{"id":173365,"date":"2024-11-14T13:26:12","date_gmt":"2024-11-14T12:26:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=173365"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:27:35","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:27:35","slug":"7-misconceptions-about-the-rotterdam-identity-which-are-true","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2024\/11\/14\/7-misconceptions-about-the-rotterdam-identity-which-are-true\/","title":{"rendered":"7 clich\u00e9s about the Rotterdam identity: which are true?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rotterdam, city of ports and hard workers, a no-nonsense place, stronger through struggle, tough. This is how Rotterdam is often portrayed, but does it ring true? Hilde Sennema, an external PhD candidate, has long been fascinated by Rotterdam\u2019s reputation. \u201cThere are many clich\u00e9s about Rotterdam, and the city does itself a disservice by not looking beyond them.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Remnants of the Laurenskerk in Rotterdam, after the bombing of the city on May 14, 1940.<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGemeentearchief Rotterdam<\/span>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

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\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tKim Casamitjana<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>

For her research on the influence of port barons on Rotterdam\u2019s post-war reconstruction, historian Hilde Sennema discovered many fascinating things. She was captivated by Rotterdam from a young age\u2014the metro, Rijn- and Maashaven, the Botlek, the vast Zuidplein shopping centre; everything felt futuristic and unlike anything she knew from Groningen. Sennema moved to Rotterdam in 2009. Combining her research knowledge and her childhood fascination, she wrote Met opgestroopte mouwen <\/em>(With Rolled-Up Sleeves), exploring the \u2018layered nature of Rotterdam\u2019s identity\u2019, which she argues is far more complex than it may seem. Here are seven misconceptions about Rotterdam.<\/p>\n

Rotterdam is a new city<\/h2>

\u201cRotterdam is old. Those who think it\u2019s new is looking too much at its current appearance and how it presents itself. The dam on the Rotte likely dates from 1270, which you could consider as a beginning of Rotterdam. People lived here before then, too, but because of rising waters, they were forced to keep relocating. The completion of the sea dike by Aleid van Avesnes enabled Rotterdam to take root. She was regent of Holland until her nephew Floris was old enough to rule. There\u2019s still an Aleidisstraat named after her, close to Graaf Florisstraat. Rotterdam\u2019s history has many layers; if you could drive a stake into the ground as if it were soil, you\u2019d likely reach the Bronze Age.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rotterdam is not a place for intellect or culture <\/h2>

\u201cThat\u2019s an understandable assumption. Since the late nineteenth century, the Rotterdam port has grown immensely, overshadowing other aspects of the city. A rich humanistic tradition has been somewhat forgotten. Desiderius Erasmus, for instance, was an intellectual famous across Europe who always identified as \u2018Roterodamus\u2019, of Rotterdam. His In Praise of Folly<\/em> is considered the first ever bestseller. At a time when statues were only erected of royals and saints, Hugo Grotius suggested creating a statue of Erasmus. Johan van der Veeken, a wealthy merchant who helped establish the Dutch East India Company, had a figure of Erasmus\u2014not a mermaid\u2014carved on the bow of his ship, Liefde (Love). Even after his dead, Erasmus helped distinguish Rotterdam from other cities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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