A cry for help in the Voetboogstraat

On the night of Friday 17 August 1996 a cry for help rang out in the Voetboogstraat in the city centre. It came from 26-year-old Joes Kloppenburg, who had got into a fight with a few drunk and, above all, worked-up young men who had just been picking fights with people on a night out. Joes had stepped in to calm things down, but paid for it with his life. It is a case that, more than 25 years on, has not been forgotten, and the monument to him is meant to be a lasting reminder of the senseless violence that killed him.

Fatal night

In 1996 there was a small chip shop at Voetboogstraat 20. It was in front of this shop that things finally escalated on that summer night in 1996. The group of perpetrators walked down the Voetboogstraat towards the snack bar, and anything and anyone in their way had to suffer for it. Joes literally saw bags of chips flying through the air and decided to intervene, shouting at the perpetrators to "cut it out". At least one of the four men then decided to take his aggression out on Joes. He tried to flee into the snack bar, but its owner had closed the door. Joes was left lying on the steps of the snack bar, fell into a coma and died in hospital that same night.

HELP

On the spot where Joes lived his final moments there is now a monument to him. The letters HELP in neon, strung between two buildings, clearly visible as the night-time crowds pass through the Voetboogstraat. On the ground lies a plaque describing that fatal night.

The plaque for Joes, on the spot where he lived his final moments.

Bridge 5 in the Oude Spiegelstraat over the Singel, close to where the incident took place, was renamed the Joes Kloppenburgbrug in 2017. By the bridge there is also a small sign describing what happened that night.