Livery-stable van Delden was founded in 1888 in the Govert Flinckstraat in Amsterdam, an extension was later started in the Huidenkopersstraat. The exact day of the foundation is not known, but later the 1st of August was found in the archives.

When the war began in 1940 van Delden owned about 90 horses. This number was gradually diminished during these years of poverty and distress. Many horses were required by the German army, but the company was kept alive by constant breeding.

At the end of the war schools were closed and his father summoned young Piet van Delden to the stables; he welcomed the extra hand

At this moment the company is in hands of the fourth generation of the family Van Delden; Peter en Caroline.

Royal transportation

Traditionally, members of our Royal Family are transported solely by the Royal Stables. Livery-stable van Delden was, in 1956, the first to be given the privilege to transport Princess Beatrix on her tour through Amsterdam .  

The first carriage of the van Delden Company was a Landauer, the last one, still owned by the van Delden family was a Victoria.The most remarkable carriage used by van Delden was a so-called Handsom Cab pre-eminently a taxi-carriage, a type that was widely used in London during the Twenties. It was the first to be imported in the Netherlands.

From carriage to limousine

In 1959, an enormous auction of horses, carriages and harnesses heralded the end of the horse-carriage era. The van Delden stable kept 4 horses and a couple of carriages to be able to keep up with the decreasing demand, and Piet van Delden took over te management of the company, putting the emphasis on limousine transport.

In the same year the first car was bought; the first Cadillac in a long line of a class that is maintained in the recent van Delden fleet.

In 1971 the company moved from the stables on the Haarlemmerplein to the garage in the Visseringstraat, a more suitable place for limousines and at a more convenient location.

Remarkable persons

Excellent service and reliability gave van Delden the privilege to transport a long list of celebrities, of which we would like to name, among others: Princess Beatrix, Saint Nicolas, Alfred Heineken, Elisabeth Taylor, John Denver, Gloria Gaynor and Popov, David Hasselhof, Glen Close, Aretha Franklin.