Arnhem (Arnhems: Ernem, German: Arnheim) is a city and
municipality in the Netherlands and the capital of the province of
Gelderland. The municipality of Arnhem includes the city of Arnhem,
the villages of Elden and Schaarsbergen, the hamlets De Praets and
't Vlot, and parts of the hamlets Terlet and Deelen. The
municipality has 161,961 inhabitants as of 1 August 2020 (source:
Statistics Netherlands), making it the thirteenth municipality in
the Netherlands. The agglomeration of Arnhem, consisting of, among
others, the municipalities of Arnhem, Westervoort, Duiven, Zevenaar,
Lingewaard, Overbetuwe, Renkum and Rheden, has nearly 450,251
inhabitants on an area of approximately 713.96 km².
Arnhem
is located on the river Nederrijn, the IJssel and the Sint-Jansbeek.
The city lies on both sides of the Rhine. The southern part of the
city in particular developed on a large scale after the Second World
War. The city is internationally known for the Battle of Arnhem.
Arnhem played an important role in the Second World War because of
the air landing and battle of the Allied troops in September 1944,
as part of Operation Market Garden. At various places in the city,
monuments mark the places where there was fierce fighting during the
war.
The Gelderland District Court and the Arnhem-Leeuwarden
Court of Appeal are located in the city, and it is the base of the
national military chamber and the airmobile brigade. The city is
also home to many national and international attractions, including
the Dutch Open Air Museum and Royal Burgers' Zoo.
The name Arnhem would be derived from
Arn or Aro - from the Germanic arnu (eagle) - and hem (home).
The name Arneym is first mentioned in 893 in a property register
of the Abbey of Prüm. Earlier, around 814, a written mention was
made of Meginhardeswich; this is the current Meijnerswijk in Arnhem
South. The city was sacked by the Vikings in 847.
In the
Arnhem accent the city is called Èrnem. The Arnhem dialect (Ernems)
differs strongly from other Southern Gelderland dialects because of
the Hague influences: in the second half of the 18th century, rich
residents of The Hague moved to country houses in the woods around
Arnhem. The Hague accent was adopted by the local Arnhem population
because this accent provided status. Today, the accent is still
mainly spoken in the working-class neighborhoods such as' t Broek,
de Geitenkamp and Klarendal (pronunciation klèrendoal).
Arnhem also has some nicknames. In the second half of the 19th
century, the city was called the 'Haagje van het Oosten'; In Arnhem,
just like in The Hague in that period, many former Indiëgoers
settled. Especially in the Indies, traders, former officers and
sugar and tobacco planters who had grown rich built houses along the
Velper, Utrecht and Amsterdamseweg. The middle class and cultural
life flourished because of their arrival. Arnhem therefore became a
city with an elite appearance.
Archaeological finds indicate that about 70,000 years ago there was
already human habitation in the area where the city of Arnhem is now
located. Two flint planes have been found from the time of the
Neanderthals who populated the area in the Stone Age. As hunters and
gatherers, Neanderthals generally did not have a permanent
residence, they roamed the region in search of prey. The oldest
remains of modern humans in the region date from about 5000 BC.
Remains of a hunting camp have been found at a depth of two meters
in the area of the Schuytgraaf district.
In the vicinity of
Warnsborn and Schaarsbergen, the first traces of farmers, residents
with a permanent residence, have been found. These burial mounds of
the foot cup people date from ca. 2400 BC. Traces of a settlement on
the Hoogkamp in the form of farms have been found from the Bronze
Age (ca. 1500 BC). Remains of inhabitants from the Iron Age have
been found where the center of Arnhem is now.
Arnhem (as Arneym) is first mentioned in
893 in a register of the possessions of the Abbey of Prüm in the
Eifel. It is described as a church dedicated to Saint Martin, with
surrounding lands. Although the early traces of settlements have
shown that the early inhabitants of Arnhem descended from the higher
situated forests, Arnhem was originally not built on the banks of
the Rhine, but on the higher part along the Sint-Jansbeek. Arnhem
originated on the spot where the road between Nijmegen and Utrecht /
Zutphen split. Seven streams supplied the city with water and it was
only when the course of the Rhine was diverted by the inhabitants of
Arnhem in 1530 that Arnhem came to lie on the river.
The
settlement received city rights on 13 July 1233 from Count Otto II
of Gelre, the Count of Zutphen. In the 13th century Arnhem had 2000
to 3000 inhabitants, who lived within the ramparts of the current
city center. Although Arnhem already had some form of defense before
the city law was granted, it grew into a city wall in 1291, which
was expanded in 1505, 1519 and 1533 and finally demolished in the
19th century.
