It's history goes back to 1270 and is now a
major logistic and economic centre. Rotterdam is Europe's largest port.
During World
War II, the German army invaded the Netherlands on 10 May 1940. Adolf
Hitler had hoped to conquer the country in just one day, but
his forces met unexpectedly fierce resistance. The Dutch army was forced to
capitulate on 15 May 1940, following the bombing
of Rotterdam on 14 May and threatening to bomb other Dutch cities. The heart of Rotterdam was almost destroyed
by the Luftwaffe. Some 80,000
civilians were made homeless and 900 were killed; a relatively low number since
many had fled the city because of the warfare and bombing going on in Rotterdam
since the start of the invasion three days earlier.
Rotterdam was gradually rebuilt from the
1950s through to the 1970s. It was a quite windy and open city
until councils began developing an active architectural policy. Unlike other cities
devastated during WWII, the people of Rotterdam made the choice not to rebuild replicas
of what had been destroyed. Instead varied
architectural landscape, daring and new styles of apartments and office
buildings, including sky-scrapers (an uncommon sight in other Dutch cities), and
recreation facilities resulted in a more 'livable' city centre with a striking new skyline.
Rotterdam's logistic success is based on
its strategic location by the North
Sea, at the mouth of the Nieuwe
Maas channel leading into the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. The rivers Rhine, Meuse, and Scheldt give waterway
access into the heart of Western Europe, including the highly industrialized Ruhr. The extensive distribution system including rail, roads,
and waterways have earned Rotterdam the nicknames "Gateway to Europe"
and "Gateway to the World"
We
checked into our hotel, the H2otel and then did some wandering around the city
as our room wasn’t quite ready. This is
why it is called the H2otel, it is on the water, and is a converted barge
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