Enschede

Enschede, also known as Eanske in the local dialect of Twents, is a municipality and a city in the eastern Netherlands in the province of Overijssel and in the Twente region. The municipality of Enschede consisted of the city of Enschede until 1935, when the rural municipality of Lonneker, which surrounded the city, was annexed after the rapid industrial expansion of Enschede which began in the 1860s and involved the building of railways and the digging of the Twentekanaal.

Population centres

 * Boekelo
 * Enschede
 * Glanerbrug
 * Lonneker
 * Usselo

Pre-industrialisation
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 around 1300 which were confirmed in 1325 by Bishop Jan III van Diest and henceforth was allowed to protect itself with a wall. Because a stone wall was too expensive (since stone had to be imported), Enschede had a system of ditches, palisades and hedges instead, which is still reflected in the street-names Noorderhagen and Zuiderhagen (North Hedge and South Hedge, respectively). The city plan of this era is still recognisable in the street-pattern.

Because the medieval city was largely built of wood and stone houses were the exception, fire was a constant risk and a series of fires in 1517, 1750 and again on 7 May 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. One such factory to have produced textiles in the late 19th century is the Hardick & Seckel Factory.

The industrialisation stimulated a large increase in population, which by 1894 had reached an estimated 18,267: nineteenth century urban growth was at first rather chaotic. The names of the slums (like De Krim and Sebastopol) 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.

World War II
During the Second World War Enschede was one of the first Dutch cities to be captured by the Germans, being the city closest to Germany. Resistance members helped many of the Jews from Enschede to hide on farms in the vicinity. Out of approximately 1300 Jews in Enschede, 500 were saved (38.5%), compared to less than 20% in the rest of the Netherlands. This high survival rate is attributed to three members of the Jewish Council of Enschede, Sig Menko, Gerard Sanders and Isidoor Van Dam who took the initiative, against the advice of the Jewish Council of Amsterdam, of urging their community to go into hiding and not to answer the call-up of the Germans for "labour in the East". They were in a position to support these directions to their flock since they had access to funds, to power in the community and to a well-developed underground movement headed by a prominent Protestant minister, Leendert Overduin (Yad Vashem). Due to carelessness the resistance group was betrayed by an infiltrator and all its members were killed by German soldiers while gathered in a basement. The Germans threw in some grenades, a few days before the allied troops liberated the city. Even though "De ondergrondse" (the resistance, litt. the underground) was the main resistance group, many other citizens risked their lives, for example by rescuing allied pilots who were shot down while on bombing missions. Because it was close to Germany (only a few kilometers from the town of Gronau in Germany) and housed a German command center, Enschede was frequently bombed by allied troops, aiming for the German command center or mistaking Enschede for a German city. Enschede was liberated on 1 April 1945 by Allied, mainly Canadian, troops.

The end of the industrial age
In the 1970s the textile production in Enschede came to a halt, due to fierce competition from mainly the Far East. This had a profound effect on the populace. Enschede became one of the poorest municipalities in the Netherlands and (de facto) went bankrupt. Large areas of industrial wasteland came to mark the city.

With the support of the national government, this property was acquired and rebuilt. The city center was rendered a car-free zone, the importance of Enschede as a Euregional Centre was stimulated and Enschede managed to rise from the ashes (for once not literally).

Fireworks disaster
On 13 May 2000, a fireworks storage in Enschede exploded, destroying the entire neighborhood of Roombeek and killing 23 people, including 4 firemen. This catastrophe is known in the Netherlands as the Vuurwerkramp (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 historic cultural significance and of geological importance, as it was here that the Usselo horizon was discovered.

Large scale construction and renovation activities in the city center have been ongoing for several years.

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 recently 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.

Like the German capital Berlin Enschede has a troubled urban economy, but is still home to a vibrant artistic scene. Also the city's laid-back attitude, by some attributed to the relatively low economic activity of its inhabitants (labour participation was about 57% in 2006) and the large numbers of students, artists and (semi-) government employees, make for a 'Berlinesque' atmosphere.

The proximity to Germany has, historically, been another major factor in the city's economic activity, ranging from the smuggling of coffee and tobacco in the 19th and 20th century, to large numbers of Germans, who visit the city's shops and (especially) the weekly markets. Therefore, most natives of Enschede speak German more or less fluently.

The city is co-operating with the nearby municipalities of Almelo, Borne and Hengelo as Netwerkstad Twente. A draft law plan to merge Enschede with Hengelo and Almelo was defeated in parliament under the influence of opposition from the other towns.

The world famous Grolsch beer is brewed in Enschede.

Research, education and health care
The Universiteit Twente (University of Twente), a university with mostly technical studies, is located in Enschede. It's one of the three technical universities in the Netherlands (besides Delft University of Technology and Eindhoven University of Technology). The Universiteit Twente is also the only large campus university in the Netherlands. The university has courses in pure technical studies such as Applied Physics, Applied Mathematics, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Informatics/Computer Science and Industrial Engineering and also offers courses in Communication, Psychology, Economical Sciences, Business, Public Administration, Applied Medicine and Biomedical Technology; the latter attract a broader public. Since 2006, the programme of European Studies has been added to the university's offerings.