In 1441, Arnhem was admitted to this armed
trade alliance at the annual meeting of the Hanze in Lübeck, and was
assigned to the Cologne quarter. The city undertook to supply four
armed men when necessary, and until 1615 usually attended the
Hanseatic days in Wesel and sometimes the Lübeck days. It therefore
represented Wageningen and Hattem.
In 1543, when the duchy of
Guelders was merged into the Habsburg Empire, Arnhem was one of the
four capitals in Guelders to be the home of the court and the
accountancy office. As a result of the Eighty Years' War, the duchy
of Gelre was split up. The three northern quarters took part in the
Union of Utrecht (1579) and then became part of the Republic of the
Seven United Netherlands. In 1543, Gelre came into the hands of
Emperor Charles V. It was Charles V who established the Court of
Accounts and the Court of Gelre and Zutphen in Arnhem, with which
Arnhem can be considered the de facto capital from that time.
Official status was granted in the 19th century.
At the end
of November 1813, heavy fighting took place in and near Arnhem
between the French occupying forces and Prussian troops, supported
by Russian Cossacks. In 1817 it became the capital of the province
of Gelderland in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands.
At the beginning of the nineteenth century, Arnhem came to the
attention of the well-to-do bourgeoisie from the west of the
Netherlands because of the favorable tax climate. Arnhem grew
rapidly, and many houses from that time testify to the wealth of the
new residents. The new bourgeoisie of Arnhem did, however, bring an
important stimulus to social and cultural life. The wealthy
residents who had come to Arnhem from The Hague and Amsterdam needed
the facilities they were used to. Musis Sacrum, the Stadsarmapotheek
and the Municipal Hospital date from this time.
Around 1870
the migration to Arnhem slowly decreased, and the city started
looking for other sources of income. The development of tourist
attractions kept Arnhem in the interest of the wealthy. Conferences
and exhibitions were organized, and transportation was modernized
with an electric tram network. With the Nederlandsche
Heidemaatschappij and the Eerste Nederlandse Kunstzijdefabriek
Arnhem, Arnhem drew two important employers to the city.
Arnhem grew strongly during the second half of the 19th century.
From 9,000 inhabitants in 1820 to almost 24,000 in 1859. Arnhem has
also expanded considerably in the 20th century. In the 1930s Arnhem
was badly hit during the Depression, but some work could still be
generated due to the construction of new city districts.
During World War II, the city became the scene of the Battle of
Arnhem, a historic airborne landing and battle that took place from
September 17-25, 1944, as part of Operation Market Garden. It is the
largest operation on Dutch territory during the Second World War.
For the Allies and the Netherlands it was largely a failure because
the last bridge (the one at Arnhem) could not be taken and the west
of the Netherlands could not be liberated because of this. As a
result, the west of the Netherlands had to deal with the hunger
winter. Arnhem itself was largely destroyed by bombing from both the
German and the Allied sides. The city was also looted by the German
occupiers when they evacuated the city in 1944.
On 12 and 13
April 1945 a second battle took place during the liberation of
Arnhem, which concentrated on the Geitenkamp district. Arnhem was
evacuated by order of the Germans at the end of 1944 and forced
laborers were established in the district and NSB members also lived
in the vacant houses. The Canadian troops thought that Arnhem was
well defended and carried out a heavy artillery bombardment on the
Goat Camp. The residents, who had been warned but had nowhere to go,
had an unknown number of victims.
After the war, reconstruction and expansion of the city began. The
Second World War had made huge holes in the historic city center.
The Haagje van het Oosten underwent a major metamorphosis. In a
drive for renewal and modernization, many damaged buildings were not
repaired but demolished. In addition, emergency homes and emergency
shops were built to provide the very first necessities of life. The
seriously damaged tram network was replaced by a trolleybus network,
a plan that was already in place before the war. But it had now
become a necessity, because the depot and a large number of trams
had been irreparably damaged by the war. On September 5, 1949, the
first trolley line, between Arnhem and Velp, was put into use.
Reconstruction is in full swing in the 1950s. Many new
residential areas are being built in a short time, such as Malburgen
and Presikhaaf. The boundaries of Arnhem in the south are being
significantly shifted at the expense of the surface of the
municipalities of Huissen and Elst. The Immerloo and Het Duifje
neighborhoods were created in the mid-1960s, where large gallery
flats were built in addition to many terraced houses. A few years
later, some more luxurious and single-family homes were established
in the Holthuizen and Vredenburg / Kronenburg districts. The village
of Elden increasingly bordered on the new Arnhem district and after
the 1980s was almost surrounded by the neighborhoods Elderveld, De
Laar and Rijkerswoerd. Arnhem also managed to get a few large
companies within its borders.
