Arnhem

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Nl-Arnhem.ogg is a municipality and a city in the east of the Netherlands, located on the Lower Rhine, and the capital of the Gelderland province.

Population centres

The municipality of Arnhem consists of the city of Arnhem, and the following surrounding suburbs and former villages:

History

Arnhem, first mentioned in 893 as Oppidium Arnoldi Villa had its real origins in 1233 when Otto II, count of Guelders, conferred city rights on the town, which had belonged to the abbey of Prüm, settled in and fortified it. Arnhem entered the Hanseatic League in 1443. In 1473 it was captured by Charles the Bold of Burgundy. In 1514 Charles of Egmond, duke of Guelders, took it from the dukes of Burgundy; in 1543 it fell to the emperor Charles V. As capital of the so-called "Kwartier van Veluwe" it joined the Union of Utrecht in 1579, and became part of the Republic of the Seven United Provinces of the Netherlands in 1585. The French occupied the town 1672–1674; In 1795–1813 it was reoccupied by the French, this time Revolutionary and Imperial. In the early 19th century the former fortifications were almost completely dismantled, to give space for town expansion, the Sabelspoort (Sabresgate) is the only remaining part of the medieval walls.

In the 19th century Arnhem was a genteel resort town famous for its picturesque beauty. It was known as "het Haagje van het oosten" (The Little Hague of the East), mainly because a number of rich former sugar barons or planters from the Indies settled there as they did in The Hague. Even now the town is famous for its parks and greenery. The urbanisation in the north on hilly terrain is also quite unique for the Netherlands.

The Battle of Arnhem

In World War II, during Operation Market Garden (September 1944), the British 1st Airborne Division and the Polish 1st Independent Parachute Brigade were given the task of securing the bridge at Arnhem. The units were parachuted and glider-landed into the area on September 17 and later. The bulk of the force was dropped rather far from the bridge and never met their objective. A small force of British 1st Airborne managed to make their way as far as the bridge but was unable to secure both sides. The Allied troops encountered stiff resistance from the German 9th and 10th SS Panzer Divisions, which had been stationed in and around the city. The British force at the bridge eventually surrendered on September 21 and a full withdrawal of the remaining forces was made on September 26. These events were dramatised in the movie A Bridge Too Far. As a tribute, the bridge has been renamed 'John Frost-bridge' after the commander of the paratroopers. The official commemoration is September 16. (Actually, the movie was shot in Deventer, where a similar bridge over the IJssel was available, as the area around Arnhem bridge had changed too much to represent WWII era Arnhem).

A second battle of Arnhem took place in April 1945 when the city was liberated by I Canadian Corps of the First Canadian Army.

Places of interest

The Groote Kerk (St. Eusebius), built 1452–1560, lost most of its tower during World War II, of which a part has been reconstructed to a modern design and opened in 1964. Officially the tower is not part of the church and is owned by the municipality.

The house of Maarten van Rossum, a general serving Duke Charles van Gelre, has been the town hall since 1830: the satyrs in its Renaissance ornamentation earned for it the name Duivelshuis ("devil's house").

The John Frost Brug is the bridge reconstructed after WWII on the site of the original "Bridge Too Far" destroyed during the war.

The National Heritage Museum (Nederlands Openluchtmuseum) is located outside the city. It is an open air museum and park with antique houses, farms and factories from different parts of the Netherlands.

Burgers' Zoo is the biggest and most visited zoo in the Netherlands, featuring an underwater walkthrough, desert, mangrove, rainforest etc.

The Gelredome, the home field of Vitesse, the city's Eredivisie side in football, is a unique facility that features a retractable roof and a slide-out grass pitch. The concept has been duplicated since then by the Veltins-Arena in Gelsenkirchen, Germany and a facility under construction in Arizona.

The KEMA Toren (formerly known as SEP Control Tower) is the highest structure of the town. It is a 140-metre-high TV tower.

Transport

Arnhem has a major railway station, which is serviced by several intercity lines and the ICE to Düsseldorf and further on to Frankfurt. The intercity lines provide direct connections to Utrecht, Nijmegen and Zutphen. It is also the terminus for several local railway services. Arnhem has three other stations, namely: Arnhem Velperpoort, Arnhem Presikhaaf and Arnhem Zuid.

Arnhem is unique in the Netherlands with its trolleybus system.

Notable people

Arnhem was the birthplace of physicist and Nobel prize laureate Hendrik Lorentz in 1853.
The English poet Sir Philip Sidney died in 1586 in Arnhem.
British actress Audrey Hepburn attended Arnhem Conservatory during the war years 1939–1945.
Dutch water polo player Rik Toonen, winner of Olympic bronze in 1976, was born in Arnhem

Trivia

Arnhem is the name of a march composed by A.E. Kelly.
Arnhem Land in Australia is named after the VOC-ship Arnhem.
Arnhem is twinned with the London Borough of Croydon.

External links

Cities in the Netherlands | Cities on the Rhine | Towns in Gelderland | Municipalities of Gelderland

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