Nieuwmarkt riots explained

Nieuwmarkt riots
Date:24 March – 8 April 1975
Place:Nieuwmarkt, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Causes:Construction of the Amsterdam Metro
Result:Future plans for additional metro lines are abandoned
Methods:Rioting, protests, barricades
Side1:Local residents
Side2:100+ Municipal police officers
500 Military police officers

The Nieuwmarkt riots (Dutch: Nieuwmarktrellen), also referred to as the Amsterdam metro riots, were a series of serious disturbances in the Nieuwmarkt neighbourhood of Amsterdam, Netherlands. On 24 March 1975, which later became known as Blue Monday,[1] and on 8 April 1975, protests against the planned demolition of homes ended in confrontations with over a hundred municipal police supported by 500 military police.[2] The homes were considered by residents and protesters to be in good condition, but had to make way for the construction of the East Line tunnel of the Amsterdam metro.[3] This was needed because the construction of the 3.5 km tunnel was largely done by sinking large concrete caissons. As a result of the riots, the city council of Amsterdam decided to abandon further plans for additional metro lines.

In 1980, the Nieuwmarkt metro station was opened. It is decorated with artworks that memorialize the turbulent times.[4]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Book: Christopher Catling. Travellers Amsterdam. 1 June 2003. Thomas Cook Publishing. 978-1-84157-261-1.
  2. Book: Verstraete, Ginette . Paris-Amsterdam Underground . 2013 . Amsterdam University Press . 9789089645050 . Essays on Cultural Resistance, Subversion, and Diversion . 77–96 . Underground Visions . 10.1515/9789048518203-008 . j.ctt6wp6td.10.
  3. Web site: Civil unrest: Nieuwmarkt ABC. City Archives of Amsterdam. 31 July 2014. dead. https://archive.today/20130222141441/http://stadsarchief.amsterdam.nl/english/amsterdam_treasures/civil_unrest/nieuwmarkt_abc/index.en.html. 22 February 2013.
  4. Book: Susan S. Fainstein. The Just City. 22 July 2010. Cornell University Press. 978-0-8014-6218-4. 146–.