The Wyers squat was a self-managed social centre on Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal in central Amsterdam, the Netherlands, between 1981 and 1984. The buildings of the Wyers former wholesale textile company were converted by the squatters into a range of living and work spaces. When the Government of Amsterdam decided to demolish the complex to make way for a Holiday Inn hotel, a car parking garage and apartments, the squatters made alternative proposals. The eviction was announced for February 14 1984 and there were demonstrations in support of the squat around the country. On the day of eviction, 1,500 people stayed inside the building then left without conflict. The breeding place discourse of new cultural initiatives presented by the squatters was later adopted by the city council.
The squatted Wyers complex in October 1981
The Wyers complex in August 1983
A bar at the Wyers complex
Squatters blockading an entrance to the Wyers complex on the day of eviction
Squatting in the Netherlands
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.
ACU in Utrecht, squatted 1976 and bought 1994
Squatted house in Amsterdam, 1980
The Poortgebouw in Rotterdam.
Oude Rooms-Katholieke Ziekenhuis (ORKZ) Groningen