Maastricht Piece of Steel Christmas Tree

 Piece of Steel Christmas Tree 

A Great Example of Working Together and Thinking Outside The Box

 This in Maastricht (At home in Maastricht) by Laurens Bouvrie

Inventiveness, thinking out of the box; but also keeping the courage and doing something crazy. The average Maastricht entrepreneur who is affected by the corona crisis has undoubtedly let one of these thoughts go through his head. So is Pierre Rieu, in addition of being the right-hand man during concert series by dad Andre Rieu, runs his company "Piece of Steel." That company and the vision of Rieu Jr. can safely be called a strong example of "Made in Maastricht." He himself calls the 28-meter-high Christmas tree on the banks of the Maas, which already has been photographed quite often, a typical case of entrepreneurial drawing outside the lines. At home in Maastricht city historian Laurens Bouvrie spoke with Pierre Rieu.

Pierre Rieu is happy to talk about his towering steel Christmas tree located between the Maas, De Griend and the Sint Martinuskerk in Wyck. His company "Piece of Steel" has been around for about four years now. It owns an enormous amount of steel structures. Over the years, Andre Rieu's production company purchased this steel to be able to build the most enchanting stages. Who does not remember the perfectly recreated Schönbrunn Palace, or the Sissi Palace. In addition to the immense castle flanked by two ice rinks (600 m2), no less than 450 tons of steel and 600 tons of ballast material were used by Rieu et al. To realize the stage measuring 125 by 30 and a height of 35 meters.

More than ten years ago, this World Stadium Tour construction made the concerts of Andre Rieu and the Johann Strauss Orchestra the most impressive in the world.

The tour force of that time has eternal value and also provides Pierre Rieu an incredible experience. But after that, the "Rieu-circus" and the accompanying stage were brought back to normal, yet still impressive, proportions. The purchased steel constructions were stored in the Netherlands and Germany, but were not left there aimlessly. Pierre Rieu: “We soon managed to make contact with event companies worldwide. They are always looking for good stage material. So we had plenty of that at home. ”So it came about that over the years the "Rieu-steel" was increasingly rented for numerous large events and concerts. Roughly four years ago, Pierre Rieu incorporated all that material and know-how into a company with the all-telling name of " Piece of Steel."  “From that moment on we also started to think more and more about how we could lease our materials even more optimally to more than just sectors of the entertainment industry."  That is a great objective, but as André Rieu's right-hand man and being responsible for just about everything around the concerts except the music, you also have to find time to develop ideas and plans.

And then the world - especially that part of events and concerts - suddenly comes to a standstill. From the Rolling Stones to André Rieu, from Beppie Kraft to Roger Villevoye; the entire artist world - like so many other industries - was forced to become idle. “Going on tour is our life and also our sandwich. Just like for many other entrepreneurs, this period is a business drama. Yes, that certainly gives a feeling of powerlessness at first. Not only my father's worldwide concerts have been at zero for months, ” says his son. “The rental of the stage steel also came to a complete standstill.” Pierre Rieu cannot change the "no performances"; he did start to brood on alternatives to Piece of Steel. Rieu Jr. soon realized that his company did not only have a "mountain of iron". It also has advanced software and employees who know how to devise and design a variety of constructions.

Rieu Jr. speaks with passion about what can be done with all those materials. “When we started seriously thinking about doing constructions not affiliated with the events sector about three months ago, we quickly came to the conclusion that we can serve a very broad field. We can provide support to dry docks, road builders and other companies who carry out large jobs that require construction. An absolute plus is that we have two large cranes. These two gigantic transport lifts were used, for example, at the end of the first decade at the concerts in the Amsterdam Arena (now Johan Cruijff ArenA).”

Back to the southern tip of the Griendpark. That oversized Piece of Steel Christmas tree has been standing there for over a week now. Pierre Rieu says he is proud and happy that his idea will be there until the beginning of January 2021, and will bring extra luster to Maastricht in these, for many people, 'dark times'. “I cannot emphasize enough that within less than a week it brought forth a perfect collaboration. Center management Maastricht and the municipality were not only just as enthusiastic as we, but they have done everything to give the project - in accordance with all rules and safety standards - the green light. But it did not stop at that close collaboration. The owners of the catering company Noon provided us with food and drink during the days of construction; and Johan Ropers (owner of, among other things, the oliebollen (Dutch doughnuts) and ice cream stand on the Vrijthof, ed.) came spontaneously to treat them to oliebollen. Despite the fact that we are in special and difficult times, all of this gives such a warm feeling of Maastricht unity. That makes me very happy!”

But of course Pierre Rieu hopes that this Maastricht Piece of Steel Christmas tree can also be seen elsewhere in the country, or perhaps even beyond in the coming years. Rieu again: “We have enough steel in house to make seven of these types of Christmas trees. Perhaps some additional supporting materials will have to be bought in addition. But as far as I am concerned, a steel tree in green with a red star will be at the Heineken Music Hall during Christmas 2021; or what about a completely orange version at Boels Rental.”

Thanks to Ineke for this article and John's translation