1999 - 'Tante Tante Truus' started

Lunchroom Tante Truus started in Almere in 1999 as a new, social concept. People with disabilities run the service and make the sandwiches for lunch. Tante Truusus' 'apple pie', which staff first make themselves in Haven in the premises on Kerkgracht, soon grows into a phenomenon. In the new lunchroom in the centre of Almere, it remains on the menu years later.

1999 is also the year the very first Big Brother house was opened. In this television programme by John de Mol, 12 people stayed in a house equipped with cameras for about a hundred days, allowing viewers to constantly follow these residents. The media hype surrounding it put Almere on the map nationwide.

The opening in 1999 of the connection of the A6 to the A27 made Almere more accessible again to motorists and freight traffic.