Grote Broek

De Grote Broek (English: The Big Trousers) is a legalised squat and self-managed social centre in central Nijmegen in the Netherlands. It was occupied in 1984 and legalised from 2002 onwards. It spans two sides of a city block and has entrances on both Van Broeckhuysenstraat and Tweede Walstraat. The project consists of two separate housing co-operatives living above a cafe on one side and Extrapool and a music venue on the other. Groups with shared political objectives are hosted at the centre.[1]

De Grote Broek

Grote Broek from front
Former names	De Grote Karel
Address	Van Broeckhuysenstraat 46, 6511 PK
Location	Nijmegen
Coordinates	51.8438°N 5.8660°E
Type	Social centre
Website
grotebroek.nl

History of building

The building was first used by two newspapers, the Provinciale Geldersche and the Nijmeegsche Courant. Afterwards it was a furniture shop before becoming derelict in the 1980s.[2]

Occupation

De Grote Broek was squatted on November 4, 1984. At first it was called De Grote Karel (English: the Big Karel) after the owner's name. The name later became De Grote Broek since one side of the block is on Van Broeckhuysenstraat. One resident was Louis Sévèke.[2]

Legalisation

Following the death of the owner in 2002, the city of Nijmegen bought the building and a legalisation process began. Negotiations were made between the occupiers and a housing corporation, Standvast Wonen.[2] The squatters therefore became renters and the renovations were completed in 2009.[3]

Activities

• The cafe is called De Klinker and serves vegan food.[1] It actually began in another squat in the 1970s.[4] There is also an anarchist library called De Zwarte Uil (English: The Black Owl).
• The venue is called De Onderbroek (English: The Underpants). It is located in the basement and hosts a variety of events, including punk and hardcore gigs.[5] It is running since 1986.[4]
• Extrapool is an artist-run initiative.
• Anarchist Black Cross Nijmegen.[4]
• Stichting Gast works with migrants.[2]
• Stichting Straatmensen works with homeless people.[2]

Recent events

The Grote Broek celebrated 30 years of existence in November 2014.[6]

In 2018, an extreme right group was offended by the Grote Broek organising a 'Refugees Welcome' picnic. The group demonstrated for the closure of the centre, which they termed "a violent breeding ground for extreme leftism".[7]

In the same time period there were also scuffles outside the Grote Broek between rightwing supporters of Zwarte Piet celebrations and leftwingers who see it as racism.[8]

In 2019, a person was arrested near the Grote Broek and charged with making a death threat against politician Thierry Baudet because the previous day they had been at a demonstration in Amsterdam and had shouted "If you want to shoot Thierry dead say pow!" (Dutch: Als je Thierry dood wil schieten, zeg dan paf!).[9]

See also

• Landbouwbelang
• Vrankrijk
• Vrijplaats Koppenhinksteeg

References

1. Redactie (13 December 2018). "Koken voor een betere wereld". Het Algemeen Nijmeegs Studentenblad. Archived from the original on 6 April 2019. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
2. "De Grote Broek". Volksbelang van 1895. Archived from the original on 10 April 2019. Retrieved 9 April 2019.
3. de Gelderlander, Redactie (28 March 2009). "Krakersbolwerk Grote Broek in Oorspronkelijke Staat". Gelderlander. Archived from the original on 10 April 2019. Retrieved 9 April 2019.
4. Hendriks, Gabriëlla (1 December 2014). "Vluchtplaats voor andersdenkenden". Nijmeegse Stadskrant. Archived from the original on 6 April 2019. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
5. Lohman, Kirsty (2015). PhD: Punk Lives: Contesting Boundaries in the Dutch Punk Scene. Warwick University. Archived from the original on 12 April 2019. Retrieved 8 April 2019.
6. Beau (30 October 2014). "30 Jaar de Grote Broek". Nijmegen Cultuurstad. Archived from the original on 10 April 2019. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
7. Friedrichs, Stephen (9 October 2018). "Extreem-rechts wil demonstreren tegen De Grote Broek: 'Sluit dit voormalig krakersbolwerk'". Gelderlander. Archived from the original on 6 April 2019. Retrieved 9 April 2019.
8. Wassenaar, Saskia (19 November 2018). "Drie Nijmeegse incidenten tijdens intocht Sinterklaas, maar nul aangiftes". Gelderlander. Archived from the original on 6 April 2019. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
9. de Gelderlander, Redactie (27 March 2019). "Extreemlinks reageert online op doodsbedreiging richting Thierry Baudet: 'PAF!'". Gelderlander. Archived from the original on 3 April 2019. Retrieved 9 April 2019.