Nieuwmarkt+Riots

=Nieuwmarkt Riots=

Amsterdam
There is an area in Amsterdam that is a small town called Nieuwmarkt (means “new Market”). It is at the city center of Amsterdam and is one of its oldest and most popular squares. It is filled with many restaurants that have outside seating as well as markets for books, antiques and other random items on the weekends. There is still a historic building located in Nieuwmarkt called the Waag. It was a gate for the medieval city and became the city center when the canals around it were filled in in the 1600’s. This area site is in close proximity to the famous red light district, but this is not why it is famous.

Like all cities making progress to keep up with modern times, in the early 1970’s there were plans to demolish many homes to make way for a planned train line and highway that would run through that part of town. This clearly upset the people of that area, so on March 24th, 1975 (referred to as Blue Monday) and April 8th, 1975, there were planned protests against demolishing perfectly good homes just for the sake of progress. These protests ended in fights with the local police. The police used water cannons mounted on armored trucks to beat back some of the rioters. This time was referred to as the Nieuwmarkt Riots (or Amsterdam metro riots). The Amsterdam City Council dropped the plans because of all the angry people that participated in the riots. It was eventually completed and opened in 1980. In the Nieuwmarkt terminal there are five pieces of art that were made as a reminder of the riots. One of the pieces is called the breaking wall. This symbolizes the planned demolitions from 1975.

As if the rioting wasn’t enough, there was an attempted bombing. A radical named Joop Baank planned to bomb the metro station Vensenpolder that was being built. His plan was to make the bombing seem like the protesters had become violent and it would stop the plans for the construction in Nieuwmarkt. Unfortunately, the Amsterdam police had been tipped that there were plans in the works and they had been listening to the phone conversations of the “Party Nieuw Rechts” to gather information. So when he showed up at the metro station, there were police waiting for him and his partners.

Even though those dates were very specific to one planned protest, there was about a 20 year period, from 1965 to 1985, when the residents of Nieuwmarkt and other protesters fought for some basic rights for the people. Items included self-government, better living conditions, the preservation of buildings instead of making room for new development and protecting the culture of the neighborhood. This time period has been referred to as the Twenty Year Civil War.