Was That Reclusive Family in a Dutch Farmhouse Waiting for ‘The End of Time,’ or More Facebook Followers?
AMSTERDAM—The strange tale of a reclusive family in a small Dutch town grows curiouser and curiouser by the day.
The first headlines at the beginning of the week said that in a remote farmhouse outside the provincial Dutch village of Ruinerwold several people, all adults, were isolated for years in makeshift living quarters awaiting “the end of time.” But the story broke after one of them walked into a local café-bar—and then it developed he’d been posting on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn about a family business.
Local officials have been far from forthcoming, and all sorts of details remain vague. Are we looking at an apocalyptic cult or a social media publicity campaign, or maybe—as seems likely—a bit of both?