The Dutch Block (Dutch: Nederlands Blok, NB) was a Dutch nationalist political party espousing an anti-immigrant program. It was founded by Alfred Vierling, Ton Steemers en Hans Lindenburg, modeled on the Flemish Block and later taken over by Wim Vreeswijk, who became council member in Utrecht.
The party was founded in 1992. It had a seat in the municipal council of Utrecht from 1994 to 2000, where Wim Vreeswijk was elected. From 1994 to 1997 it also had a seat in Almelo. The elected councillor there, Henry Oudendijk, was originally a member of Centrum Democraten, but changed parties after two months; in March 1997 he left Nederlands Blok and continued as an independent member.
Famous quotes containing the words dutch and/or block:
“The French courage proceeds from vanity—the German from phlegm—the Turkish from fanaticism & opium—the Spanish from pride—the English from coolness—the Dutch from obstinacy—the Russian from insensibility—but the Italian from anger.”
—George Gordon Noel Byron (1788–1824)
“When the landscape buckles and jerks around, when a dust column of debris rises from the collapse of a block of buildings on bodies that could have been your own, when the staves of history fall awry and the barrel of time bursts apart, some turn to prayer, some to poetry: words in the memory, a stained book carried close to the body, the notebook scribbled by hand—a center of gravity.”
—Adrienne Rich (b. 1929)