The West Frisian language is the second official language of the Netherlands and is spoken by around half a million people. The legal status it enjoys today goes back to a civil rights movement and a particular day in history, the 16th of November 1951, known in Frisian as "Kneppelfreed" - "Baton Friday" after the police attacked a crowd protesting the discriminatory laws against the Frisian language and her speakers in Ljouwert (Leeuwarden).