Enschede

This article is about the Dutch municipality. For the similarly named German municipality, see Eschede. For other uses, see Enschedé.
Enschede
City and Municipality
Images, from top down, left to right: Skyline of Enschede,
the Rijksmuseum Twenthe, the White House mansion,
Synagogue of Enschede, Grolsch Veste stadium of FC Twente,
St. James Church, historic city centre of Enschede

Flag
Coat of arms
Highlighted position of Enschede in a municipal map of Overijssel
Location in Overijssel
Coordinates: 52°13′N 6°54′E / 52.217°N 6.900°E / 52.217; 6.900Coordinates: 52°13′N 6°54′E / 52.217°N 6.900°E / 52.217; 6.900
Country Netherlands
Province Overijssel
Government[1]
 • Body Municipal council
 • Mayor Onno van Veldhuizen (D66)
Area[2]
 • Municipality 142.72 km2 (55.10 sq mi)
 • Land 141.00 km2 (54.44 sq mi)
 • Water 1.72 km2 (0.66 sq mi)
Elevation[3] 42 m (138 ft)
Population (Municipality, May 2014; Urban and Metro, May 2014)[4][5]
 • Municipality 158,004
 • Density 1,121/km2 (2,900/sq mi)
 • Urban 158,004
 • Metro 315,807
 • Twente 626,586 [6]
Demonym(s) Enschedeër
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Postcode 7500–7549
Area code 053
Website www.enschede.nl

Enschede (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈɛnsxəˌdeː]), also known as Eanske [ˈɛːnskə] in the local dialect of Twents, is a municipality and a city in the eastern Netherlands in the province of Overijssel and in the Twente region. The municipality of Enschede consisted of the city of Enschede until 1935, when the rural municipality of Lonneker, which surrounded the city, was annexed after the rapid industrial expansion of Enschede which began in the 1860s and involved the building of railways and the digging of the Twentekanaal.

Geography

Enschede lies in the eastern part of Overijssel and is the easternmost city of more than 100,000 inhabitants in the Netherlands. The city lies a few kilometres from Germany, which borders the municipality. In the west, Hengelo is the first important place and at the eastern side, Gronau plays that role. More than a few small rivers flow through or surround the city, such as the Roombeek and Glanerbeek.

Dutch Topographic map of Enschede (city), June 2014

Enschede contains five official city districts ("Stadsdelen"). Note that they also include surrounding villages in the municipality:

Climate

Like most of the Netherlands, Enschede features an oceanic climate (Cfb in the Köppen classification), however, winters tend to be less mild than the rest of the Netherlands due to its inland location. Although the former military airport is derelict and plans to revive the place are canceled in 2012, the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute still has its weather station there online.

Climate data for Twenthe (1981–2010)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Average high °C (°F) 4.8
(40.6)		 5.7
(42.3)		 9.5
(49.1)		 13.9
(57)		 18.0
(64.4)		 20.5
(68.9)		 22.8
(73)		 22.5
(72.5)		 18.7
(65.7)		 14.1
(57.4)		 8.9
(48)		 5.2
(41.4)		 13.72
(56.69)
Daily mean °C (°F) 2.3
(36.1)		 2.6
(36.7)		 5.6
(42.1)		 8.9
(48)		 12.9
(55.2)		 15.4
(59.7)		 17.6
(63.7)		 17.1
(62.8)		 14.0
(57.2)		 10.2
(50.4)		 6.0
(42.8)		 2.9
(37.2)		 9.63
(49.33)
Average low °C (°F) −0.5
(31.1)		 −0.6
(30.9)		 1.5
(34.7)		 3.4
(38.1)		 7.1
(44.8)		 9.6
(49.3)		 12.0
(53.6)		 11.5
(52.7)		 9.2
(48.6)		 6.2
(43.2)		 3.0
(37.4)		 0.3
(32.5)		 5.23
(41.41)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 71.5
(2.815)		 51.6
(2.031)		 65.1
(2.563)		 45.2
(1.78)		 62.4
(2.457)		 67.7
(2.665)		 74.5
(2.933)		 71.0
(2.795)		 65.4
(2.575)		 67.5
(2.657)		 68.9
(2.713)		 74.1
(2.917)		 784.9
(30.901)
Mean monthly sunshine hours 52.8 82.6 114.0 169.9 202.1 184.6 202.4 184.4 137.4 112.3 58.9 46.0 1,547.4
Source: KNMI [7]

