Het Slaakhuis is a squat in Rotterdam

Rotterdam

Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...

, the Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

. It is located on a street called Slaak and was squatted in May 2003. Initially the space hosted film nights, workshops, parties and a cafe. There was a free shop and lessons were taught in Dutch

Dutch language

Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...

 and kung fu.

The building is a six-storey office block, which was formerly the headquarters of a socialist newspaper, Het Vrije Volk. It was built in 1955.

Since 2006, the squatters have been in negotiation with the owner (PWS) and the city council about the Slaakhuis being used as the base for a community art education project.

In 2007, it was declared a national monument.