De Punt is a village in the

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

province of Drenthe. It is a part of the municipality of

Tynaarlo Tynaarlo (; Gronings: ''Tynaorl'') is a village and municipality in the Northeastern Netherlands. Although it is located in the province of Drenthe, many of its communities serve as suburbs of the neighbouring city of Groningen, capital of the e ...

, and lies about 11 km south of Groningen. The village closely cooperates with

Yde Yde () is a village in the municipality of Tynaarlo in the province of Drenthe in the Netherlands. It lies about 11 km south of Groningen. Yde is twinned with De Punt as Yde-De Punt, however both remain separate villages. Yde is known as ...

and they are often referred to as Yde-De Punt, however both are still separate villages.

History

The village was first mentioned in 1424 as "ter Punte", and means "ferry". It refers to a ferry over the

Drentsche Aa The Drentsche Aa () is a river rising in the Netherlands, Dutch province of Drenthe, flowing through Drenthe and for the last part the province of Groningen (province), Groningen. It ends in the Schipsloot near Haren, which flows into the Noord-Wi ...

. In the early 19th century, it consisted of an

inn Inns are generally establishments or buildings where travelers can seek lodging, and usually, food and drink. Inns are typically located in the country or along a highway; before the advent of motorized transportation they also provided accommo ...

and one house. De Punt was home to 7 people in 1840. In 2008, De Punt reached national headlines as the site of a fire in a shipyard, in which three firemen, aged 29 (Raymond Patrick Soyer), 38 (Egbert Ubels) and 48 (Anne Kregel), died. They are commemorated by the asteroid 12156 Ubels.

1977 train hostage crisis

De Punt was the site for the 1977 Dutch train hostage crisis. In 1949, Indonesia became independent, and the

Royal Netherlands East Indies Army The Royal Netherlands East Indies Army ( nl, Koninklijk Nederlands Indisch Leger; KNIL, ) was the military force maintained by the Kingdom of the Netherlands in its colony of the Dutch East Indies, in areas that are now part of Indonesia. Th ...

was disbanded. The islands of

Ambon Ambon may refer to: Places * Ambon Island, an island in Indonesia ** Ambon, Maluku, a city on Ambon Island, the capital of Maluku province ** Governorate of Ambon, a colony of the Dutch East India Company from 1605 to 1796 * Ambon, Morbihan, a c ...

Buru Buru (formerly spelled Boeroe, Boro, or Bouru) is the third largest island within the Maluku Islands of Indonesia. It lies between the Banda Sea to the south and Seram Sea to the north, west of Ambon and Seram islands. The island belongs to ...

, and

Seram Seram (formerly spelled Ceram; also Seran or Serang) is the largest and main island of Maluku province of Indonesia, despite Ambon Island's historical importance. It is located just north of the smaller Ambon Island and a few other adjacent is ...

had fought on side of the Netherlands. They were opposed to a

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mos ...

-dominated Indonesia, and proclaimed the

Republic of South Maluku South Maluku, also South Moluccas, officially the Republic of South Maluku, was an unrecognised secessionist republic that claimed the islands of Ambon, Buru, and Seram, which make up the Indonesian province of Maluku. Dutch conquest exer ...

which resulted in an attack by Indonesia. In 1951, 12,000 refugees from South Maluku were temporarily resettled in the Netherlands. They started to feel betrayed, because it developed into permanent exile. On 23 May 1977, the train from

Assen Assen () is a municipality and a city in the northeastern Netherlands, and is the capital (politics), capital of the province of Drenthe. It received City rights in the Netherlands, city rights in 1809. Assen is known for TT Circuit Assen, the ...

to Groningen was hijacked by 9 armed South Moluccans. On 25 May, the hijackers threatened to blow up the train, if the Dutch government refused to plead for an independent South Maluku. On 11 June 1997, the Netherlands Marine Corps aided by the Air Force, attacked the train. There were eight deaths: six Moluccans and two civilians. The incident remains controversial due to excessive violence from the marines: a total of 144 bullets were fired. A claim for damages was denied by Minsiter

Ivo Opstelten Ivo Willem Opstelten (born 31 January 1944) is a retired Dutch politician and jurist. He is a member of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD). Opstelten applied at Leiden University in May 1963 majoring in Law and obtaining an Bac ...

in 2015. In 2018, three witnesses came forward and claimed that the marines had been ordered to shoot to kill.

Gallery

File:DePunt.JPG, Place name sign File:Gijzeling trein en school in de Punt , Bovensmilde trein met Zuid Molukse vlag , Bestanddeelnr 254-9950.jpg, 1977 train hostage

References

{{Authority control Populated places in Drenthe Tynaarlo