This article lists some of the events that took place in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

in 2012.

Incumbents

*Monarch:

Beatrix Beatrix is a Latin feminine given name, most likely derived from ''Viatrix'', a feminine form of the Late Latin name ''Viator'' which meant "voyager, traveller" and later influenced in spelling by association with the Latin word ''beatus'' or "ble ...

*Prime Minister:

Mark Rutte Mark Rutte (; born 14 February 1967) is a Dutch politician who has served as the 14th Secretary General of NATO, secretary general of NATO since October 2024. He previously served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands, prime minister of the Neth ...

Events

January

* 2: Fire in the Goffert Stadium in

Nijmegen Nijmegen ( , ; Nijmeegs: ) is the largest city in the Dutch province of Gelderland and the ninth largest of the Netherlands as a whole. Located on the Waal River close to the German border, Nijmegen is one of the oldest cities in the ...

. * 3-7: High water by a Northwestern storm, together with heavy rainfall, causes water inconveniences in the Western and Northern parts of the country. * 9: The Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij (NAM) reports the discovery of Metslawier-south, the largest gas field on dry land since 1995. * 13:

Joran van der Sloot Joran Andreas Petrus van der Sloot (; born 6 August 1987) is a Dutch murderer who was convicted in the 2010 killing of Stephany Flores Ramírez in Lima, Peru. He first came to public attention as the prime suspect in the disappearance of Natal ...

is sentenced by a Peruvian court to 28 years in jail for the murder of Stephany Flores in 2010. * 13: The price of gasoline matches its highest level ever. The asking price of gasoline is 1,757 euro per liter, making it 10 to 20 cents higher than in neighboring countries. * 21: Laura Dekker arrives in

Sint Maarten Sint Maarten () is a Countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands located in the Caribbean region of North America. With a population of 58,477 as of June 2023 on an area of , it encompasses ...

after a 518-day sailing trip around the world, making her youngest solo-sailor to sail around the world. * 24: The oldest authentic museum building in The Netherlands, Het

Teylers Museum Teylers Museum () is an Art museum, art, Natural history museum, natural history, and science museum in Haarlem, Netherlands. Established in 1778, Teylers Museum was founded as a centre for contemporary art and science. The historic centre of the ...

Haarlem Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English language, English) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the Provinces of the Nether ...

, announces to co-operate with

Wikipedia Wikipedia is a free content, free Online content, online encyclopedia that is written and maintained by a community of volunteers, known as Wikipedians, through open collaboration and the wiki software MediaWiki. Founded by Jimmy Wales and La ...

. * 27: Willem Holleeder is released from prison after serving 2/3 of his jail term. * 29: Speedskater Stefan Groothuis wins the world championship sprint at the

Olympic Oval The Olympic Oval in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, is North America's first covered speed skating oval; it was built for the Speed skating at the 1988 Winter Olympics, 1988 Winter Olympics and opened on September 27, 1987.Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

February

* 1: The banks completely switch to SEPA for credit transfers. * 3-4: Heavy snowfall causes many problems on the road in The Netherlands and other parts of Europe. * 10: After hackers put the supposed data of hundreds of KPN customers online, at least 2 million customers have their mailboxes blocked for a day. * 17:

Prince Friso of Orange-Nassau Prince Friso of Orange-Nassau (; 25 September 1968 – 12 August 2013) was the second son of Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands and Claus von Amsberg, and younger brother of King Willem-Alexander. Friso was a member of the Dutch Royal Family, but ...

is caught in an avalanche whilst skiing in Lech, Austria; the accident results in a severe brain injury that leaves the prince in a coma. * 18: The Dutch polonaise record was broken in the Brabanthallen in

's-Hertogenbosch s-Hertogenbosch (), colloquially known as Den Bosch (), is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands with a population of 160,783. It is the capital of ...

. It first stood at 1100 and is now bested with 1723 participants. * 20: Labour Party politician

Job Cohen Marius Job Cohen (born 18 October 1947) is a retired Dutch politician and jurist who served as List of mayors of Amsterdam, Mayor of Amsterdam from 2001 to 2010 and Leader of the Labour Party (Netherlands), Leader of the Labour Party (PvdA) from ...

announces to step down as party leader and chair of the congress fraction.

