- 2007 in the Netherlands
"See also:"
2006 in the Netherlands ,
other events of 2007,2008 in the Netherlands ----Events
January
*
January 1 : A redivision of local government inNorth Holland ,South Holland ,Gelderland and Limburg comes into effect. Twenty-four existing municipalities are merged to form nine new municipalities. The total number ofmunicipalities of the Netherlands is decreased from 458 to 443.
*January 1 : Three people are killed as a result of New Year's fireworks. An elderly couple inMaassluis dies when their house burns down as a result of fireworks gone astray. A 36-year old man fromBarendrecht dies inHendrik-Ido-Ambacht when fireworks explode in his face.
*January 1 : A 19-year old man fromBennebroek ,North Holland , goes missing after a New Year's party. A search ensues, even leading to pleas for help and information being sent via theHyves networking site.
*January 3 : A container ship rams a railway bridge over theOude Maas river betweenDordrecht and Zwijndrecht,South Holland .
*January 4 :Bram Moszkowicz , lawyer forWillem Holleeder , accusesAmsterdam police of inducing local real estate magnates to have his client assassinated. Holleeder is currently on trial for the alleged extortion and murder of several real estate magnates in Amsterdam.
*January 4 :De Telegraaf newspaper reports thatJan Peter Balkenende andMaxime Verhagen (CDA),Wouter Bos andJacques Tichelaar (Labour Party),André Rouvoet andArie Slob (ChristianUnion ) are having secret negotiations about the formation of a new government. The talks are being held at theLauswolt mansion nearBeetsterzwaag ,Friesland .
*January 8 :Tweede Kamer memberKrista van Velzen (Socialist Party) is arrested during a demonstration againstballistic missile submarine s outside Her Majesty's Naval Base "Clyde" inScotland .
*January 9 : Police inLandgraaf , Limburg arrest a 36-year old man on suspicion of the1998 murder of then 11-year old nlil|Nicky Verstappen in nearbyBrunssum . The suspect is alleged to have placed several letters on Nicky's monument throughout the years, detailing several aspects of the murder.
*January 9 :Willem Holleeder gives an interview to crime journalistJohn van den Heuvel 'sRTL 4 programBureau Van den Heuvel about his trial. Holleeder denies all the allegations made against him, and says that he will present new facts about murdered bankerWillem Endstra . Holleeder is suspected of involvement with the murder, and of the extortion of Endstra. The interview was Holleeder's first interview since theFreddy Heineken kidnapping in1983 .
*January 11 : The city of Groningen announces plans for a tramway system. The first line, between the train station and the university campus, is scheduled to run in 2014. By 2040 the tramway system is expected to be connected to surrounding municipalities, such asAssen ,Hoogezand-Sappemeer ,Veendam ,Winsum , andZuidhorn .
*January 12 : FormerTweede Kamer memberPatricia Remak (VVD) is sentenced to one year in prison for benefit fraud. She received severance pay after leaving parliament, but didn't file her new income as an employee for the Ministry of Finance and as an independent member of the parliament ofSouth Holland .
*January 12 : Chemical companyAkzo Nobel announces it will transfer its corporate headquarters fromArnhem toAmsterdam inJuly 2007 . In previous years companies likeAhold (originally fromZaandam ) andPhilips (originally fromEindhoven ) have moved their offices to Amsterdam as well.
*January 12 : Fortune magazine namesPhilips CEO Gerard Kleisterlee its European Businessman of the Year for restructuring the electronics conglomerate.
*January 12 : A car chase inWapenveld leads to the deaths of two brothers (aged 21 and 18), a 22-year old man and a 19-year old girl. The four were chasing two members of a rivalling group through Wapenveld when they veered off the road and crashed into a tree.
*January 17 : Seven valuablebronze statues are stolen from the garden of theSinger Museum inLaren . Among the works is a bronze cast ofThe Thinker byAuguste Rodin . Two men from nearbyMuiderberg are arrested on suspicion of the theft a day later.
*January 17 : VVD fractievoorzitter in the UtrechtProvincial Council Sjoerd Swane is arrested on suspicion of forgery and accepting bribes.
*January 18 :European windstorm Kyrill hits the Netherlands. Two people are killed as a tree falls on their car on the road betweenArnhem and Ede. A motorcyclist inLeersum dies after a collision with a tree, just like amoped rider inSint Oedenrode . An 11-year boy inRiel ,North Brabant is blown in front of a car and dies on the scene. A 59-year old man inStaphorst dies after a fall from the roof of his barn. He had been on the roof to repair the damage caused by the storm. Six people are injured when a crane crashes through the roof of aUtrecht University building.Amsterdam Centraal railway station is evacuated as part of the glass roof collapses.