In the 1980s Arnhem had a
fairly extensive squatters' community. A number of buildings,
including the nationally renowned Hotel Bosch, collaborated on
cultural activities. Loesje's posters also appeared for the first
time in Arnhem in the early eighties. In 1989, there was a 'popular
uprising' against drug nuisance in the Klarendal district, where
numerous people were injured in police charges. Afterwards, much was
renewed and improved in Klarendal, including the Modekwartier with
numerous shops.
The Gelredome stadium was built in 1998 on the northeast side of
Elden. In 1999, the Sonsbeek Park celebrated its 100th anniversary
and extensive renovations were carried out as well as the 'Steile
Garden'. Furthermore, the Water Museum (2003) was established. In
2004, ProRail built Arnhem South station on the Arnhem - Nijmegen
railway line. Since 2002, the Vinex district Schuytgraaf has been
built west of the railway line.
In the nineties, the outdated
station in Arnhem was found to be too small, so it was decided to
build a new station. The entire station area was overhauled, office
towers and a new bus station were built, where the well-known
trolley buses also stop. After a relatively long construction period
(1997-2015), the new public transport terminal of Ben van Berkel,
with a capacity of 110,000 train and bus passengers per day, was
officially opened on 19 November 2015. The station has since been
officially called Arnhem Central.
The Arnhem coat
of arms is blue in color and consists of a silver eagle. The jaws
and claws are all gold in color. The crown is gold and consists of
five leaves. The heart shield is held by two standing lions of
natural color. The lions look at the viewer.
Stamps from 1281
and subsequent centuries already show double eagles; in the 17th
century the eagle is placed on a shield. Historians cite the Van
Arnhem family coat of arms as the origin of the Arnhem coat of arms.
That coat of arms consisted of a silver shield with a red one-headed
eagle on top. The family has held several high positions at the
court of various emperors and also on the council of the city of
Arnhem. The coat of arms became official on July 20, 1816.
The city has several theaters, of which the Stadstheater
Arnhem is the most important. This theater serves as a theater and
concert hall. Musis Sacrum on Velperplein is the permanent concert
hall of Phion, the orchestra of Gelderland and Overijssel. Theater
aan de Rijn, KAB Posttheater, Huis van Puck, Theater Het hof,
Theater aan de Rijn, Theater Huis Oostpool, Theater de Plaats and
Theater de Leeuw are smaller stages. Toneelgroep Oostpool is one of
the four larger theater companies in the Netherlands. Like Phion,
Philharmonie Gelre and the professional dance company Introdans,
Oostpool is located in Arnhem. Arnhem also has two theater
festivals: Height 80 and Sonsbeek Theater Avenue.
Luxor Live
is a center for pop music in Arnhem, with Willemeen and the
Jacobiberg as smaller stages for amateurs and starting bands. There
are also many concerts in the GelreDome with a capacity for 40,000
visitors. Film houses in the city are Focus film theater and the
cinemas Vue Eurocinema and Pathé Arnhem.
Centrally located in the city are the Korenmarkt and the
Varkensstraat with mainly grand cafes, discotheques, clubs and large
terraces. The Korenbeurs has been converted into a food hall that
will open daily from 2019. The Rijnkade is located on the south side
of the center, with terraces during the summer months. Also on
Jansplein, Willemsplein, Audrey Hepburnplein and Jonas Daniël
Meijerplaats are several restaurants and cafes. Grand cafes,
terraces, restaurants and a cinema can be found at Central Station
on Stationsplein, just like on Velperplein.
Prostitution in
Arnhem consisted of window prostitution in and around the
Spijkerkwartier, but in 2006 the municipality had all these windows
closed. There is also an official streetwalk area on Oude Veerweg.
A local delicacy, associated with the name Arnhem, but also known outside the city, are the Arnhem Girls. Arnhem Girls are oval hard-baked puff pastry cookies that are richly sprinkled with sugar. The cookies were first baked in 1829 by the Arnhem baker Hagdorn. When Roald Dahl was in Arnhem, he liked this delicacy so much that he agreed with the baker to get the secret recipe from the Arnhem Girls.
As a result of
Operation Market Garden and the Battle of Arnhem, the city attracts
many interested parties in the Second World War. Because the
interest, especially from the Western world, in the battle is great,
several films, documentaries, computer games, museums and
exhibitions have appeared about The Battle and Operation Market
Garden in the Arnhem region. The most famous museum about The Battle
is the Airborne Museum. The museum is located in the former
headquarters of the British forces during the battle. In addition to
the exhibited collection, the museum also contains the award-winning
[source?] Airborne Experience, where visitors themselves can follow
in the footsteps of a soldier. From the Airborne at the Bridge
information center, on the Arnhem Rijnkade, visitors look out over
the John Frost Bridge, which has been so fought for.
