A bridge with a story to tell …
In Dutch as written on the plate …
“17 augustus 1996 vrijdagnacht halfvijf in de Voetboogstraat te Amsterdam.
Vier dronken, opgefokte jongens zoeken ruzie met cafégangers en een zwerver.
Ook twee studenten moeten het ontgelden. Zij worden volledig in elkaar geslagen.
Joes Kloppenburg roept: KAPPEN NOU!
Volledig zinloos wordt hij daarop doodgeslagen. Hij is 26.
In de Voetboogstraat is op de plek, waar Joes om het leven is gebracht, een gedenkteken.”
Loosely translated …
“17 August 1996, Friday night at half past five on Voetboogstraat in Amsterdam.
Four drunk young men were looking for a fight with cafe-goers and a wanderer (homeless person). Two students also suffered. They were completely beaten up.
JOES KLOPPENBURG shouted: CUT IT OUT!
He was then senselessly beaten to death. He was 26.
In the Voetboogstraat, there is a memorial at the place where Joes was killed.”
According to reports I read online, the group of four men was led by a 21-year-old Richard L., all were well-versed in martial arts. They assaulted eight people that night.
When Joes tried to break up a brawl, telling them to “KAPPEN NOU!”, the men turned their aggression on him. Joes ended up in a coma and died that very night in the hospital.
The perpetrator, Richard L., was sentenced to 8 years in prison.
The bridge was originally unnamed and only known as Bridge #05. It was unofficially called the “Raambrug” after the Raamsteeg, an alley way parallel to it.
Bridge #05 was officially named Joes Kloppenburgbrug on 5 July 2016, not too far away from Voetboogstraat. The name is intended as a symbol against senseless violence. The official nameplate was confirmed on September 26, 2017.