Ruigoord () is a village in the Houtrak''polder'' 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 North Holland, situated within the municipality of

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

. Until the 1880s, it was an island in the IJ bay, which was turned into a polder. In the 1960s, the municipality planned to extend the

Port of Amsterdam The port of Amsterdam ( nl, Haven van Amsterdam) is a seaport in Amsterdam in North Holland, Netherlands. It is the 4th busiest port in Europe by metric tonnes of cargo. The port is located on the bank of a former bay named the IJ and the Nor ...

. From 1972 onwards

squatters 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 ...

occupied buildings and started a free zone. After resisting eviction in 1997, the area was legalized in 2000. The village is nowadays partially closed in by the port, and lies about 8 km east of Haarlem.''ANWB Topografische Atlas Nederland'', Topografische Dienst and ANWB, 2005.

Harbour Project

In 1964, plans were drawn up by the municipality of

to build the for the

petrochemical industry The petrochemical industry is concerned with the production and trade of petrochemicals. A major part is constituted by the plastics (polymer) industry. It directly interfaces with the petroleum industry, especially the downstream sector. Comp ...

. The plan included the annexation of of land belonging to

Haarlemmerliede en Spaarnwoude Haarlemmerliede en Spaarnwoude () is a former municipality in the Netherlands, located in the province of North Holland. It had a population of 5,760 in August 2017. On 1 January 2019, it merged with the municipality of Haarlemmermeer. The munici ...

, including the village of Ruigoord. Amsterdam immediately set out to acquire real estate in and around Ruigoord, and started to prepare the farmland for construction. In 1972, a group of artists squatted some abandoned houses. In 1973, became mayor of Haarlemmerliede en Spaarnwoude, and wanted to put the annexation to a vote. The same evening, he received a call from , the Queen's Commissioner of North Holland who told him that annexation was a done deal and not open for discussion. A lengthy legal battle between Haarlemmerliede en Spaarnwoude on the one hand, and Amsterdam and the Province of North Holland on the other hand commenced. For strategic reasons, the squatters were encouraged to settle in Ruigoord.

1973 demolition

The village was scheduled to be demolished on 23 July 1973. On Sunday 22 July 1973, the local priest performed his last

mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different eleme ...

, and handed the keys of the church to the squatters. The next day, the road to the village was barricaded, and the squatters led by and successfully managed to stop the demolition crew. The 1973 oil crisis further complicated the Africa Harbour project. Ruigoord became a free zone and started to attract artists like Simon Vinkenoog. It also became known for its drugs. In 1984, Haarlemmerliede en Spaarnwoude tried to change the village into a "green zone" where industry is not allowed, but the plans were blocked by the Province. In November 1995, mayor IJsselmuiden accepted an offer to become mayor of

Edam-Volendam Edam-Volendam () is a municipality in the northwest Netherlands, in the province of North Holland, primarily consisting of the towns of Edam and Volendam. It is situated on the western shore of the Markermeer, just north of Waterland. In 2019, ...

. His main reason for resigning was the tiresome 22-year legal battle with Amsterdam.

Annexation

On 1 January 1997, Amsterdam annexed Ruigoord. The squatters decided to continue their fight against the harbour, and started the Groenoord plan to turn the village into an ecological zone. On 7 October 1997, 200 policemen of the , the Dutch riot squat, were sent into Ruigoord to remove the squatters. The entire area, except for the village, was flattened and prepared for construction by the Port of Amsterdam. The legal battle advanced all the way to

Court of Justice of the European Union The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) (french: Cour de justice de l'Union européenne or "''CJUE''"; Latin: Curia) is the judicial branch of the European Union (EU). Seated in the Kirchberg quarter of Luxembourg City, Luxembour ...

. In 2000, a compromise was reached. The village of Ruigoord was allowed to exist as an enclave within the harbour. Initially, Amsterdam did not want to allow residency in the village.

Current situation

Ruigoord exists as a squatted zone to this day, but it is now legalized.

Full moon The full moon is the lunar phase when the Moon appears fully illuminated from Earth's perspective. This occurs when Earth is located between the Sun and the Moon (when the ecliptic longitudes of the Sun and Moon differ by 180°). This means ...

parties are regularly organised in the formerly Roman Catholic village church and every year there is the ''Landjuweel'' (Land Jewel) festival in August.Landjuweel 2015
Retrieved 8 October 2015 Since the early 2000s, the village has staged an annual poetry festival over the

Whitsun Whitsun (also Whitsunday or Whit Sunday) is the name used in Britain, and other countries among Anglicans and Methodists, for the Christian High Holy Day of Pentecost. It is the seventh Sunday after Easter, which commemorates the descent of the ...

weekend, ''Vurige tongen'' (Fiery Tongues). One of the festival's three days is always devoted to international poets. From 2003 on, a yearly Ruigoord Trophy has been awarded to individuals who have selflessly dedicated themselves to maintaining the village as an important cultural stronghold. The first such trophy was presented to Simon Vinkenoog. Three notable non-Dutch trophy holders are the late American poet and photographer

Ira Cohen Ira Cohen (February 3, 1935 – April 25, 2011) was an American poet, publisher, photographer and filmmaker. Cohen lived in Morocco and in New York City in the 1960s, he was in Kathmandu in the 1970s and traveled the world in the 1980s, before ...

, the Canada-born writer Jordan Zinovich, and the Amsterdam-based American poet and writer

Eddie Woods Eddie Woods is an American poet, prose writer, editor and publisher who lived and traveled in various parts of the world, both East and West, before eventually settling in Amsterdam, Netherlands, where in 1978 he started ''Ins & Outs'' magazin ...

References

External links