Rotterdam isn’t your typical outdated European metropolis with cobbled lanes and medieval squares. A lot of it was rebuilt after the devastating bombing in 1940, however that doesn’t imply its historical past is difficult to seek out.
Rotterdam is a Dutch metropolis that has been moulded by migration, scarred by wartime and rebuilt to be a chosen European Capital of Tradition.. There are many methods to discover the historical past of Rotterdam via strolling excursions, discovering multicultural neighbourhoods, symbolic monuments and tales shared by locals.
Should you’re planning a visit to Rotterdam, I hope this information helps you get a greater sense of how town grew to become what it’s at present.
Rotterdam Docks from the ‘Tornado’ statement deck at Fenix Museum
Historical past of Rotterdam
Studying concerning the historical past of Rotterdam is an enormous topic, so to offer you an summary, I believed a timeline of occasions can be a helpful option to break it down. From a easy dam on the River Rotte to turning into Europe’s largest port, Rotterdam has come a good distance. Right here’s a have a look at among the key moments that formed town.
Historical past of Rotterdam Timeline
1270 – A dam is constructed within the River Rotte. That is the place Rotterdam will get its identify.
1340 – Rotterdam formally turns into a metropolis after being granted metropolis rights by Depend William IV of Holland.
fifteenth Century – The town grows right into a small however vital buying and selling hub, because of its inland waterways.
1568–1648 – Rotterdam sides with the Dutch rebels in opposition to Spain. The Eighty Years’ Conflict finally results in the independence of the Dutch Republic.
1588 to 1672 – Within the Dutch Golden Age, Rotterdam thrives as a port metropolis with commerce, shipbuilding, and the inhabitants all rising quickly. This financial energy was fuelled by the transatlantic slave commerce.
1609 to 1621 – Dutch East India Firm (VOC) undertook the conquest of the Banda Islands, an vital spice buying and selling centre in Japanese Indonesia, leading to a bloodbath of the Bandanese in 1621.
1940 (14 Might) – Rotterdam was closely bombed throughout WWII by Nazi Germany.
1945 (2 September) – World Conflict II formally ended, and the Netherlands regained its freedom.
Nineteen Forties–Nineteen Sixties – Within the post-war period, Rotterdam is rebuilt with modernist structure and a give attention to useful city planning and innovation.
1945–1949 – The Dutch-Indonesian Conflict started after Indonesia declared independence. The Netherlands formally recognised Indonesian sovereignty in 1949.
1962 – The Port of Rotterdam turns into the world’s largest port (a title held till 2004).
1991 – The Chilly Conflict got here to an finish, marking a shift in worldwide relations, together with for the Netherlands.
Historical past of Migration in Rotterdam
Rotterdam has migration to thank for town it has turn into. Its strategic location on the River Maas and its deep-water port made it a pure hub for commerce and journey.
Within the seventeenth century throughout the Dutch Golden Age, town attracted expert employees, retailers, and refugees. It’d shock you, however refugee migration isn’t new. The Huguenots, who had been French Protestants fleeing persecution, had been amongst those that arrived.
This era additionally included the brutal actuality of slavery. The Dutch West India Firm (WIC) was a key participant within the transatlantic slave commerce, transporting enslaved Africans to Dutch colonies within the Caribbean and South America. The Dutch East India Firm (VOC) was concerned within the Asian slave commerce, which largely provided enslaved individuals for home work, each inside Asia and within the Netherlands.
The authorized slave commerce resulted in 1814, however slavery in Dutch colonies continued till 1863. The Dutch authorities and a number of other cities, together with Rotterdam, have since issued formal apologies for the Netherlands’ function in slavery.
By the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Rotterdam had turn into a serious departure level for Europeans heading to the Americas. The Holland-America Line operated from Katendrecht and carried thousands and thousands of passengers throughout the ocean. Many migrants stayed in Rotterdam quickly, making it their house between journeys.
After the Second World Conflict, Rotterdam needed to rebuild rapidly. To help this, employees got here from southern Europe, Turkey, Morocco, Suriname, Indonesia, Cape Verde, and the Dutch Caribbean. They performed an enormous half within the metropolis’s restoration and introduced new power and cultures with them.
As we speak, greater than half of Rotterdam’s inhabitants has a migration background, and about one in eight residents are thought to have ancestors who had been enslaved within the Atlantic area. The biggest migrant communities in Rotterdam are from Morocco, Turkey, and Suriname, and their identification is seen within the meals, music, festivals, and inventive scenes.
Verhalenhuis Kaap Belvédère: Rotterdam’s Metropolis Tales Centre
Historical past Of Rotterdam: Issues To Do
Go to the Fenix Museum of Migration
Rotterdam doesn’t shrink back from its complicated migration story. The FENIX Museum of Migration opened in Might 2025 in Rotterdam’s Katendrecht district, housed in a restored 1923 warehouse as soon as utilized by the Holland-America Line. They inform tales throughout generations and continents and are a reminder that migration is about motion, each leaving and arriving.