The
Liberation Route is a route that the Allies followed during the
liberation of Europe. The route runs from Normandy via Arnhem over
the South Veluwe to Berlin. In 2008 a start was made in the
Netherlands to make part of the Liberation Route visible on the
basis of so-called listening places. Special routes have been set
out for walkers, cyclists and cars per region and a mobile app is
available.
Various parts of Arnhem are a protected
cityscape: Geitenkamp, Mussenberg, Patrimoniumbuurt-Vogelwijk,
Sonsbeekkwartier-Noord, Sonsbeekpark and others, Spijkerkwartier /
Boulevardkwartier and Van Verschuerwijk. Arnhem also has hundreds of
national monuments, municipal monuments, and a number of war
monuments.
The Grote or Eusebiuskerk has been the center of
Arnhem since the 15th-16th century. The Eusebius is known as an
example of late Gothic in the Netherlands. The abundance of
sculpture, both inside and outside, is especially unique. The main
client of the Eusebius Church was Karel van Egmond, Duke of Gelre
and Count of Zutphen (1467-1538). His mausoleum is located in the
church hall, as well as his armor, which is also the oldest armor in
the Netherlands. [Source?] The church hall contains more historical
objects such as the Salvator clock from 1539, a 16th-century freco,
the pulpit and the Strumphler organ. From the church hall you can
visit the foundations of the predecessor of the Eusebius (the St.
Maartenskerk from 1000-1100) and the tombs with, among other things,
the skeletons of three cousins of William of Orange. The tower of
the Eusebius has a panoramic lift.
The largest museum in Arnhem is the Netherlands Open Air Museum. The museum provides a picture of life in the Netherlands during the last centuries. In 1996 a tram line was built on the museum grounds. Thanks to this ring line, visitors with reduced mobility can also visit the parts of the museum further from the main entrance. A replica of a quarter of the Arnhem tram depot, which was destroyed in 1944, was built. An Arnhem tram from 1929 was also reconstructed. This came into use in 1998. The museum has been offering an exhibition on the Canon of the Netherlands since 2017.
Various events are held throughout the city in Arnhem every year. A
number of them will take place in the center, on the Grote Markt,
Park Sonsbeek, Stadsblokken-Meinerswijk and in the GelreDome.
Arnhem, together with Amsterdam and Utrecht, is one of the
largest and most popular cities in the Netherlands for King's Night
and King's Day festivities. [Source?] On average, half a million
revelers come to the capital. To reduce the crowds in the city,
events are organized at various locations in the center. According
to tradition, the King's Day festivities are concluded with a grand
firework lit from the Rhine.
Every year, the international
commemoration, during the remembrance week, at the monument on the
Airborneplein attracts thousands of visitors to the center of
Arnhem. The official commemoration commemorates all Allies who fell
in their attempts to capture and preserve the bridge over the Rhine
(the John Frost Bridge) in the period 17-26 September 1944. After
the commemoration on Airborneplein, The Bridge finds to Liberation
takes place at the John Frost Bridge. Thousands of people are taken
into the story of the Battle of Arnhem with images and music by Het
Gelders Orkest and well-known Dutch artists. During the remembrance
week, there are commemorations and events in the region, which focus
on the Battle of Arnhem.
Park Open is organized every summer
from the end of May to the end of August on Sunday afternoons in
Park Sonsbeek, a series of free cultural events with theater, music
and dance. In August, the series will conclude with a four-day
festival at Sonsbeek Theater Avenue. In the summer months, the park
also hosts the Sonsbeek sculpture exhibitions every few years.
There are numerous recreational parks
in Arnhem and the surrounding area.
Burgers' Zoo
Park
Sonsbeek, Stadsblokken-Meinerswijk and National Park De Hoge Veluwe.
The Veluwezoom National Park is also a hilly area and consists
largely of varied forest, heathland and a few sand drifts. The
famous Posbank viewpoint is centrally located in this national park.
The village of Schaarsbergen marks the transition between the urban
area of Arnhem and the nature reserves of the Veluwe, Schuytgraaf
is located in the Over-Betuwe region. It is a rural region with many
livestock and fruit cultivation and tree nurseries. The area borders
against the flood plains of the Nederrijn. On the other side of the
Nederrijn one has a view of the Veluwe moraine, which was formed in
the penultimate ice age. The area is very wooded. The
Valkeniersbossen, Westerbouwing and Duno Estate are located on the
lateral moraine.