March

* 3: The first

Apple Store The Apple Store is a chain of Retail, retail stores owned and operated by Apple Inc. The stores sell, service and repair various Apple products, including Macintosh, Mac desktop and MacBook laptop personal computers, iPhone smartphones, iPad ta ...

in The Netherlands opens in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

. * 6: Teachers protest in the Amsterdam ArenA against announced cutbacks of 300 million euro. * 20: Politician

Hero Brinkman Hero Brinkman (born 29 December 1964, in Almelo) is a police officer and former Netherlands, Dutch politician. He was a House of Representatives of the Netherlands, member of parliament from 30 November 2006 to 19 September 2012, after being ele ...

leaves the

Party for Freedom The Party for Freedom ( , PVV) is a right-wing populist, far-right political party in the Netherlands. Geert Wilders is the founder, party leader, and sole registered member of the party. Founded in 2006 as the successor to Wilders' one-ma ...

(PVV) and continues in congress as an independent member. * 30: Because of structurally disappointing ad revenues, the free daily newspaper De Press prints its final edition.

April

* 2: The Friesland Bank is no longer capable to run as an independent bank and is taken over by the

Rabobank Rabobank (; full name: ''Coöperatieve Rabobank U.A.'') is a Dutch multinational banking and financial services company headquartered in Utrecht, Netherlands. The group comprises 89 local Dutch Rabobanks (2019), a central organisation (Raboban ...

. For the time being, the bank is run as a subsidiary of the Rabobank. * 4: Phone and internet traffic is disrupted for many customers of

Vodafone Vodafone Group Public Limited Company () is a British Multinational company, multinational telecommunications company. Its registered office and global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It predominantly operates Service (economic ...

in the southern part of the

Randstad The Randstad (; "Rim City" or "Edge City") is a roughly crescent- or Circular arc, arc-shaped conurbation in the Netherlands, that includes almost half the country's population. With a central-western location, it connects and comprises the Net ...

, because of a fire in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

. * 5: Start of the Floriade in Venlo. * 8: In Espelo,

Overijssel Overijssel (; ; ; ) is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands located in the eastern part of the country. The province's name comes from the perspective of the Prince-Bishopric of Utrecht, Episcopal principality of Utrecht ...

, a new world record is established by creating the highest bonfire ever. The bonfire had a height of 45,98 meters and a width of 160 meters. * 11: The Parliamentary survey into the Financial System reveals that the Dutch government made some serious mistakes in 2008, during the rescue of

Fortis Fortis may refer to: Business * Fortis (Swiss watchmaker), a Swiss watch company * Fortis Films, an American film and television production company founded by actress and producer Sandra Bullock * Fortis Healthcare, a chain of hospitals in ...

, ABN AMRO and

ING Ing, ING or ing may refer to: Art and media * '' ...ing'', a 2003 Korean film * i.n.g, a Taiwanese girl group * The Ing, a race of dark creatures in the 2004 video game '' Metroid Prime 2: Echoes'' * "Ing", the first song on The Roches' 199 ...

with billions of euros during the

2008 financial crisis The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...

, according to the published report of the De Wit Commission. * 17-19: The Turkish president

Abdullah Gül Abdullah Gül (; ; born 29 October 1950) is a Turkish politician who served as the 11th president of Turkey from 2007 to 2014. He previously served for four months as Prime Minister of Turkey, Prime Minister from 2002 to 2003, and concurrently s ...

comes for a state visit to The Netherlands because of 400 years of friendly relations between the two countries. In 1612, the capitulation treaty between the

Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, commonly referred to in historiography as the Dutch Republic, was a confederation that existed from 1579 until the Batavian Revolution in 1795. It was a predecessor state of the present-day Netherlands ...

and the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

was signed. The state visit starts off on the Dam in Amsterdam. * 21: Negotiations fail over new budget cuts; CDA,

VVD The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ( , VVD) is a conservative-liberal political party in the Netherlands. The VVD, whose forerunner was the Freedom Party, is a party of the centre-right that tries to promote private enterprise and ...

and PVV can't agree on billions in cuts. PVV leader

Geert Wilders Geert Wilders (born 6 September 1963) is a Dutch politician who has led the far-right Party for Freedom (PVV) since he founded it in 2006. He is also the party's leader in the House of Representatives. Wilders is best known for his right-wing p ...

leaves the

Catshuis The Catshuis (English: Cats House), initially known as Huis Sorgvliet (Sorgvliet House), is the official residence of the Prime Minister of the Netherlands. Built between 1651 and 1652 for Jacob Cats as private villa, it was renamed after him af ...

and stops permitting the current administration. The fall of the first Rutte administration seems inevitable. * 21: Sloterdijk train collision: 2 trains frontally collide between Amsterdam Sloterdijk station and Amsterdam Centraal station, resulting in 1 fatality and 125 injured people. * 23: The Rutte I administration falls. Mark Rutte offers his resignation to the Queen. * 30: During Queen's Day, the municipalities of

Rhenen Rhenen () is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a city in the central Netherlands. The municipality also includes the villages of Achterberg, and Elst (Utrecht), Elst. The town lies at a geographically interesting location, n ...

and

Veenendaal Veenendaal () is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a town in central Netherlands, located in the province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. Veenendaal is the only population centre within its administrative borders. The municipal ...

are visited by

Queen Beatrix Beatrix (Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard, ; born 31 January 1938) is a member of the Dutch royal house who reigned as Queen of the Netherlands from 30 April 1980 until her abdication in 2013. Beatrix was born during the reign of her maternal gr ...