*January 19 : The body of the 19-year old man fromBennebroek ,North Holland , who had gone missing after a New Year's party, is found in a canal near the location of the party.February
*
February 19 :Bram Moszkowicz announces during apress conference that he has withdrawn as the lawyer ofWillem Holleeder .
*February 22 : TheFourth Balkenende cabinet is sworn into office by Queen Beatrix.March
*
March 7 : Provincial elections are held in the twelveProvinces of the Netherlands .
*March 11 : Riots break out in theOndiep district of Utrecht, after a police officer shoots dead a 54-year old resident.October
*
October 1 : FormerTweede Kamer memberAyaan Hirsi Ali returns to the Netherlands. The Dutch government refused to pay for her security measures in theUnited States any longer.
*October 9 : Formerlawyer Bram Zeegers is found dead in his home inAmsterdam . Zeegers was a key prosecution witness in the trial ofWillem Holleeder . An autopsy showed an overdose ofmethylenedioxymethamphetamine in combination with excessive alcohol consumption.
*October 10 : A referendum on the new mayor of Utrecht fails, with a turnout of less than 10%. There were two candidates:Aleid Wolfsen andRalph Pans , both of the Labour Party. A mayor in the Netherlands is appointed by Queen Beatrix or by the Minister of Home Affairs, but a city council may hold a non-binding referendum on the issue.
*October 11 : After the mayoral referendum of October 10, the city council of Utrecht nominatesAleid Wolfsen to become the next mayor.
*October 11 : A 16-year old pupil of a high school inAmsterdam is stabbed to death by a 14-year old class mate. The victim had allegedly made a joke about the surname of the perpetrator.
*October 14 : A 22-year old schizophrenic man is shot dead in a police station inSlotervaart , Amsterdam, after stabbing two police officers. The death leads to riots in the Slotervaart borough.
*October 15 :Rita Verdonk announces that she will leave theTweede Kamer fraction of thePeople's Party for Freedom and Democracy , and that she will remain in the Tweede Kamer as an independent member.
*October 17 :Tweede Kamer memberRita Verdonk , who had been expelled from thePeople's Party for Freedom and Democracy , announces that she will form a new movement,Proud of the Netherlands .
*October 20 : Princess Ariane is baptized in theKloosterkerk inThe Hague .
*October 22 : A fire in theArmando Museum inAmersfoort destroys 19painting s and asculpture of artist Armando. Other works of art lost in the fire includeMelencolia I byAlbrecht Dürer and paintings bySalomon van Ruysdael ,Hercules Seghers andAnselm Kiefer . It was the first museum fire in the Netherlands since the fire in the "Schielandshuis " in Rotterdam in1864 .
*October 26 : The royal family seeks an injunction against pro-pedophilia organisation MARTIJN. The organisation had refused to remove pictures of Princess Catharina-Amalia (daughter of crown prince Willem-Alexander) and of Anna andLucas van Lippe-Biesterfeld van Vollenhoven (children of Prince Maurits) from its website, which the royal family had demanded.
*October 26 : The city council ofAlmere approves plans to expand the city to 350,000 inhabitants by the year2030 , twice its current size.
*October 29 : Adnan al-Mansouri reports that his father, Iranian-Dutch human rights activistAbdullah al-Mansouri , has received the death penalty inIran , on allegations ofterrorism . Al-Mansouri had been arrested in Syria in May 2006, and had been extradited to Iran. Several political parties call on the government to do the utmost to rescue Al-Mansouri's life.
*October 30 : Fugitive Belgian criminalNordin Benallal is arrested after a robbery inThe Hague . Benallal had escaped from a maximum security prison inIttre ,Belgium onOctober 28
*October 31 :Hans van den Hende succeedsTiny Muskens asBishop of Breda .November
*
November 1 : A judge in Amsterdam orders pro-pedophilia organisation MARTIJN to remove pictures of Princess Catharina-Amalia (daughter of crown prince Willem-Alexander) and of Anna andLucas van Lippe-Biesterfeld van Vollenhoven (children of Prince Maurits) from its website.
*November 3 :Press agency Geassocieerde Pers Diensten accuses the Communications department of theMinistry of Social Affairs and Employment of illegally accessing draft articles. Two employees of the Ministry, both former journalists for the press agency, are suspended, one journalist of the press agency quits, after admitting he supplied a password to the press agency's internal computer system to a spokesperson of the ministry.
*November 5 :A. F. Th. van der Heijden wins the 2007AKO Literature Prize for his novel "Het Schervengericht".
