661. Rotterdam. 100.

Title

661. Rotterdam. 100.

Description

View of Rotterdam with sailing ships in front.

ca. 1840

Artist

Anonymus

Historical Description

Rotterdam was founded in 1230 when a dam was built on the River Rotte. The first settlers were probably herring fishermen who reloaded their catch here. After being granted city rights in 1340, the city quickly developed into a rich trading city due to its favorable geographical location. During the war with Spain in the 1570s, Rotterdam was one of the few port cities with free access to the sea. The port continued to grow, but the decisive moment for its development into the largest port in Europe was the construction of the Nieuwe Waterweg in 1853. This created a lockless open canal to the North Sea and Rotterdam became the most important import and export port for the rapidly expanding industry in the Ruhr region up the Rhine. At that time, city politics were almost exclusively dominated by merchants, who made up over 90% of the members of the city council by 1880, with the Mees, Stolk and Van Oordt dynasties being influential. In addition to better connections to the North Sea, the economic upswing in Germany and especially in the Ruhr area also placed Rotterdam at the heart of European industry. During the Industrial Revolution, the city was on the fringes of the prosperity zone, but from the Wilhelminian era onwards it began to be located in the middle of the trade route between Great Britain and the Ruhr, and also at the strategically important transition from sea to river and rail traffic.