May

* 1: Street dealers increase disturbances on the streets when the "Weed Pass" is introduced in the provinces of Zeeland, Limburg and North Brabant. * 5: Dutch author David Pefko wins the Gouden Boekenuil, the most important literature prize in

Flanders Flanders ( or ; ) is the Dutch language, Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, la ...

, for his novel "Het voorseizoen". * 7: Writer A.F.Th. van der Heijden wins the Libris Literatuur Prijs for his novel "Tonio".

June

July

* 1: Astronaut

André Kuipers André Kuipers (; born 5 October 1958) is a Dutch physician and ESA astronaut. He became the second Dutch citizen, third Dutch-born and fifth Dutch-speaking astronaut upon launch of Soyuz TMA-4 on 19 April 2004. Kuipers returned to Earth ab ...

returns to earth after spending more than half a year in outer space. * 18: 2 cars are used in an assault on the municipal office in

Waalre Waalre () is an affluent Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and town in the province of North Brabant in the southern Netherlands, immediately south of the city of Eindhoven. Population centres * Aalst, North Brabant, Aalst * Waalre ...

. The fire that follows destroys the building completely. * 22: The residents of approximately 180 homes are evacuated because of asbestos pollution in the Kanaleneiland neighborhood of Utrecht.

August

* 4: 13 people get injured and end up in the hospital after a sudden storm causes a marquee to collapse during the music festival of Dicky Woodstock near the village of Steenwijkerwold.

September

* 21: Project X Haren started as a public invitation to a

birthday party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often feature ...

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

, but ended up as a gathering of thousands of youths causing

riot A riot or mob violence is a form of civil disorder commonly characterized by a group lashing out in a violent public disturbance against authority, property, or people. Riots typically involve destruction of property, public or private. The p ...

s on 21 September 2012 in the town of

Haren, Groningen Haren (; ) is a town and a former municipality in the northeastern Netherlands. It is located in the direct urban area of the City of Groningen and, in January 2019, was merged into municipality of Groningen. Haren is a commuting town with many ...

. * 22: The

Stedelijk Museum The Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam (; Municipal Museum Amsterdam), colloquially known as the Stedelijk, is a museum for modern art, contemporary art, and design located in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

in Amsterdam is reopened by Queen Beatrix after a renovation period of 8 years. The museum has been expanded with a new futuristic extension (nicknamed "The bathtub"); it reopened for the public the next day. * 25: Anouchka van Miltenburg (VVD) succeeds Gerdi Verbeet (Labour Party) as chair of congress. With 90 of the 146 valid votes, she bested

Khadija Arib Khadija Arib (; ; born 10 October 1960) is a Moroccans in the Netherlands, Moroccan-born Dutch politician of the Labour Party (Netherlands), Labour Party, who served as Speaker of the House of Representatives (Netherlands), Speaker of the House ...

of the Labour Party and

Gerard Schouw Adrianus Gerardus (Gerard) Schouw (born 30 December 1965 in Monster, South Holland) is a Dutch corporate director and former politician. As a member of Democrats 66 (D66) he was an MP from 17 June 2010 until 31 July 2015. He focused on matters o ...

of D66.

October

* 5: The party leaders of

GreenLeft (, ; GL) is a green political party in the Netherlands. It was formed on 1 March 1989 from the merger of four left-wing parties: the Communist Party of the Netherlands, the Pacifist Socialist Party, the Political Party of Radicals and the ...

revoke their trust in fraction leader

Jolande Sap Johanna Catharina Maria "Jolande" Sap (born 22 May 1963) is a former Dutch politician and former educator and civil servant. A member of GroenLinks (GL), she replaced Wijnand Duyvendak as a member of the House of Representatives on 3 September ...

after the disastrous result in the general elections. She steps down and so does the party executive committee the following day. * 16: During an art heist in the

Kunsthal The Kunsthal (; ) is an art space in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. It opened in 1992. Overview The museum is situated in the Museumpark of Rotterdam next to the Natuurhistorisch Museum Rotterdam, and in the vicinity of the Museum Boijmans Van Beu ...

in Rotterdam, several paintings of

Pablo Picasso Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...

Henri Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual arts, visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a drawing, draughtsman, printmaking, printmaker, ...

