Nozems & Nuns

The Black Zorro Club

In the mid-1950s, a new phenomenon emerged in the Netherlands: the nozem. The word roughly meant a rebellious youngster or rebel and was one of the earliest examples of what we would now call youth culture.

Nozems were known for their quiffs, leather jackets, jeans and mopeds, and followed a rather different moral code from that of older generations.

Nozem culture also reached Aalten’s young people. In the early 1960s, members of the Black Zorro Club tore through the streets on souped-up Kreidlers and Zündapps, often with a fox tail fluttering from the handlebars. In this way they challenged orderly authority, much to the annoyance of respectable Aalten citizens.

The nozems could often be found in local cafés, at the cafeteria of Knippenborg bakery on Plein Zuid or in their clubhouse on Peperstraat, in the former Breekveldt hat shop.

There were sometimes confrontations with rival groups of nozems from nearby towns such as Doetinchem, Winterswijk and Bocholt. The latter called themselves the Halbstarken. They rode their mopeds to Aalten to cause trouble, producing Wild West-like scenes in the otherwise devout little town.

The Nuns of St Elisabeth Convent

From the late nineteenth century onwards, the nuns of St Elisabeth Convent taught Catholic schoolchildren in Aalten. The sisters also ran a sewing and knitting school there.

Not everyone retained fond memories of the nuns. That was probably the only thing they had in common with the nozems.

Vintage Moped Club

Since 2015, a vintage moped club has been active in Aalten and the surrounding area under the memorable name De Nozems en de Nonnen. The group organises rides through the Achterhoek and uses the dialect motto “Gin brommers kieken, moar d’r van genieten” — roughly, “Don’t just look at mopeds; enjoy them.”