Kabouter

The Kabouter ("Gnomes") movement, the successor of the Provo movement, was the creation of Roel van Duyn, one of Provo’s leading figures. On 5 February 1970, Kabouter proclaimed their Oranje Vrijstaat (Orange Free State). The Kabouter movement concentrated on political and social topics with a particular focus on environmental issues and consumerism. Kabouter had a large spread across the Netherlands. In the first half of 1970, sixty 'Kabouter cities' were counted. In 1970 Kabouter participated in municipal council elections in 15 cities. In these elections, a total of 12 Kabouters was elected in 6 cities. Participation in the general national elections was less successful, as Kabouter did not obtain sufficient votes for a place in the Dutch parliament. The movement slowly folded in the period 1974 to 1975 as a result of internal quarrels.