built. This complex stood on the site of the current 'Nieuwe Markt' and the Forum. On the Grote Markt side of the Naberpassage, the stairs to, among others, Pizzeria 'Isolabella' (later café 'Boven Jan'), were decorated with a striking work of art. The stairs were named after painter and monumental artist, Jan van der Zee. As a resident of Stad, you either loved this 'Jan van der Zee Stairs', or you just 'didn't like it at all'. Jan van der Zee designed the stairs at the request of the architectural firm Klein in Groningen, the designer of the Naberpassage. The artist made a number of elements in which various abstract-geometric shapes alternate. He then placed the 10 parts behind each other. The repetition of the shapes created a rhythmic whole. The openings in the stair decoration gave the massive relief some 'air'. Jan van der Zee's working method was special because he drew the design in actual size. He then made moulds of polystyrene for the loose parts, which he reinforced with wooden formwork. The concrete was then poured into the forms. Jan van der Zee was born in Leeuwarden in 1898. He began his education at the Minerva Academy in Groningen in 1913. In the 1920s, Jan van der Zee worked in the style of constructivism. When he joined the Groningen art circle De Ploeg in 1923, he was an opponent of expressionism, the style in which many other Ploeg members worked, but he did work innovatively. Jan van der Zee was mainly interested in the aesthetics of the visual language. Abstract geometric colour planes that often depict buildings and landscapes. His art was based on reality. Van der Zee lived in the same neighbourhood around the Korreweg for almost his entire Groningen period. The Riouwstraat, Fivelstraat, AP Fokkerstraat, Oosterhamrikkade and for more than 50 years in the same upstairs apartment, on the JC Kapteynlaan 40-B. Jan van der Zee died in Groningen at the end of 1988. He left behind a very varied oeuvre, which consists of paintings, lithographs, drawings, woodcuts, linocuts, watercolours and furniture. The Groningen landscape with farmers with horses, harbour views and cityscapes were Jan van der Zee's most important subjects. His very last work was a design for 7 stained glass windows in the Martinikerk in 1979. Due to a lack of money, only the 4 round windows were installed. The 3 large lancet windows were only made in 1998, 10 years after Van der Zee's death. This was thanks to Henk Vonhoff, who wanted to use the gift that Gasunie gave him when he retired as Queen's Commissioner for these windows. But the most discussed monumental work in the city, by Jan van der Zee, is undoubtedly his 'staircase decoration' for the Naberpassage. In 2013, the stairs were removed due to the renovation of the east wall of the Grote Markt and the demolition of the Naberpassage, and since then it has been in storage. The Municipality of Groningen and Kunstpunt Groningen, which manages art in the public space of the City of Groningen, have investigated various possible locations to relocate the stairs over the years, but no suitable location came along. When Geveke director Harry Leggedoor read in the newspaper in December 2016 that the municipality was looking for a new destination for the concrete artwork, he suggested placing the stairs at his construction project 'Crossroads' on the former ACM site along the Reitdiep. Construction company Geveke was going to build a new apartment complex on this site. Kunstpunt Groningen then consulted with the Van der Zee heirs. They and the municipality agreed to the placement. Two street lamps by artist Alexander Schabracq have also found a new place on the site. The two lamps were originally on the Damrak in Amsterdam and had also been in storage with the municipality of Groningen since 2013. 10 years after its removal from the Naberpassage on the Grote Markt, Jan van der Zee's 'staircase decoration' has been given a beautiful spot. The staircase is located on the Donghornsterpad cycle path, between the Friesestraatweg and the Reitdiep, at the railway line and the historic ACM cycle bridge. Text sources: • nl.m.wikipedia.org • Focusgroningen.nl • Kunstpuntgroningen.nl • Benohofman.nl • Cultuurarchief.nl Photo and film sources: • nl.m.wikipedia.org • Beno's Stad • Jan van der Zee - Beno's Stad 213 (12... • Beeldbankgroningen.nl • Focusgroningen.nl • nos.nl/regio/groningen • Via 'X' @Benstriesenou1 • Own photo and film material Music source: • via YouTube account @FreesoundMusic - • 60 min mix of royalty free Vintage Jazz