Enschede

Almost nothing is known of Enschede's original history, but a settlement around the Old Market already existed in the early Middle Ages. The settlement, with a name that sounds like Anescede or Enscede , which meant "near the border" (with Bentheim ) or "near Es", included a church, a market and a fortified aristocratic house.

In 1325, Jan van Diest , Bishop of Utrecht , granted Enschede city ​​rights , which made it possible to enclose the city walls. Since the construction of the stone wall was too expensive (the stone was delivered from abroad), Enschede had as protection a system of moats, palisades and hedges , which is still reflected in the names of Noorderhagen and Zuiderhagen streets (Northern Fence and Southern Fence) respectively). The city plan of that era is still being read in the modern street layout.

Fires

Since the medieval city with few exceptions was built up with wooden buildings, the fire was a constant danger, and after a series of fires in 1517 , 1750 and May 7, 1862 , the inhabitants of the city received the nickname Brandstichters (arsonists). During the significant portion of the Rombek area burned down and was destroyed in the SFFireworks pyrotechnic factory. During this disaster in Enschede, 23 people were killed, including four firefighters ^[3] .

On August 22, 2003, there was a severe fire at a tire factory in the city. During the quenching, chemical contamination of occurred ^[4] .

Industrialization

The last fire coincided with the beginning of the transformation of the city into a large center for the production of textiles , originally by artisanal methods, and from the beginning of the 19th century on an industrial scale, especially the manufacture of bombazijn fabric (a mixture of cotton and linen), which was successfully exported.

Industrialization contributed to the process of rapid population growth, which at first was rather chaotic. The names of slums such as De Krim and Sebastopol are still notorious, although they have long been demolished. In 1907, the principle of non-interference was rejected, and Enschede became the first city in the Netherlands for which a detailed development plan was drawn up, including the adjoining community.

World War II

During the Second World War, Enschede became one of the first Dutch cities captured by the Germans, as the city is located not far from Germany . Resistance members have helped many local Jews hide in their farms nearby.

Due to negligence, the resistance was betrayed by the introduced agent, and all members were killed by German soldiers during a meeting in the basement, which the Germans threw grenades at, a few days before the liberation of the city by Allied forces. In addition to the resistance, which was the main force opposing the invaders, many residents of the city risked their lives, saving allied pilots shot down by the Germans during the air raids.

Enschede was repeatedly bombed by Allied aircraft, attacking the Wehrmacht command center or mistakenly mistaking the city for German because of its location just a few kilometers from the German border.

Enschede was liberated at the end of 1944 by Allied forces, mainly Canadian units.

The end of the industrial era

In the 1970s, the production of textiles in the city gradually ceased and was moved to Asia. This process had a strong impact on the population, and Enschede became one of the poorest municipalities in the Netherlands and (de facto) went bankrupt. The city center was a huge abandoned industrial zone. With the support of the government, this property was purchased and reconstructed, the center was turned into a pedestrian zone. The importance of the city as a regional center was strongly encouraged, and Enschede managed to be reborn from the ashes.

• Almelo
• Borne
• Bukelo
• Wyrden
• Goor
• Aldenzaal
• Haksbergen
• Hengelo

A professional Twente football club based in Eredivisi is based in the city. Matches are held at the Grohls Vesta stadium, which seats 24 thousand spectators.

In this city was born the bronze medalist of the Summer Olympic Games in Berlin on field hockey Schnitger, Hans .

• Enschede // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.

• enschede.nl (nid.) - Enschede official site