History

Balcony of the town hall. Enschede receives city rights

Pre-industrialisation

The early history of Enschede is largely unknown, but a settlement existed around the Old Marketplace in early medieval times. The name of this settlement is mentioned as Anescede or Enscede meaning either "near the border" (with Bentheim) or "near the Es" and sported a church, a marketplace and a fortified aristocratic house.[8]

Enschede was granted city rights around 1300 which were confirmed in 1325 by Bishop Jan III van Diest and henceforth was allowed to protect itself with a wall. Because a stone wall was too expensive (since stone had to be imported), Enschede had a system of ditches, palisades and hedges instead, which is still reflected in the street-names Noorderhagen and Zuiderhagen (North Hedge and South Hedge, respectively). The city plan of this era is still recognisable in the street-pattern. The city was spared destruction in 1597 at its capture during the Eighty Years' War when after a short siege, the Spanish garrison surrendered the city and the defences were razed.

Because the medieval city was largely built of wood and stone houses were the exception, fire was a constant risk and a series of fires in 1517, 1750 and again on 7 May 1862 earned the people from Enschede the nickname Brandstichters (arsonists).

Langestraat in Enschede, with the Grote Kerk in the background

Industrialisation

The last fire coincided with the start of the growth of the city into a large production center of textiles, originally as a cottage industry, but since the start of the 19th century on an industrial scale, especially the manufacture of bombazijn (a mixture of cotton and linen) proved an export hit. One such factory to have produced textiles in the late 19th century is the Hardick & Seckel Factory.

The industrialisation stimulated a large increase in population, which by 1894 had reached an estimated 18,267:[9] nineteenth-century urban growth was at first rather chaotic. The names of the slums (like De Krim and Sebastopol) are still notorious, although they have long since been torn down. In 1907 the laissez faire mentality was dropped and Enschede was the first city in the Netherlands to draw up an official expansion-plan, incorporating the (surrounding) municipality of Lonneker.

World War II

During the Second World War Enschede was one of the first Dutch cities to be captured by German troops, being the city closest to Germany. Resistance members helped many of the Jews from Enschede to hide on farms in the vicinity. Out of approximately 1300 Jews in Enschede, 500 were saved (38.5%), compared to less than 20% in the rest of the Netherlands. This higher survival rate is attributed to three members of the Jewish Council of Enschede, Sig Menko, Gerard Sanders and Isidoor Van Dam who took the initiative, against the advice of the Jewish Council of Amsterdam, of urging their community to go into hiding and not to answer the call-up of the Germans for "labour in the East". They were in a position to support these directions to their flock since they had access to funds, to power in the community and to a well-developed underground movement headed by a prominent Protestant minister, Leendert Overduin. Due to carelessness the resistance group was betrayed by an infiltrator and all its members were killed by German soldiers while gathered in a basement. The Germans threw in some grenades a few days before the allied troops liberated the city. Even though "De ondergrondse" (the resistance, litt. the underground) was the main resistance group, many other citizens risked their lives, for example by rescuing allied pilots who were shot down while on bombing missions. Because it was close to Germany (only a few kilometers from the town of Gronau in Germany) and housed a German command center, Enschede was frequently bombed by allied troops, aiming for the German command center or mistaking Enschede for a German city. Enschede was liberated on 1 April 1945 by Allied, mainly Canadian, troops.

The end of the industrial age

In the 1970s the textile production in Enschede came to a halt, due to fierce competition from mainly the Far East. This had a profound effect on the populace. Enschede became one of the poorest municipalities in the Netherlands and (de facto) went bankrupt. Large areas of industrial wasteland came to mark the city.

With the support of the national government, this property was acquired and rebuilt. The city center was rendered a car-free zone, the importance of Enschede as a Euregional Centre was stimulated and Enschede managed to rise from the ashes (for once not literally).


