The history of Enkhuizen in the eighteenth century is characterized by a spectacular decline. This maritime city of Holland lost two thirds of its population between 1622 and 1795. The collapse of the herring fishing and the growth of Amsterdam were the chief explanations. In these circumstances the decision to celebrate the bicentenary of the rising against the Duke of Alva took a special significance. On May, 21st 1772, the magistrates of Enkhuizen organized gorgeous festivities throughout the day and at a late hour. The examination of the texts especially printed for this occasion shows common themes. These poems, play or historic summary all insisted on the horrible dictatorship of the Duke of Alva and presented Enkhuizen as the city which had laid down the foundations of the Dutch freedom, something it had to be proud of. This was clearly not an ordinary commemoration. By glorifying the past, the urban council may have tried to cloak the difficulties of the time. A true attempt at identity building, the celebrations of 1772 were supposed to open a new period of glory for Entkuizen.