*November 8 -9: TheNetherlands andGreat Britain are hit by a North Sea flood. Thestorm surge barriersOosterscheldekering ,Hartelkering andMaeslantkering are closed, the latter for the first time since its opening in1997 .
*November 12 : The prosecution asks a 12 year prison sentence forWillem Holleeder , who is on trial forextortion .
*November 12 : Minister of Economic AffairsMaria van der Hoeven launches an investigation into the possibilities of a Dutch bid for the2028 Summer Olympics .December
*
December 9 : Three newrailway station s are opened in the Netherlands:Purmerend Weidevenne inPurmerend ,Heerlen De Kissel inHeerlen andEygelshoven Markt inEygelshoven .
*December 12 : TheTielerwaard and theBommelerwaard experience a power blackout, after aRoyal Netherlands Air Force AH-64 Apache hits a power transmission line nearHurwenen , during a night training flight. The supply of power is restored on the evening ofDecember 14 .
*December 15 : MayorsJob Cohen ofAmsterdam andIvo Opstelten ofRotterdam forbid theEredivisie matches Ajax-PSV andFeyenoord -AZ, respectively. A strike by police officers meant that the mayors couldn't guarantee the presence of a police force during the matches.
*December 18 : Police in Groningen arrest a 20-year old man from't Zandt and a 20-year old woman fromUithuizen , on suspicion of 18 cases of arson in and near 't Zandt.
*December 19 : The Provincial Executive ofNorth Holland approves plans to construct theWieringerrandmeer , a lake that would turn thepolder ofWieringen back into anisland .
*December 24 : A restaurant inArnemuiden ,Zeeland , burns down onChristmas Eve . The four children of the owners (aged 8, 7, 3 and 1), who were sleeping in the house above the restaurant, die in the flames.
*December 31 : Three men are arrested inRotterdam , on suspicion of plotting to commit a terrorist attack during New Year's celebrations in the city.Births
*
April 10 :Princess Ariane of the Netherlands , daughter of Prince Willem-Alexander and Princess Máxima
*October 9 :Magali van Vollenhoven , daughter of Prince Floris and Princess AiméeDeaths
January
*
January 4 :Walter Goddijn , 84, sociologist, important figure in the Dutch progressive Catholic movement.
*January 4 :Jan Schröder , 65, professional cyclist.
*January 7 :Joop Wolff , 79, journalist for and editor-in-chief of "De Waarheid ",Tweede Kamer member for theCommunist Party of the Netherlands .
*January 10 :Herman Bode , 81, former chairman of the Netherlands Catholic Union and vice-chairman of theFederatie Nederlandse Vakbeweging .
*January 11 :Cas Baas ,Lieutenant General (OF-8),commander of theRoyal Netherlands Air Force (1981-1985).
*January 14 :Robert Noortman , 60, art dealer and philanthropist.
*January 15 :Aart Koopmans , 60, founder of the Alternative Elfstedentocht.
*January 20 :Yvonne Habets , 58, journalist forTROS Aktua and TweeVandaag.
*January 20 :Ali de Vries , 92, runner at the1936 Summer Olympics .
*January 24 :A. Moonen , 69, writer.
*January 26 :Monique Punter , 41, journalist, editor-in-chief of "Kijk " magazine.
*January 30 :Ben Albach , 99, essayist and theatre historian.February
*
February 2 :Pieter Nouwen , 57, journalist and author.
*February 6 :Coen van Hoewijk , 84, journalist, firstnewsreader in the country
*February 7 :Thijs Roks , 76, cyclist, first Dutch cyclist in theGiro d'Italia , 1955 national champion
*February 7 :Pieter Stolk , 61, musician and conductor, i.a. forEvangelische Omroep
*February 9 :Harry Lockefeer , 68, journalist, former editor-in-chief ofde Volkskrant , professor of Journalism at theUniversity of Groningen
*February 12 :Dé Stoop , 87, former chairman ofFC Amsterdam , former board member of theRoyal Netherlands Football Association .
*February 17 :Nedim Imac , 40, businessman, chairman ofFC Türkiyemspor , shot dead.
*February 18 :Caesarius Mommers , 81, friar and educationist, established a method to teach children how to read and spell that is being used to this day.
*February 20 :Hilde van der Ploeg , 47, clinical psychologist and sexologist.
*February 21 :Klaas Knol , 78, child pulmonologist
*February 22 :Fons Rademakers , 86,Academy Award winning film producer, director and actor.
*February 24 :Lex van Rossen , 57, pop music photographer.
*February 26 :John Groot , 45, photographer and business man, drowned.August
*
August 16 :Jeroen Boere , 39, former football playerOctober
*
October 19 :Jan Wolkers , 81, author and artist.
