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Former names | De Grote Karel |
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Address | Van Broeckhuysenstraat 46, 6511 PK |
Location | Nijmegen |
Coordinates | 51°50′38″N 5°51′58″E / 51.8438°N 5.8660°E |
Type | Social centre |
Website | |
grotebroek |
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]
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]
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]
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]
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 right wing supporters of Zwarte Piet celebrations and leftwingers who see it as racism. [8]
In 2019, someone was arrested near the Grote Broek and charged with making a death threat against politician Thierry Baudet 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: Als je Thierry dood wil schieten, zeg dan paf!). [9]