Monument commemorating the 2000 fireworks disaster. The inscription says, "The vanished house between heaven and earth."

On 13 May 2000, a fireworks storage depot in Enschede exploded, destroying the entire neighborhood of Roombeek and killing 23 people, including 4 firemen. This catastrophe is known in the Netherlands as the Vuurwerkramp (fireworks disaster).

In 2001 a referendum confirmed the proposal of the city council to expand the built-up area into the Usseler Es, an area of historic cultural significance and of geological importance, as it was here that the Usselo horizon was discovered.

The renovations at Roombeek were finished in the year 2012. The place where the factory used to be is now a monument.

Economy

The city is a former centre of textile production. When this industry left the area for cheaper production centers in South-East Asia, Enschede became one of the poorest municipalities in the Netherlands. The biggest challenge of the city is to prevent higher educated (wealthy) citizens from moving to the west (Randstad). Decades of renovation work in the city center have been carried out with the goal of making Enschede more attractive to this group.

Het ei van Ko (Ko's egg) fountain

Modern shopping centers and department stores that until recently were only found in much larger cities have been opened. Enschede is host to many yearly festivals and the Old Market Square is often the venue for events, live music and other activities on the weekend. After some hesitation on the part of the city council, Enschede was able to host Roze Zaterdag in the summer of 2004 which was a huge success. This not only gave the local economy a boost, but also drew positive attention to Enschede's gay community, the largest in the east of the Netherlands.

Like the German capital Berlin Enschede has a troubled urban economy, but is still home to a vibrant artistic scene. Also the city's laid-back attitude, by some attributed to the relatively low economic activity of its inhabitants (labour participation was about 57% in 2006) and the large numbers of students, artists and (semi-) government employees, make for a 'Berlinesque' atmosphere.

The proximity to Germany has, historically, been another major factor in the city's economic activity, ranging from the smuggling of coffee and tobacco in the 19th and 20th century, to large numbers of Germans, who visit the city's shops and (especially) the weekly markets. Therefore, most natives of Enschede speak German more or less fluently.

The city is co-operating with the nearby municipalities of Almelo, Borne and Hengelo as Netwerkstad Twente. A draft law plan to merge Enschede with Hengelo and Almelo was defeated in parliament under the influence of opposition from the other towns.

The world famous Grolsch beer is brewed in Enschede. The tyre manufacturer Apollo Vredestein B.V. head office and a factory is in Enschede. It is one of the most important employers of the region.

Research, education and health care

The Universiteit Twente (University of Twente), a university with mostly technical studies, is located in Enschede. It's one of the three technical universities in the Netherlands (besides Delft University of Technology and Eindhoven University of Technology). The Universiteit Twente is also the only large campus university in the Netherlands.

A shelf cloud associated with a heavy or severe thunderstorm over Enschede, Netherlands

The university has courses in pure technical studies such as Applied Physics, Applied Mathematics, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Informatics/Computer Science and Industrial Engineering and also offers study programmes in Communication, Psychology, Economical Sciences, International Business Administration, Public Administration, Applied Medicine and Biomedical Technology; the latter attract a broader public. Since 2006, the programme of European Studies has been added to the university's offerings.

Enschede is also home to one of the three campuses of Saxion University of Applied Sciences (Saxion Hogeschool Enschede), a polytechnical school offering internationally recognized Bachelor's degrees and Master's degrees in a wide range of fields, including engineering, economics, social work, investigations and health care.[10] The other campuses are located in Deventer and Apeldoorn.

The Faculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation of the University of Twente, with former name International Institute for Aerospace Survey and Earth Sciences, (known by its abbreviation ITC) is famous for its MSc, Master's, Diploma and PhD courses in Geo-Information Science for developing countries. Students from all over the world attend the ITC.

Enschede also has an academy of arts and design combined with a conservatory named ArtEZ.

The Medisch Spectrum Twente (MST) hospital is one of the largest top-clinical hospitals of the Netherlands and features important tertiary care departments, fulfilling a supraregional role. It includes a level I trauma center as well. The hospital is strongly involved in higher medical education, with up to 300 medical students following their internships in the hospital at any given time, closely working together with the University of Twente's Technical Medicine program training a new type of technically specialized doctors.