*October 27 :Henk Vredeling , 82, Minister of Defense in the Den Uyl cabinet,European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs & Equal Opportunities (1977-1981)
*October 27 :Pierre Janssen , 81, art journalist for "Het Vrije Volk " and AVRO, winner of the1961 Zilveren Nipkowschijf
*October 30 :Paul Römer , 79,television director forStudio Sport
*October 30 :Teun Tolman , 83,Tweede Kamer member (1963-1979, for CHU) and Member of European Parliament (1978-1989, for CDA)November
*
November 2 :Peter Bronkhorst , 61, notable Provo activist
*November 3 :Ronald Groen , 21,lance corporal of theRoyal Netherlands Army , killed by an IED duringTask Force Uruzgan ; Twelfth Dutch casualty of the war in Afghanistan.
*November 3 :Hans Sanders , 61, singer and guitarist for folk group Bots
*November 7 :Victor 't Hooft , 47, real estate magnate, shot dead in his house inThe Hague
*November 8 :Aad Nuis , 74, literary journalist and politician, "staatssecretaris " for Culture and Media at theMinistry of Education, Culture and Science in thefirst cabinet of Wim Kok
*November 18 :Kees Lunshof , 61, political journalist and assistant editor-in-chief for "De Telegraaf "December
*
December 27 :Wim Meuldijk , 85,screenwriter , creator ofPipo de Clown television series.ports
:"See worldwide
2007 in sports "
*January 1 : The 74th traditional New Year's match between theKoninklijke HFC and the former Dutch international players ends in a 3-1 win for Oranje, which scores its fourth consecutive victory. The Oranje goals are scored byAron Winter ,Rob Witschge andOrlando Trustfull .
*January 1 :Raymond van Barneveld wins the2007 PDC World Darts Championship .
*January 7 :Ingmar Berga wins the Dutch marathonspeed skating championships inAmsterdam . Berga finishes ahead ofArjan Stroetinga (2nd) andJan Maarten Heideman (3rd) after the 60 kilometer race. The woman's race (28 km) is won byElma de Vries .
*January 7 :Erben Wennemars wins the men's Dutch sprintspeed skating championships held in Groningen, finishing ahead ofJan Bos (2nd) andBeorn Nijenhuis (3rd).Marianne Timmer wins the women's title, the ninth national sprint title of her career.
*January 7 :Lars Boom wins the Dutch national cyclo-cross championships inWoerden , Utrecht.Daphny van den Brand wins the women's competition.
*January 8 :NEC Nijmegen announces that it has a debt of several millioneuro s, largely due to the purchase of expensive players such asEdgar Barreto andAndrzej Niedzielan . TheRoyal Netherlands Football Association places the club under guardianship.
*January 9 :Anna Pobokova (19), Dutch national rhythmic gymnastics champion, is seriously injured in a traffic incident in her hometownBergen op Zoom . She gets hit by a car and sustains a severe concussion, as well as a broken eyesocket. Pobokova was about to return to international competition this weekend after a severe injury had kept her sidelined for almost two years.
*January 11 : TheRoyal Netherlands Football Association placesEerste Divisie football clubRBC Roosendaal under guardianship for financial troubles.
*January 13 :Sven Kramer wins the2007 European Speed Skating Championships .
*January 17 :Amstel Tijgers ofAmsterdam win the Dutchice hockey cup final, by defeatingEaters Geleen 3-2 in overtime (2-2, 0-0, 0-0, 1-0).
*January 19 :UEFA suspends Feyenoord from theUEFA Cup 2006-07 after hooligan riots during a tie withAS Nancy .
*April 15 : Long-distance runnerLuc Krotwaar wins his seventh Dutch marathon title, clocking 2:15:27.4 in theRotterdam Marathon .
*October 8 : ManagerHenk ten Cate leaves Ajax to become assistant manager of Chelsea.
*October 29 :Jaap Stam announces his retirement from football, with immediate effect.
*October 31 : ManagerRonald Koeman announces that he will move from PSV toValencia CF with immediate effect.
*November 11 :Gert Aandewiel is sacked asSparta Rotterdam manager, following the worst start to the competition in the club's history.
*November 12 :Adri van Tiggelen is appointed manager ofSparta Rotterdam .
*November 14 : A delegation of theRoyal Netherlands Football Association and theRoyal Belgian Football Association meets withFIFA on the bid for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
*November 15 :Hoofdklasse clubs Kloetinge and Spakenburg are deducted 1 point for violence on the pitch during theirSeptember 29 encounter.
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.