Claude Monet Oscar-Claude Monet (, ; ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of Impressionism painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. During his ...

Paul Gauguin Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (; ; 7 June 1848 – 8 May 1903) was a French painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramist, and writer, whose work has been primarily associated with the Post-Impressionist and Symbolist movements. He was also an influ ...

, Meijer de Haan and

Lucian Freud Lucian Michael Freud (; 8 December 1922 – 20 July 2011) was a British painter and draughtsman, specialising in figurative art, and is known as one of the foremost 20th-century English portraitists. His early career as a painter was inf ...

are stolen. * 22: Jos van Rey

quits as alderman of

Roermond Roermond (; or ) is a city, municipality, and diocese in the Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg province of the Netherlands. Roermond is a historically important town on the lower Roer on the east bank of the river Meuse. It received City rights i ...

and as a member of the Senate after being suspected of corruption and leaking information. The next day, the entire VVD fraction walks out of the municipal council coalition in Roermond. * 29: Political leaders Mark Rutte

and Diederik Samsom Labour Party report in a press conference that the negotiations between both parties about the coalition agreement are finished.

November

* 5: The heads of the Rutte II administration are sworn in at the Paleis Huis ten Bosch. * 9: After objections within the VVD, the coalition agreement of the Rutte II administration is revised. The announced income dependency of the health insurance premium is of the table. * 17:

Sinterklaas Sinterklaas () or Sint-Nicolaas () is a legendary figure based on Saint Nicholas, patron saint of children. Other Dutch names for the figure include ''De Sint'' ("The Saint"), ''De Goede Sint'' ("The Good Saint") and ''De Goedheiligman'' (derive ...

arrives in

. * 19: A suspect is arrested for the murder of Marianne Vaatstra in 1999. The suspect was found after a DNA kinship research.

December

*1: The 10th edition of the Junior Eurovision song contest takes place in the Heineken Music Hall in Amsterdam. * 6: Queen Beatrix officially opens the Hanzelijn (railway line between

Lelystad Lelystad () is a Dutch Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and the capital city of the province of Flevoland in the central Netherlands. The city, built on reclaimed land, was founded in 1967 and was named after Cornelis Lely, who en ...

and

Zwolle Zwolle () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Northeastern Netherlands. It is the Capital city, capital of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Overijssel ...

) with a ride in the Royal train. * 6: Co Verdaas steps down as state-secretary of Economic Affairs due to the commotion over his unlawful declarations during his time as deputy of

Gelderland Gelderland ( , ), also known as Guelders ( ) in English, is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands, located in the centre-east of the country. With a total area of of which is water, it is the largest province of the Nethe ...

. *9: The Benelux train between Amsterdam and Brussels is replaced by the high velocity train Fyra. * 24: DJs

Gerard Ekdom Gerard Ekdom (born 26 March 1978, in Utrecht) is a Dutch radio DJ formerly at the radio stations NPO Radio 2 and the 3FM. Programs he hosted include Arbeidsvitaminen (lit. ''labour vitamines'', a Dutch term for music played while doing manual ...

, Michiel Veenstra and

Giel Beelen Michiel Antonius Adrianus Beelen (born 25 May 1977 in Haarlem), better known as Giel Beelen, is a Dutch Disc jockey, radio DJ and presenter, working primarily for public broadcaster Omroepvereniging VARA, VARA. Since 2004 Beelen hosted his own br ...

collect €12,251,667 with 3FM Serious Request 2012. * 31: The GPD, the press agency of many Dutch and Flemish newspapers, sends its last message after 76 years of service. In 2013, publisher Wegener will start their own press service, making GPD lose its most important customer and cease existence.

Elections

* Dutch general election, 2012 took place on September 12.

won the election.

Sports

*April 20–21:

Ellen van Dijk Eleonora Maria "Ellen" van Dijk (; born 11 February 1987) is a Dutch professional Road bicycle racing, road racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Women's Team, UCI Women's WorldTeam . Besides road cycling she was also a track cycling, tr ...

wins both the time trial and road race at the 2012 EPZ Omloop van Borsele *August 25–27:

wins the 2012 Lotto-Decca Tour *October 21: Wilson Chebet wins the

Amsterdam Marathon The Amsterdam Marathon, currently branded as TCS Amsterdam Marathon, is an annual marathon (42.195 km) in Amsterdam in the Netherlands since 1975. The road running, road race has a IAAF Road Race Label Events, Platinum Label from World Athle ...

Deaths

*June 2: Jan Gmelich Meijling, Dutch commander and politician (b. 1943)

References

{{Commons category

Years of the 21st century in the Netherlands 2010s in the Netherlands