Het Vrije Volk

Front page of Het Vrije Volk on a pillar near a metro station in Rotterdam

Het Vrije Volk (lit. 'The Free People') was a Dutch social-democratic daily newspaper that existed between 1945 and 1991.

In 1991, it merged with the Rotterdams Nieuwsblad, under the new title Rotterdams Dagblad, which later merged with the Algemeen Dagblad. The last issue of Het Vrije Volk was published on 30 March 1991.

Het Volk

Advertisement from 1910-1918; by Albert Hahn

Het Volk was a socialist newspaper from the Netherlands. It was published in Amsterdam, beginning on 2 April 1900, by the Social Democratic Workers' Party (SDAP).

Preparations for publishing Het Volk began in 1899. Financial support was provided by the older Social Democratic Party of Germany. A publishing company was established under the name De Arbeiderspers. Its first Editor-in Chief was the head of the SDAP, Pieter Jelles Troelstra. In 1903, after some disagreements arose, he was replaced by the journalist, Pieter Lodewijk Tak.

In 1902, a contest was held to find an artist for the front-page cartoon in the weekly Sunday supplement. The winner was Albert Hahn, who was later signed to a permanent contract. Among the others who contributed regularly were Fritz Behrendt (also a cartoonist), Jan Liber (a sportswriter) and the playwright Inte Onsman (under the pseudonym "Leckie Down"). In 1931, the paper moved into a new building, designed by Jan Buijs, which came to be known as the "Red Castle". A sister edition called Vooruit (Forward), was published in The Hague under the direction of Simon Carmiggelt.

After the German invasion in 1940, the paper's management vainly attempted to maintain some degree of independence. However, on 20 July 1940, Meinoud Rost van Tonningen of the National Socialist Movement began to oversee their operations. After the war, it was re-established under a new name: Het Vrije Volk.

External links

• issues at Delpher