| Vrankrijk | |
|---|---|
 Vrankrijk in 2015 | |
 | |
| General information | |
| Address | Spuistraat 216 |
| Town or city | Amsterdam |
| Country | Netherlands |
| Coordinates | 52°22′18″N4°53′21″E / 52.371667°N 4.889167°E |
| Completed | 1875 |
| Opened | 1982 (squatted) |
| Website | |
| vrankrijk | |
Vrankrijk is a legalised squat and self-managed social centre on the Spuistraat in central Amsterdam. There is an events space on the ground floor and above it a separate housing group.
The building was constructed in 1875. It was called Vrankrijk (Frankrijk means 'France' in Dutch) from the very beginning. [1] After first being a woodworking shop, it became a printers. During World War II it was used by Marten Toonder and others to print fake documents for the resistance. [2]
Vrankrijk was squatted in November 1982 in order to stop its demolition. [3] It had stood empty for 7 years and was in a very bad state. It was repaired by the occupiers and became a central meeting space for the Amsterdam squatters movement, still thriving after the coronation and Vondelstraat riots of 1980. [4]
In 1991, the owner of the building at first threatened to evict the squatters and then offered to sell them the building. [5] The first offer was rejected but after the owner's workplace was occupied by 50 people, he stated he would sell the building if certain conditions were met. [6]
Since 1984, the groundfloor functions as a non-commercial events space. Many groups have organised benefits and infonights there. [7] The venue, which is separate to the living spaces above it, remains squatted. [3] In the 2010s, Vrankrijk hosts mainly punk and queer parties. [8] [9] The building itself is well-known in Amsterdam for its colourful facade and anarchist slogans beside the door. [10]
The German NGO Sea-Watch, which supports the rescue of migrants in the Mediterranean, uses Vrankrijk as its official location. [11]
In September 2008, an incident occurred late at night in which two people were thrown out of the bar. When they tried to re-enter, they were aggressive and caused a fight. One of the two, a squatter nicknamed Yoghurt, ended up unconscious and received serious injuries. In consequence Mayor of Amsterdam Job Cohen closed the bar. [1] In 2009, two people were sentenced to two years in jail (8 months suspended) for attacking Yoghurt with a piece of scaffolding pipe. A third person was not punished, since the court decided he had hit Yoghurt but his violence was proportionate. [12]
The bar reopened in 2012, run by a new collective (Stichting Tweeënveertig). Cohen's successor, Eberhard van der Laan, accepted this under the condition that all the people who were involved in the previous incident were excluded and that the collective made a business plan. [13]
The 1997 European Council meeting occurred in Amsterdam on 16 and 17 June, resulting in the Treaty of Amsterdam. On Sunday 15 June, a large police operation targeted Vrankrijk, which was a base for the planned counter-demonstrations. Police filmed everyone entering and leaving the building. Some people were arrested and charged with membership of a criminal organisation. Later on, a group of 350 people left Vrankrijk, heading to the police station to support the arrestees. The entire group was arrested and charged with the same crime, making it the largest mass arrest in the Netherlands since 1966. Vrankrijk itself was not raided. [14] A judge was later highly critical of the actions of the police. [15]
Juan Ramón Rodrìguez Fernández was arrested on January 17, 2001 in an Amsterdam supermarket by Dutch police acting on a Eurojust request from the Spanish Guardia Civil related to investigations concerning the Basque group ETA. Fernández, known as Juanra, was the singer of the Barcelona hardcore band KOP. As a result, the police raided Vrankrijk with 200 officers, checking all 14 bedrooms despite only having a warrant to search where Fernández had been staying. [16]
Schagen is a city and municipality in the northwestern Netherlands. It is located between Alkmaar and Den Helder, in the region of West Friesland and the province of North Holland. It received city rights in 1415. In 2013, Schagen merged with Zijpe and Harenkarspel. Together they have formed a new municipality, which is also called Schagen. The townhall is located in the main town of Schagen.
The Poortgebouw is a national monument located at Stieltjesstraat 38 in the Kop van Zuid area of Rotterdam, the Netherlands. It was built beside the River Maas in 1879 and experienced a range of uses until it was squatted 3 October 1980. It had been standing empty for 2 years and was squatted as a protest intended to highlight the lack of affordable residential housing in Rotterdam.
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The Dutch squatting ban refers to the law introduced on 1 October 2010, under which squatting in the Netherlands became de jure illegal. Criminalization had first been proposed in the 1970s, but was opposed by the Council of Churches. In 2006, a new plan was proposed and backed by parties including VVD and PVV. When the new law was introduced, squatters occupied the former head office of the fire brigade and there were riots in Amsterdam and Nijmegen. In 2011, the Supreme Court of the Netherlands ruled that the legally forced end of squatting can only occur after an intervention of a judge. Between October 2010 and December 2014, 529 people were arrested for the act of occupying derelict buildings, in 213 separate incidents as a result of which 39 people were jailed.
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The Spuistraat in downtown Amsterdam connects the Hekelveld to the Spui. It runs roughly north to south, parallel to the Singel and the Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal. At the Royal Palace of Amsterdam, the Spuistraat crosses the Raadhuisstraat and Paleisstraat. Originally the Spuistraat was a canal, the Nieuwezijds Achterburgwal. The canal was filled in in 1867, and the street renamed then.
The WNC squat was a self-managed social centre in Groningen, the Netherlands. It was squatted in 1985 and evicted in 1990.
Squatting in the Netherlands is the occupation of unused or derelict buildings or land without the permission of the owner. The modern squatters movement began in the 1960s in the Netherlands. By the 1980s, it had become a powerful anarchist social movement which regularly came into conflict with the state, particularly in Amsterdam with the Vondelstraat and coronation riots.
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Het bekende Vrankrijk bijvoorbeeld, een oude drukkerij aan de Spuistraat in Amsterdam, werd in 1982 bezet om het pand voor de sloop te behoeden. Tien jaar later werd het gebouw met financiële hulp van sympathisanten gekocht en ondergebracht in de stichting Dilemma, al bleef het café formeel wel gekraakt om een verlies van het politieke karakterte voorkomen.
Begin dit jaar dreigde de eigenaar per brief met ontruiming. Na enkele weken trok hij dit dreigement in, hierbij zei hij het pand eventueel te willen verkopen. Aan ons!!!
Pas begin september kwam er een reaktie van de eigenaar: het bod was te vaag. Hierop werd maandag 9 sept. het bouwbedrijf van de eigenaar bezet door zo'n 50 à 60 mensen. De aktie verliep goed en resulteerde in een gesprek met de Wit (eigenaar van Vrankrijk). Hieruit bleek dat De Wit eventueel nog aan ons wil verkopen als wij een serieus bod doen, bankgaranties hebben, een rechtspersoon hebben en dat binnen 3 weken.
Ontelbare organisaties en groepen hebben ondertussen in Vrankrijk benefieten/infoavonden met ons georganiseerd.
Je herkent het aan de kleurrijke gevel en de anarchistische leuzen bij de ingang.
| (Legalized) squats | |
|---|---|
| Evicted squats | |
| Collectives | |
| Events | |
| Related articles | |
