Kneppelfreed

Kneppelfreed ( West Frisian ; German  Knüppelfreitag ) took place on November 16, 1951 in the West Frisian provincial capital Ljouwert / Leeuwarden . During this battle on the Zaailand, as the incident is also known , a crowd of people was dispersed by the police with clubs and water cannons on the Zaailand market square in Ljouwert, in front of the local courthouse.

People had gathered in front of the courthouse to witness the trial of the journalist Fedde Schurer . He was particularly critical of the judge Mr. Wolthers in the daily Heerenveense Koerier , because the judge had twice appeared in the press as extremely hostile to Frisia. The first time he had convicted a milkman for presenting his goods in Frisian. The second time he had forbidden the veterinarian Sjirk van der Burg, who was on trial for a traffic violation, to defend himself in Frisian. The judge's approach was described by Schurer as "childish and harassed". This earned him a charge of insulting the judge.

The trial was specially conducted in a small hall, as there was fear of a massive influx of representatives of the Frisian ethnic group. But now people gathered in front of the courthouse and chanted: "We want to see Schurer!" Since the market was just now and the press was well represented, the crowd grew faster than the lawyers had assumed. Prosecutor Hollander then panicked and decided to force the police to evict the crowd.

Kneppelfreed caused angry reactions. The anger increased when Hollander carried out a nightly raid on Kneppelfreed over an anonymous protest pamphlet that strongly opposed his decision, during which underage students were dragged from their beds.

The Dutch policy feared an uprising of the friezes and immediately sent two ministers to Friesland for two weeks remained long in the northern part of the country, to appease the spirits. The government decided to meet the main demands of the Frisian movement by making Frisian the second official language of the courts over the next few years. Later, Frisian also became an official language of instruction and official language in the Dutch Friesland.

Coordinates: 53 ° 11 '59.1 "  N , 5 ° 47' 34.4"  E