Transport

Enschede is a terminus station of the NS railway lines from the west. Trains operate to Hengelo, Almelo, Zwolle, Deventer, Apeldoorn, Amersfoort, Hilversum, Amsterdam, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, Utrecht, Rotterdam and The Hague.

To the east there is a line to Gronau, Germany, which has two more stations in the Netherlands: Enschede De Eschmarke and Glanerbrug. The latter two have low ridership. The line is served by DB Regionalbahn Westfalen (part of the German Deutsche Bahn), to Münster and to Dortmund, each on an hourly interval and alternating half-hours in the service to Gronau.

There is no track connection between the two systems. The through line had been retained for eventual NATO use during the Cold War even after through passenger service was ended (September 1981), although it was in serious disrepair in later years. With the renewal of service to Germany (May 2001) the track was severed; there is a gap of about 30 centimeters between them.[11]

There is also Enschede Kennispark railway station, near the football stadium.

See also de:Bild:Dortmund-Gronau-Enschede.gif and railway services in Nordrhein-Westfalen 407 and 412.

Enschede has a combined regional civil airport, Enschede Airport, and Airbase Twenthe of the Royal Netherlands Air Force. The latter was closed in 2007; the former was closed in 2008. Enschede is situated at the south-east terminus of the Twentekanaal.

There is also a network of bus lines connecting nearly every part of the city with the centre. Enschede also has bus connections to nearby towns and cities, like Hengelo, Oldenzaal and south towards Haaksbergen, Neede and Eibergen. The city lines are operated by Syntus, under the Twents-branche. The interlocal lines are exploited by Syntus and Arriva.

Culture

There are several museums in Enschede, among them the Rijksmuseum Twenthe for art. A museum of natural history and a museum dedicated to the history of the textiles industry, both closed in January 2007, have merged, and have reopened in April 2008 in new premises on a new location under the name TwentseWelle (Source/Well of Twente). The new location is situated in Roombeek, where a fireworks disaster took place in 2000. The new museum is located partly in a renovated old textile factory, in reference to Enschede's textile history, and partly in an adjourning new building, designed by the Amsterdam-based firm SeARCH (project architect: Bjarne Mastenbroek). Enschede is also home of The Netherlands Symphony Orchestra.

In December 2012, the Serious Request action from national radio station 3FM took place in Enschede, which collected more than 12.2 million euros (almost 16.2 million US dollars).

Sports

IJsbaan Twente

Twin towns

Notable people born in Enschede

See also People from Enschede

References

  1. ↑ "Peter den Oudsten" (in Dutch). Gemeente Enschede. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
  2. ↑ "Kerncijfers wijken en buurten" [Key figures for neighbourhoods]. CBS Statline (in Dutch). CBS. 2 July 2013. Retrieved 12 March 2014.
  3. ↑ "Postcodetool for 7511HC". Actueel Hoogtebestand Nederland (in Dutch). Het Waterschapshuis. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
  4. ↑ "Bevolkingsontwikkeling; regio per maand" [Population growth; regions per month]. CBS Statline (in Dutch). CBS. 26 June 2014. Retrieved 24 July 2014.
  5. ↑ "Bevolkingsontwikkeling; regio per maand" [Population growth; regions per month]. CBS Statline (in Dutch). CBS. 26 June 2014. Retrieved 24 July 2014.
  6. ↑ Regionale Kerncijfers Nederland, CBS (1 januari 2012)
  7. ↑ "Twenthe, long-term averages, time period 1981–2010 (in Dutch)" (PDF). Retrieved December 29, 2012.
  8. ↑ enschede-stad.nl
  9. ↑ The Century Cyclopaedia of Names, coordinated by Benjamin E Smith and published by the De Vinne Press, New York 1894 (Page 363)
  10. ↑ "Saxion University of Applied Sciences (english site)". Saxion.edu. Retrieved 2012-03-19.
  11. ↑ Archived February 6, 2012, at the Wayback Machine.
  12. ↑ http://slappingstuds.nl/about

Literature

External links

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