De Grote Broek (

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

: ''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 Extrapool is a Nijmegen based non-profit foundation and an artist-run initiativehttp://www.bataforum.nl/alternatievestadsgids?sobi2Task=sobi2Details&sobi2Id=9 focused on experimental music, movies, avant-garde art and underground art. Extrapool wa ...

and a music venue on the other. Groups with shared political objectives are hosted at the centre.

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.

Occupation

De Grote Broek was

squatted Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building, usually residential, that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there ...

on November 4, 1984. At first it was called De Grote Karel (

: 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.

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. The squatters therefore became renters and the renovations were completed in 2009.

Activities

*The cafe is called De Klinker and serves vegan food. It actually began in another squat in the 1970s. There is also an anarchist library called De Zwarte Uil (

: The Black Owl). *The venue is called De Onderbroek (

: The Underpants). It is located in the basement and hosts a variety of events, including punk and hardcore gigs. It is running since 1986. *

is an

artist-run initiative An artist-run space or artist-run centre (Canada) is a gallery or other facility operated or directed by artists, frequently circumventing the structures of public art centers, museums, or commercial galleries and allowing for a more experimental ...

. *

Anarchist Black Cross The Anarchist Black Cross (ABC), formerly the Anarchist Red Cross, is an anarchist support organization. The group is notable for its efforts at providing prisoners with political literature, but it also organizes material and legal support for c ...

Nijmegen. *Stichting Gast works with migrants. *Stichting Straatmensen works with homeless people.

Recent events

The Grote Broek celebrated 30 years of existence in November 2014. 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". In the same time period there were also scuffles outside the Grote Broek between right wing supporters of

Zwarte Piet Zwarte Piet (; lb, Schwaarze Péiter, fy, Swarte Pyt), also known in English by the translated name Black Pete, is the companion of Saint Nicholas ( nl, Sinterklaas, fy, Sinteklaas, lb, Kleeschen) in the folklore of the Low Countries. The ...

celebrations and leftwingers who see it as racism. In 2019, someone was arrested near the Grote Broek and charged with making a death threat against politician

Thierry Baudet Thierry Henri Philippe Baudet (; born 28 January 1983) is a Dutch far-right politician, author and self-declared conspiracy theorist. He is the founder and leader of Forum for Democracy (FvD), and has been a member of the House of Representative ...

because the previous day she had been at a demonstration in Amsterdam and had sung "If you want to shoot Thierry dead say pow!" (

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 ...

: Als je Thierry dood wil schieten, zeg dan paf!).

References