Enschede is also home to one of the three campuses of Saxion University of Applied Sciences (Saxion Hogeschool Enschede), a polytechnical school offering internationally recognized Bachelor's degrees and Master's 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, Master's, Diploma and PhD courses in Geo-Information Science for developing countries. Students from all over the world attend the ITC.

Enschede also has an academy of arts and design combined with a conservatory named ArtEZ.

The Medisch Spectrum Twente (MST) hospital is one of the largest top-clinical hospitals of the Netherlands and features important tertiary care departments, fulfilling a supraregional role. It includes a level I trauma center as well. The hospital is strongly involved in higher medical education, with up to 300 medical students following their internships in the hospital at any given time, closely working together with the University of Twente's Technical Medicine program training a new type of technically specialized doctors.

Transportation
Enschede is a terminus station of the NS railway lines from the west. Trains operate to Hengelo, Almelo, Zwolle, Deventer, Apeldoorn, Amersfoort, Hilversum, Amsterdam, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, Utrecht, Rotterdam and The Hague.

To the east there is a line to Gronau, Germany, which has two more stations in the Netherlands: Enschede De Eschmarke and Glanerbrug. The latter two have extremely low ridership. The line is served by DB Regionalbahn Westfalen (part of the German Deutsche Bahn), to Münster and to Dortmund, each on an hourly interval and alternating half-hours in the service to Gronau.

There is no track connection between the two systems. The through line had been retained for eventual NATO use during the Cold War even after through passenger service was ended (September 1981), although it was in serious disrepair in later years. With the renewal of service to Germany (May 2001) the track was severed; there is a gap of about 30 centimeters between them.

There is also Enschede Drienerlo railway station, near the football stadium.

See also de:Bild:Dortmund-Gronau-Enschede.gif and railway services in Nordrhein-Westfalen 407 and 412.

Enschede has a combined regional civil airport, Enschede Airport, and Airbase Twenthe of the Royal Netherlands Air Force. The latter was closed in 2007; the former was closed in 2008. Enschede is situated at the south-east terminus of the Twentekanaal.

There is also a network of bus lines connecting nearly every part of the city with the centre. Enschede also has bus connections to nearby towns and cities, like Hengelo, Oldenzaal and south towards Haaksbergen, Neede and Eibergen. The city lines are operated by Connexxion, under the Twents-branche. The interlocal lines are exploited by Connexxion and Arriva.

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, both closed in January 2007, have merged, and have reopened in April 2008 in new premises on a new location under the name TwentseWelle (Source/Well of Twente). The new location is situated in Roombeek, where a fireworks disaster took place in 2000. The new museum is located partly in a renovated old textile factory, in reference to Enschede's textile history, and partly in an adjourning new building, designed by the Amsterdam-based firm SeARCH (project architect: Bjarne Mastenbroek). Enschede is also home of The Netherlands Symphony Orchestra (www.nedsym.nl).

Sports

 * Enschede is well known for its local association football club, FC Twente. Twente were the 2010 Eredivisie champions.
 * The oldest marathon of the Netherlands, and the second oldest of Europe, is the Enschede Marathon.
 * The Student Rowing Club D.R.V. Euros has produced several national champions and one Olympic Champion.
 * The female Fieldhockeyers of EHV play in the second highest competition, "Overgangsklasse", of the Netherlands.
 * DOS-WK plays in the highest competition of korfball, the 'Korfbal League'.
 * Enschede (Old Church to University) is the final stage of the Batavierenrace, a footrace relay beginning in Nijmegen, contested mostly by university student teams and claimed to be the largest relay races in the world, with 8000 participants.

Twin towns

 * 🇺🇸 Palo Alto, USA, since 1980
 * 🇨🇳 Dalian, People's Republic of China, since 2009

Notable people born in Enschede

 * See also People from Enschede


 * Jan Cremer (1940) – writer and traveller
 * Bert Doorn (1949) – politician
 * Tomás Gómez Franco (1968) - Spanish politician
 * Noor Holsboer (1967) – field hockey defender
 * Nico Molenkamp (1920) – artist lately of Tilburg
 * Kees van Baaren (1906) – composer
 * Tino Tabak (1946) – retired cyclist
 * Jasper van 't Hof (1947) – piano player
 * Willem Wilmink (1936–2003) – poet and writer
 * Rudolph De Ram (1955) – artist and photographer
 * Hans van Abeelen (1936) – first Dutch behavior geneticist
 * Willem Piet Regenspurg (1894–1966) – artist

Literature

 * Alfred Hagemann/Elmar Hoff (Hg.): Insel der Träume. Musik in Gronau und Enschede (1895–2005), Klartext-Verlag, Essen 2006.