Rotterdam, located in the province of South Holland, is the second largest municipality in the Netherlands. The city has the largest port in Europe and was until recently the world's busiest port; it is found on the banks of the river the Nieuwe Maas, one of the streams in the delta formed by the Rhine and Meuse rivers.
The name "Rotterdam" is derived from a dam in a small river, the Rotte, which joins the Nieuwe Maas at the heart of the city.
HARBOUR OF ROTTERDAM
Rotterdam has the largest port in Europe. Since 2004 Asian ports like Singapore and Shanghai have taken over its world leading position. In 2004 Rotterdam was the seventh largest port in the world in terms of containers (TEU) handled.
Most important for the port of Rotterdam are the petrochemical industry and general cargo transhipment handlings. The harbour functions as an important transit point for transport of bulk and other goods between the European continent and other parts of the world. From Rotterdam goods are transported by ship, river barge, train or road. Since 2000 the Betuweroute, a fast cargo railway from Rotterdam to Germany, has been under construction. Large oil refineries are located west of the city. The rivers Meuse and Rhine also provide excellent access to the hinterland.
In the first half of the twentieth century the port activities moved from the centre towards the North Sea. The Nieuwe Waterweg was dug from Rotterdam to the North Sea, a canal to disembogue the shallow Rhine and Meuse. The Nieuwe Waterweg was ready in 1872 and all sorts of industrial activity formed on the banks of this canal.
Rotterdam's harbour territory has been enlarged by the construction of the Europoort (gate to Europe) complex along the mouth of the Nieuwe Waterweg, and by the Maasvlakte in the North Sea near Hoek van Holland. The lay-out of a second Maasvlakte was the subject of political debate in the 1990s, because it would be partly government-financed. Construction started in the summer of 2004
HISTORY AND RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
Rotterdam was granted city rights on 7 June 1340 by Willem IV of Holland.
The port of Rotterdam grew out, slowly but steadily, to a port of importance; in Rotterdam one of the six chambers of the VOC, or the Netherlands East India Company, was seated.
The greatest spurt of growth, both in port activity and population, followed after the already mentioned completion of the Nieuwe Waterweg in 1872. The city and harbor started to expand on the South bank of the river. Delivering evidence of its rapid growth and success is the skyscraper in the French Chateau style, the White House, or Witte Huis, built in the American spirit of office buildings in 1898; its height is 45 m, it was at the time of completion the tallest office building in Europe.
On May 14, 1940 Rotterdam was bombed by the German Luftwaffe, on the last of five days of war in the Netherlands. The heart of the city was almost completely destroyed, which Ossip Zadkine later expressed strikingly with his statue Stad zonder hart (City without a heart). The statue is located near the Leuvehaven, not far from the Erasmusbrug in the north of the city. From the 1950s through the 1970s the city was rebuilt.
It remained quite windy and open until the city councils from the 1980s on began developing an active architectural policy. Daring and new styles of apartments, office buildings and recreation facilities resulted in a more 'livable' city center with a new skyline. In the 1990s a new business centre on the south bank of the river, the Kop van Zuid has been built. The City Hall survived the bombing campaign.
Rotterdam, Amsterdam, The Hague, Utrecht and a number of smaller cities in the west of the country are expanding towards each other to the extent that the entire area is sometimes denoted as a single metropole known as Randstad.
MUSEUMS OF ROTTERDAM
Rotterdam has many museums.
Well known museums are the Boijmans-van Beuningen Museum, the Historisch Museum, the Volkenkundig Museum (foreign peoples and cultures), the KunstHal (arthall), the Maritiem Museum and the Brandweermuseum (Fire brigade museum).
Other museums include the tax museum, historical museum the Dubbelde Palmboom en the Schielandhuis.
CULTURE IN ROTTERDAM
Rotterdam was one of the European Culture Capitals of 2001. The city has its own orchestra, the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra with its world famous musical director Valery Gergiev, a large congress and concert building De Doelen, plus many theatres (among which the new Luxor theatre) and movie theatres. The spacious Ahoy-complex in the south of the city is being used for pop concerts, exhibitions, tennis tournaments and other such activities.
A major zoo called "Diergaarde Blijdorp" is situated at the northwest side of Rotterdam, complete with a walkthrough sea aquarium called "Oceanium".
The city is home to the Rotterdam Academy of Fine Arts.
Rotterdam is currently going through somewhat of a renaissance, with some urban renewal projects featuring ambitious architecture, an increasingly sparkling nightlife, and a host of summer festivals celebrating the city's multicultural population and identity, such as the Caribbean-inspired 'Summer Carnival', the Dance Parade, Rotterdam 666, the Metropolis popfestival and the World Port days. With the International Filmfestival in January, Poetry International Festival in June, the Valery Gergiev Festival in September they make Rotterdam a real event city.
The self-image of the city is that of a no-nonsense workers' city. In that sense, there is a healthy competition with Amsterdam, which is often viewed as the 'cultural' capital of the Netherlands. There is a popular saying , Amsterdam to party, Den Hague to live, Rotterdam to work.
Rotterdam has had a rich hiphop scene since the early 1980s. It is also the home of Gabber, a type of music popular in the mid-1990s, with hard beats and samples. Bands like Neophyte and Rotterdam Terror Corps (RTC) started all in Rotterdam.
ARCHITECTURE AND SKYLINE OF ROTTERDAM
In 1898 the 45 meter high rise office building, the White House was completed, at that time the tallest office building in Europe.
In the first decades of the 20th century some influential architecture in the modern style was built in Rotterdam. Notable are the Van Nelle fabriek (1929) a monument of modern factory design by Brinkman en Van der Vlugt, and Feyenoord's football stadium de Kuip (1936) also by Brinkman en Van der Vlugt. The architect J. J. P. Oud was a famous Rotterdammer in those days. During the early stages of World War II the center of Rotterdam was bombed by the Germans, destroying much of the older buildings in the center of the city. After initial crisis re-construction the center of Rotterdam has become the site of ambitious new architecture.
Rotterdam is also famous for its Kubuswoningen or cube houses built by architect Piet Blom in 1984. In addition to that there are many international well known architects based in Rotterdam like O.M.A (Rem Koolhaas), MVRDV and Neutelings & Riedijk to name a few. Several young and upcoming offices like Star (strategies + architecture) and board are also based in Rotterdam.
Rotterdam houses several of the tallest structures in the Netherlands.
DISCOVER THE NETHERLANDS
THE NETHERLANDS TOURS
Koopgoot, looking towards the Lijnbaan
DISCOVER ROTTERDAM
The name "Rotterdam" is derived from a dam in a small river, the Rotte, which joins the Nieuwe Maas at the heart of the city.
HARBOUR OF ROTTERDAM
