Centrum 1795
How did
Netherland democracy
emerge?
Centrum 1795 tells about the political history of Netherland. To this end, it organizes an exhibition about the Netherland Revolution at the end of the 18th century.
In September 1781, an anonymously written pamphlet was distributed in all major cities in the Netherlands from blinded carriages. The pamphlet was called ‘To the People of Netherland‘ and caused a shock wave.
It marked the beginning of a period of unknown revolution. In the years that followed, the foundation was laid for a new political system and a beginning was made with the ‘democratic era’.
Exhibition “To the People of Netherland” portrays this revolutionary period, by the means of a large collection of historical prints and objects.
The democratic era
On Saturday 31 January 1795, the Holland Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen was proclaimed in The Hague. In this document, fundamental human rights and equal civil rights were formulated and recorded for the first time in national history.
This impetus for democracy took place after years of struggle and intense events. The revolution resulted in the opening of the first national parliament on 1 March 1796 and the Netherland Constitution on 1 May 1798.
It meant a fundamental break with the medieval past…