History
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.
Enschede was granted
city rights in
1325 by Jan van Diest, the Bishop of
Utrecht and henceforth was allowed to protect itself with wall. Since a
stone wall was too expensive (Stone had to be imported) Enschede had a
system of ditches, palisades and hedges instead, which is still reflected in
the street-names
Noorder-hagen and
Zuiderhagen (North
Hedge and South Hedge, respectively). The city plan of this era is still
recognisable in the street-pattern.
Fire
Since the medieval city was largely built of wood and stone houses were the
exception, fire was a constant risk and a series of fires
1517,
1750 and again on
May 7,
1862 earned the people from Enschede the
nickname
Brandstichters (
arsonists).
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.
The industrialisation stimulated a large increase in population, which at
first was rather chaotic. The names of the slums (like
De Krim and
Sebastolpol) 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.
The end of the industrial age
In the 1970 the textile production in Enschede came to a halt and was
transferred to the far east. This had a profound effect on the populace and
Enschede became one of the poorest municipalities in the netherlands and (de
facto) went bankrupt. Large area's of industrial wasteland now marked the
city, which fell prey to speculation by real estate developers.
With the support of the government, this property was acquired and rebuilt,
the city center was rendered a
car-free zone and the importance of
Enschede as a
Euregional Centre was stimulated and Enschede managed
to rise from the ashes.
The Fireworks Disaster
On
May 13,
2000, a
fireworks factory in Enschede exploded,
destroying an entire neighborhood and killing 23 people, including 4
firemen. This catastrophe is known in the
Netherlands as the Vuurwerkramp,
Dutch for
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
some historic (agri-)cultural importance.
Large scale construction and renovation activities in the city center have
been ongoing for several years.
Police officers shot
On September 30, 2004, two police officers were shot (one fatally) by a
German drug dealer.
[1]
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. Modern shopping
centers and department stores that until now 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. In
many aspects, Enschede is admittedly trying to present itself as the
Amsterdam of the east.
The proximity to Germany has, historically, been another major factor in
economic activity, ranging from the smuggling of coffee and tobacco in the
19th and 20th century, to large numbers of Germans, who visit the cities
shops and (especially) the weekly markets. Natives of Enschede can therefore
be expected to speak German more or less fluently.
The city is cooperating with the nearby municipalities of
Almelo, Borne and
Hengelo as
Netwerkstad Twente. A
governmental plan to merge with Hengelo was discarded by local opposition.
Education
The
Universiteit Twente, a university with
mostly technical studies, is located in Enschede. It is one of the three
technical universities in the Netherlands (besides
Delft University of Technology and
Eindhoven University of Technology) and
there are plans to merge them for cost saving reasons. The university both
has courses in pure technical studies such as Mechanical Engineering,
Electrical Engineering and Chemical Engineering, but also courses in
Communication, Psychology, Economical Sciences, Business, Public
Administration, Applied Medicine and Biomedical Technology which attracts a
broader public. Since 2006, the programme of European Studies has been added
to the university's programma.
Enschede is also home to one of the three campuses of Saxion University (Saxion
Hogeschool Enschede), a polytechnical school offering internationally
recognized Bachelors and Masters degrees in a wide range of fields including
engineering, economics and health care. The other campuses are located in
Deventer and
Apeldoorn.
The International Institute for Geo-information Science and Earth
Observation (known by its abbreviation
ITC) is famous for its MSc, Masters,
Diploma and PhD courses in Geo-information Science for developing countries.
Students from all over the world are attending ITC.
Enschede also has a conservatory and an
academy of arts and design.
Transport and airbase
Enschede is a terminal
station of the
NS railway network on the west.
On the east there is a line to
Gronau,
Germany, with two more stations of the
latter in the Netherlands: "Enschede De Eschmarke" and "Glanerbrug". The
line is served by:
See also and 407 and 412.
Enschede has a combined regional civil airport,
Enschede Airport, and Airbase Twenthe of
the
Royal Netherlands Air Force. The latter
will be closed in 2007; whether the former can remain open is under
consideration. Enschede is situated at the south-east terminus of the
Twentekanaal.
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.
Sports
Enschede is well-known for its local association
football club, FC Twente. The city also
hosts the – since
1991 – annual
Enschede Marathon.
Ranks #1 of 5 hotels in
Enschede in TripAdvisor's popularity index
In
Enschede
near
Enschede