Anticipate a show-stopping entrance with the “Tornado”, designed by Ma Yansong of MAD Architects. This eye-catching function is the 30-metre-tall stainless-steel double-spiral staircase symbolising the unpredictable paths of migrants.
The museum’s exhibitions, akin to All Instructions and The Household of Migrants, showcase over 150 artworks and 194 pictures, respectively, exploring migration’s world and historic elements. The Suitcase Labyrinth set up options 2,000 donated suitcases representing private migration tales courting again to 1898.
Go away sufficient time to learn the again story that accompanies every artistic piece to offer a larger understanding of the cruel realities of migration and the disparity of alternatives. I actually discovered it fairly an emotional expertise.
FENIX Museum of Migration | Open Tues-Solar 10am-5pm
Migration Strolling Tour in Katendrecht
Katendrecht, typically referred to as the Cape, was as soon as a busy dockside district full of boarding homes for seafarers. Over time, it grew to become often known as a red-light district and one of many metropolis’s rougher areas. It additionally grew right into a melting pot, house to Europe’s first Chinatown and Greek sailors recognized domestically as parawaners. Throughout WWII, Surinamese jazz musicians performed at venues like Belvedere as a result of underneath Nazi rule, Europeans had been banned from performing jazz.
Taking a strolling tour via the realm at present, you hear highly effective second-generation tales that convey the neighbourhood’s migration historical past to life. Jorge Lizardo shared how his Cape Verdean father arrived in Rotterdam as a younger sailor within the Nineteen Sixties. David Zee spoke about his Chinese language background and the way his Dutch grandmother gave up her nationality to marry his grandfather. These private tales carry the quirks that don’t make it into historical past books.
Katendrecht has modified dramatically lately and has been reworked into one among Europe’s trendiest neighbourhoods. Warehouses have been regenerated into areas just like the Fenix Meals Manufacturing unit and the Migrant Museum, alongside cultural venues, fashionable condominium buildings, and swanky eating places with menus that fulfill each craving. The district attracts a brand new hip crowd, however there’s an actual effort to protect its layered migrant historical past and provides area to the residents that had been its foundations.
BOOK Storyhouse Belvédère Excursions
Migrant tales in Katendrecht Rotterdam
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Go to Museum Rotterdam
Museum Rotterdam ’40-’45 NOW tells the story of the Might 14, 1940, bombing and what adopted. Via multimedia shows and authentic artefacts, it reveals how each day life modified for Rotterdammers underneath Nazi occupation. One room focuses on the buildings that survived and the way they had been rebuilt. You’ll additionally discover a duplicate of Ossip Zadkine’s sculpture The Destroyed Metropolis, which has turn into a robust image of the tragic occasion and the spirit of the individuals of Rotterdam.
Like many museums, the gathering started from a passionate hobbyist. Arie Mast noticed the bombing of Rotterdam throughout the Maas River from his house in Katendrecht. He began amassing gadgets till his home was overflowing and was lastly exhibited in 1985. Initially based mostly in Katendrecht, the museum has been positioned on Coolhaven harbour since 2008.
Museum Rotterdam | Open Tues-Solar 11am-5pm
Discover Progressive Statues round Rotterdam
Public statues within the metropolis powerfully nod to the complicated historical past of Rotterdam. Listed here are a few of my favourites noticed within the metropolis:
Erasmus by Hendrick de Keyser honours the Sixteenth-century scholar and humanist recognized for advocating peace and open-mindedness. This image of free speech is the oldest statue within the Netherlands.
The Destroyed Metropolis, created by Ossip Zadkine, captures the horror of the 1940 bombing.
Clave by Alex da Silva acknowledges Rotterdam’s involvement within the transatlantic slave commerce.
Moments Contained by Thomas J. Worth stands exterior Rotterdam Centraal Station. This towering bronze sculpture of a younger Black girl in informal sportswear reveals a stoic but susceptible presence.
CLICK to find the thought-provoking statues in Rotterdam
‘Moments Contained’ by Thomas J Worth
Multi-cultural Meals in Rotterdam
The delicacies in Rotterdam won’t ever get boring, and it tells tales of its migrant affect. There isn’t any scarcity of locations to go if you happen to’re craving selection. You’ll be able to seize Turkish lahmacun, Moroccan harira, Surinamese roti, or Indonesian rendang all in at some point. Avenue meals markets like Fenix Meals Manufacturing unit and De Markthal provide world flavours aspect by aspect, and neighbourhoods like West-Kruiskade and Katendrecht are full of Asian, Caribbean, and Center Japanese eats.
Moroccan Lentil Soup
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Extra Tour concepts: Historic Issues To Do in Rotterdam
To discover the topic of freedom in Rotterdam in additional element, you could want to contemplate these excursions and actions on your itinerary:
Thanks to Go to Netherlands for making this journey potential and supporting the creation of this information to assist travellers discover the historical past of Rotterdam. All opinions and phrases are totally my very own.
PIN to Uncover the Historical past Of Rotterdam
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