Arnhem is also a river landscape due to its
location on the Nederrijn and IJssel. The best-known recreational
areas are the Rijkerswoerdse Plassen and the Lathumse plas.
Koninklijke Burgers' Zoo is a zoo in Arnhem North. With nearly 1.5
million visitors in 2013, the Arnhem Zoo is the most visited
attraction in Gelderland. Nationally, Burgers' Zoo is the fifth most
visited attraction in the Netherlands.
Arnhem is located in the province of Gelderland, in
the east of the Netherlands. The city lies on the river Nederrijn,
the IJssel and the Sint-Jansbeek. The city lies on both banks of the
Rhine. The southern part of the city in particular developed on a
large scale after the Second World War.
Various streams flow
in Arnhem. Although the city has grown considerably over the
centuries, these streams have been preserved. Besides the
Sint-Jansbeek, there is the Klarenbeek and the Molenbeek or
Boekhorstbeek, the Klingelbeek or Slijpbeek and the Lichtenbeek. In
addition to these natural waters, Arnhem also has a network of
ditches, mainly located in the Presikhaaf district in Arnhem North
and Arnhem South. Arnhem also has a number of (recreational) lakes;
a pool in the Arnhem part of the Rosandepolder, the Immerlooplas in
the Malburgen district, a pool to the east of Schuytgraaf and
several pools in the Meinerswijk floodplain park. The Rijkerswoerdse
Plassen are located in the municipality of Overbetuwe, but border on
the De Laar district in Arnhem.
Arnhem is joint seventh in
2014 of the greenest cities in the Netherlands. The presence of a
number of large parks is partly due to the city's location on the
southern edge of the Veluwe. Until the end of the 19th century, the
parks were largely owned by wealthy families (Het Gelders Arcadië)
as estates. These often sold the estates to the municipality when
they became unprofitable. The Zijpendaal estate adjacent to the
Sonsbeek park only came up for sale in 1924 and, with the help of
ENKA founder Dr. J.C. Hartogs. Arnhem now has 15 parks. In addition
to Sonsbeek and Zijpendaal, these include Park Klarenbeek, Park
Presikhaaf and Park Angerenstein.
Arnhem, as in
much of the Netherlands, is located in an area with a moderate
maritime climate, with weather patterns strongly influenced by the
proximity of the North Sea to the west and the associated northwest
winds and storms. Winter temperatures are mild; above zero on
average, although frost is not uncommon during gusts of easterly or
northeasterly winds from inland Europe, such as from Scandinavia,
Russia and even Siberia. Summers are warm, but rarely hot.
Days with high rainfall are regularly observed, but the annual
rainfall does not exceed 800 mm. Most precipitation falls as
persistent drizzle or light rain. The presence of many water basins
means that cloudy and humid days are common, especially in the
cooler months from October to March.
The city of Arnhem is administratively divided into
3 districts: (Arnhem-) Center, Arnhem-North and Arnhem-South.
Arnhem Centrum is the center of Arnhem, also known as the old
city center, and covers the area that was the city of Arnhem from
the 10th century until the 19th century. The central area is bounded
on the north and east side by the John Frost Bridge and the canals,
on the west side by the Nelson Mandela Bridge and on the south side
by the River Rhine. Arnhem's city center is divided into 8 quarters,
each with its own character and icon. The quarters are:
Rijnkwartier, Rozetkwartier, Musiskwartier, Korenkwartier,
Stationskwartier, Eusebiuskwartier, 7 Straatjes (quarter) and
Janskwartier.
Arnhem-Noord is the part of Arnhem north of the
river Rhine, with the exception of the Arnhem-Centrum part. The city
of Arnhem originated around the St. Jansbeek and expanded in the
10th century to the south, to the current center. North of the city
are the tourist attractions Koninklijke Burgers' Zoo and the Dutch
Open Air Museum. Rijnstate hospital, Papendal Sports Center, ArtEZ
University of the Arts and the University of Applied Sciences of
Arnhem and Nijmegen are also located in North Arnhem.
Arnhem-Zuid is the part of Arnhem south of the current course of the
river Rhine. Arnhem-Zuid has approximately 80,000 inhabitants. In
Arnhem-Zuid is the multifunctional stadium Gelredome, home of
Vitesse and major events, the indoor Kronenburg shopping center, the
residential boulevard and the historic floodplain Meinerswijk.
Arnhem-Zuid has a train station: Arnhem Zuid station, located
between the Elderveld, De Laar West and Schuytgraaf districts.