Rotterdam photos 1978

Netherlands, Europe

Netherlands facts and history in brief

Rotterdam

Excerpted from Wikipedia, the free Encyclopaedia.

Rotterdam is the second largest city in the Netherlands, located in the province of South Holland.
The city is situated on the banks of the Nieuwe Maas River.
The name "Rotterdam" is derived from the small river Rotte, which joins the Nieuwe Maas at the location of the city.

Municipality As of January 1, 1999 the municipality had an area of 30424 hectares with a total population of 600,000.
Apart from the centre the municipality it includes 16 towns, villages and townships.

Rotterdam has by some accounts the largest harbour in the world, and it functions as an important transit point for goods transported between the European continent and other parts of the world: by ship, river barge, train and road.
A faster, new cargo railway to Germany, the Betuweroute, has been under construction since 2000.
The city is in constant struggle to maintain its prominent position as a world leader in container, petrol, and general cargo transhipment handling.
Large oil refineries are located west of the city along the Nieuwe Waterweg.

History and recent developments
Rotterdam was given cityrights on June 7, 1340 by Willem IV.
On May 14, 1940 Rotterdam was bombarded 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 fifties through the seventies of the 20th century the city was rebuilt.
It remained quite windy and open until the city councils from the eighties on began developing an active architectural policy.
Daring and new styles of apartments, office buildings and recreation facilities resulted in a more 'livable' city centre with a new skyline.
In the nineties a new business centre on the south bank of the river, the Kop van Zuid has been built.

Rotterdam is divided into 'Rotterdam-North' and ' Rotterdam-South' by the river Nieuwe Maas.
A former railway bridge, movable upward to let ships pass, is preserved as a monument, now permanently in upward position ("De Hef").
Rotterdam South is on the island of IJsselmonde.
Rotterdam has the second largest airport of the country, Rotterdam Airport (formerly known as Zestienhoven), which is located north of the city.

Rotterdam has one major university, the Erasmus University Rotterdam, named after one of its famous former inhabitants, Desiderius Erasmus.

Well known museums are the Boymans-van Beuningen (arts) Museum , the Historisch Museum, the Volkenkundig Museum (foreign peoples and cultures), the Maritiem Museum and the Brandweermuseum (Fire brigade museum).

The Euromast (Eurotower) has long been a major tourist attraction.

Rotterdam was the European Culture Capital of 2001.
The city has its own orchestra, the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, 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.

Rotterdam is the home of three professional football teams: Feyenoord, Sparta (Schiedam-Spangen) and Excelsior.
The large Feyenoord stadium with its popular name De Kuip (The Tub) in the southeast of the city has hosted many international soccer games.
Rotterdam has its own annual international marathon, which offers one of the fastest courses in the world.
It is the home of Gabber music, a type of techno music with fast beats and samples.

Well-known streets in Rotterdam are the shopping centre the Lijnbaan (the first one of the country with streets for pedestrians only, opened in 1953), the Coolsingel with the city hall, and the Weena, which runs from the Central Station to the Hofplein (square).

Public transport
Good national train connections and to Belgium and France; at night: hourly train service to Delft, The Hague, Leiden, Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam and, with a detour, Utrecht.

Metro services include the
Erasmus Line: Rotterdam Central station - Albrandswaard (Rhoon, Poortugaal) - Hoogvliet - Spijkenisse
Caland Line: two lines from the northeast of Rotterdam and one from Capelle aan den IJssel join; the combined line terminated in the west of Rotterdam, but on November 4, 2002, an extension was opened: the line now connects to the main railway network at Schiedam railway station, has a stop in Pernis and joins the Erasmus Line in Hoogvliet;
trains on the Caland Line, like those on the Erasmus Line, terminate in Spijkenisse.
The eastern parts of the Caland Line have some level crossings (with priority), and could therefore be called light rail instead of underground; however, they are integrated in the system; these parts have overhead wires, while the rest has third-rail, the vehicles can handle both.

Fast Ferry service between Rotterdam Willemskade - Krimpen aan den IJssel Stormpolder - Ridderkerk De Schans - Alblasserdam Kade - Dordrecht Merwekade.


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This information is correct in 2003. E. & O.E.

I visited Rotterdam in 1978 and I very much enjoyed my stay in the city.

You can click on these photos for an enlargement.

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