Rotterdam: so Dutch yet so different
Over sixty years ago, on the eve of the Second World War, the Dutch writer Ferdinand Bordewijk was completing his novel ‘Karakter’ (Character), which takes place in Rotterdam. In a conversation that the main character, Katadreuffe, has with the woman he is in love with Lorna Te George, they discuss what it is about Rotterdam that makes it so special. ‘Rotterdam is the black sheep of our big towns,’ he said. ‘But nevertheless it’s the best and the most proud. Don’t you agree?’ ‘I think Amsterdam is more beautiful,’ she replied. ‘I don’t. Rotterdam is our town, exactly because there’s nothing particularly Dutch about it. Amsterdam is our national town and Rotterdam is our international town. I’m all for the international, so that’s why I like this town. It gets its character because of its connection with the sea. The sea has no borders – the sea is the only real cosmopolitan in the world.’
Heart transplant
So even before the disastrous bombing of May 14th 1940, which destroyed the architectural heart of the city, Rotterdam was different, as the conversation above indicates. After the bombing, which cost 900 lives, Rotterdam had to reinvent itself, to rebuild the centre and rediscover its identity. Wider streets were built after the war, the port infrastructure was extended and modern architecture flourished. The city was the first in the Netherlands to have an underground network (1968), and its skyscrapers revolutionized the traditionally conservative Dutch skyline. After the loss of its heart during the war, metaphorically expressed in the sculptures of Ossip Zadkine, Rotterdam acquired a new heart, assembled from pieces from all over the world, resulting in a colourful and functional mosaic of people, buildings and businesses.
Melting pot
It’s not easy to define a Rotterdammer, a native of Rotterdam. Anna (23), a Dutch student of Public Administration with Russian origins defines a Rotterdammer. “Somebody who loves modernism, strange architecture and feels like a big-city person. Given the fact that only 36 percent of the city’s inhabitants have lived here for longer than 25 years, a typical Rotterdammer is in fact likely to have come from somewhere else. It has always been a city that has attracted foreigners. The city’s melting pot is composed of some 135 nationalities, all contributing to the further development of the city.
Gateway to the world
Although both Shanghai and Singapore overtook Rotterdam in 2004 to become the largest ports in the world, Rotterdam remains the main gateway to Europe. Rotterdam was also the gateway to the world for one its most famous inhabitants, Desiderius Erasmus, a true cosmopolitan and apt symbol for this truly international city.
Rotterdam dares!
You can also trace the identity of Rotterdam by analyzing its slogans. The one above translates as ‘Rotterdam dares!’ It highlights the courage needed to accept new challenges and the enormous ambition present. My favourite one reflects the straightforward logic and directness of the inhabitants of Rotterdam: ‘Rotterdam, clean, decent and safe.'
