Recalling the Netherlands in 1968: Trendsetter or Follower?

1. IntroductionIn 1966 in Amsterdam the royal wedding between Crown Princess Beatrix and the German prince Claus von Amsberg took place. Amsterdam had been the center of playful street happenings, demonstrations and clashes with the police in the preceding years, in the tentative early stages of a youthful revolt against established patterns of authority. The royal wedding served to provide a focus for the concentrated expression of discontent. Disturbing the peaceful progress of a public eve.