EUR anniversary: eleven decades of university life in eleven photos

Today the university is celebrating its 110th anniversary. With a series of photos, EM will take you through eleven decades, from the founders of the former Netherlands School of Commerce via a teach-in to protest the cramped premises to the opening of the new campus in 2013.

1913-1923: In 1913, the Netherlands School of Commerce, the predecessor of EUR, was founded by three shipping magnates, founding fathers J.A. Ruys, C.A.P. van Stolk and W.C. Mees. The businessmen were looking for personnel that was well versed in economics. At the Netherlands School of Commerce on Pieter de Hoochweg, economics was taught as a separate academic discipline – the first time this had been done in the Netherlands.

1923-1933: Traditionally, the members of the Rotterdam Student Corps organise the festival to celebrate the arrival of St Nicholas in the city (since the merger in 2017, they have done this in cooperation with their sister association RVSV). This tradition goes back to the early years of the Corps. This photo, taken in 1928, shows St Nicholas riding his horse through the streets of Rotterdam, accompanied by children and musicians.

1933-1943: Six female students pose in the 1930s with Ms G.C. Eldermans-Hekkes, who for many years was in charge of the canteen at the Netherlands School of Commerce. In 1939, the school was given a new name: the Netherlands School of Economics.

1943-1953: On 5 March 1943, the Kriegsmarine occupied the school’s building on Pieter de Hoochweg. The Germans used the building to house staff and accommodate military services. Lectures were cancelled, but some tests and examinations continued. The Germans left the building on Pieter de Hoochweg on 12 May 1945, a week after the liberation.

1953-1963: Alumni of the Netherlands School of Economics on a walk from the old Central Station in 1958. They are carrying signs indicating the year in which they started studying.

1963-1973: Teach-ins are not always about major international developments. In 1966, students gathered in the Aula to protest the Netherlands School of Economics’ cramped premises on Pieter de Hoochweg. The students were obviously not very patient: at the time, development of the more spacious campus Woudestein was already well under way.

1973-1983: The celebrated economist and Nobel Prize winner Jan Tinbergen receiving the Order of the House of Orange from Queen Juliana in 1973. The grandmother of King Willem-Alexander, unassuming as she was, is seen adjusting his collar.

1983-1993: In 1988, the university celebrated its 75th birthday. To mark the occasion, staff turned on the lights in the offices of the Tinbergen Building (still called H Building at the time) in such a way as to form the number 75.

1993-2003: Freshers of the Rotterdam Student Corps mark the start of the academic year with the traditional singing and yelling in the square by the footbridge. The person with the mohawk has his own thoughts on the matter.

2003-2013: Politician Rita Verdonk visits the Eureka Week information fair at the height of her fame. Although she is shown here in August 2007 holding a flyer from the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and inspecting the ‘abilities’ of a member of student rowing association Skadi, a month after this photo was taken she was expelled from the party after a dispute with future prime minister Mark Rutte.

2013-2023: Exactly ten years ago, the campus reopened after extensive renovations. It now boasted a pond, a pavilion and yellow paving stones. The numerous cars that had previously clogged the campus were largely banished to the new underground car park. The opening was celebrated with the inaugural Heart Beat Festival.