‘I think therefore I cycle’: 50 years of Dutch anti-car posters – in pictures

We rounded up half a century of protest posters and stickers from campaigns which helped Amsterdam become the ‘cycle capital of the world’

Bike City Amsterdam by Fred Feddes and Marjolein de Lange is published by Bas Lubberhuizen

Main image: A 1973 poster refers to the bicycle as ‘public food’ for cars.

  • 1970

    A poster calls for Leidsestraat, one of Amsterdam’s two main shopping streets, to be closed to cars and for free public transport
    A poster calls for Leidsestraat to be closed to cars and for free public transport

  • 1973

    A poster by Charles Boost. The text reads: ‘Hunting small game all year round. Stop killing children’
    1973 A stop de kindermoord (stop murdering children) poster by Charles Boost

  • 1973

    ‘The bike. Public food.’ In Dutch, the phrase for public transport is openbaar vervoer
    Poster showing the bicycle as ‘public food’ for cars

  • 1974

    ‘Kick that car out of the city!’
    Poster saying: ‘Kick that car out of the city!’

  • 1976

    This poster for a pro-cycle demonstration features one of the first images of the Amsterdam Fietst (Amsterdam Rides Bikes) symbol. It incorporates the three crosses that make up the symbol of Amsterdam
    Amsterdam Fietst poster

  • 1976

    The Amsterdam Fietst symbol soon evolved into a cycling girl, known as Liesje, seen here on stickers
    Stickers from Amsterdam Fietst 1976

  • 1980

    ‘I think, therefore I cycle’
    1980 poster saying: ‘I think, therefore I cycle’

  • 1980s

    These stickers feature a play on words between auw, an exclamation of pain in Dutch, and auto, the word for car
    Pro-cycling stickers from the 1980s

  • 1980s

    A poster against illegal parking in bike lanes, designed by Dienst Parkeer. The text reads: ‘Nice lane, dirty trick’
    A poster against illegal parking in bike lanes from the 1980s

  • 1985

    A poster reading: ‘What about me? Stop murdering children’
    A poster reading: ‘What about me? Stop murdering children’

  • 1993

    ‘Large clearance! 12 in the place of one.’ This poster, designed by Theo van den Boogaard, highlights the space efficiency of bicycles compared with cars
    Poster by Fietsersbond promoting the space efficiency of parking bikes vs cars

  • 1998

    ‘Wanted: 4,000 bike parking places’. A demand for extra cycle parking at railway stations. Design by Len Munnik
    Poster calling for extra cycle parking at railway stations

  • 2005

    ‘Don’t give bike thieves a chance.’ A poster produced by the city of Amsterdam
    Anti-bike theft poster

  • 2011

    A poster by Jacob Ketting created as part of the long campaign to once again allow cycling through the Rijksmuseum passage. The lane re-opened for pedestrians and cyclists in 2013 and is one of the busiest (and prettiest) bike routes in the city
    Sticker for cycling through the passage of the Rijksmuseum

  • 2012

    ‘The fair/honest moped’
    2012 poster saying: ‘The fair/honest moped’
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