José Otten lived in a remarkable student house for 10 years

21 May 2026

Under one roof

Studenthouses are more than just places to live. They form the backdrop to friendships, personal growth and memories that last a lifetime. In this series, members of the UM community share stories about special student houses. Their experiences show what makes 50 years of student life in Maastricht and beyond so unique.

‘‘Two married housemates would even have wanted to buy the house’’

We begin with former employee José Otten, who spent 10 years living with students from different programmes and faculties.

“One of the rooms in our house had a grand piano,” José Otten recalls. “Music was a kind of constant: from ‘Owner of a Lonely Heart’ by Yes, which you’d regularly hear all the way to the kitchen, to the impromptu bands we’d form when we got together. With some of my later housemates, ‘Vlieg met mij naar de regenboog’ by Paul de Leeuw became the house song. We loved singing along at the tops of our voices.”

Not a typical student house

‍Otten moved to Maastricht in 1981 with her childhood sweetheart, whom she knew from Dominicus College inNijmegen. “He came to study health sciences in Maastricht, and I had almost graduated, so I decided to look for a job in Limburg.” The couple spent three years in a student house in the Maastricht district of Blauwdorp before finding a spacious room at Capucijnenstraat 73, near the Vrijthof in the city centre.

During the decade she spent in the house, Otten lived with several generations of residents. At any given time, she had 10 or 11 housemates. She was one of the few who was already working. The others were mainly students, but she didn’t mind. She found it fun, and she too was following a part-time vocational course alongside her job.

“Besides, it wasn’t a typical student house: we had people of all different ages and backgrounds,” she says. “There were students of law, medicine, economics and health sciences at Maastricht University, but also students from the art academy, the teacher training college, the music conservatory and the translation programme.”

Bio

José Otten

José Otten studied at the Academie Mens & Arbeid at Saxion University of Applied Sciences and completed a part-time vocational course in human resources management. She held various positions in career guidance and coaching at SBK (a Dutch organisation for adult education and career development), Mens & Arbeid and the Regional Service Centre before founding her own company in 1996. In 1999, alongside running her own business, she started working part-time at UM: first as a study counsellor at the Student Services Centre and later as a coach on career, talent, and work-related questions for employees. She retired in January 2026, but still provides (career) coaching through her own company.

Community-minded

Was it all smooth sailing, with so many different people under one roof? “It was a bit like team development. Learning to work together, dealing with irritations, giving feedback. In a studenthouse, you develop all kinds of skills without even noticing. We didn’t have many rules, but we did have a cleaning rota and a monthly house meeting, which was usually good fun. Despite our differences, we always figured things out.”

She describes the atmosphere as “very warm, safe, community-minded and free.” The residents lived closely together. “We all hung out in the kitchen, which had a sink and seven hotplates. Whoever joined dinner paid in cash; there was no WieBetaaltWat or Tikkie back then, of course. We celebrated Easter and Sinterklaas, and when the weather was nice, the landlord, who lived below us, sometimes let us use the garden. If we wanted to get out for a while, we went to our favourite pub, De Perroen. I even travelled to India, Malaysia, Malta, Portugal, the United States, and Ireland with some of my housemates.”

Mario Kart

They shared not only joys, but sorrows too. Otten recalls: “During those years, there was the Bijlmer plane crash and the disappearance of Tanja Groen, whom some of us knew from the student association Circumflex. One of our housemates was diagnosed with cancer. Events like that made an impression. Fortunately, we could always talk about it. We were really there for one another. The same was true when someone was struggling with their studies; I regularly proofread theses, for example.”

In those days, theses were still typed on a typewriter. “At one point my boyfriend got a computer, and of course the whole house wanted to use it. The main difference between student life then and now is all the digital developments. Sitting behind your laptops together or playing Mario Kart wasn’t an option for us. Nor was texting; we just knocked on each other’s doors. And there was one communal telephone in the hallway, so everyone could listen in.”

Down the street

When she moved in, Otten had no inkling that she would not only live with all kinds of UM students, but later work at the university herself – for 26 years, no less. She worked as a careercoach for students and staff, and has fond memories of her time at UM. “Especially in the early days, the atmosphere was very informal, as I heard from my housemates; even with professors, you could just drop in on them. “Later, when the university grew, that became less so, but I always thoroughly enjoyed working there and had many wonderful colleagues.”

Otten still lives on Capucijnenstraat, now at the end of the street. The student house at number 73 is still there, owned by the same family. And she still speaks to the landlady – now 92 – and her son. Has she stayed in touch with her former housemates? “Apart from me, hardly anyone stayed in Maastricht. But we’re in regular contact and have a close bond. Two of my former housemates are even married. They dreamt of buying the house, which shows just how special it was there. There hasn’t been an official reunion yet, but we really should organise one!”

Below you can find a short photo impression featuring personal images from José’s archive.

Text: Milou Schreuders
Photography: Harry Heuts and personal images