De Westersingel – The International Sculpture Route

As mentioned before was Rotterdam titled Cultural Capital of 2001 and for this reason did the Westersingel get a more prominent role in cultural Rotterdam. The Sculpture route that is very popular with the tourists starts from a little further than Central Station and leads to the museum park. Would you love to follow the whole route? Take a look at www.openbarekunst.nl/routes  for the international route or any other sculpture routes through the city.

De singel (=Canal) was created because of the ‘Water project’ from the 19^th century. The plan was designed in 1841 by the architect Willem Nicolaas Rose, who worked together with Jan Arent Scholten. This ‘Water project’ had three functions:

·         Drainage of the rainwater and garbage

·         Dumping of garbage

·         Source of drinking water

This plan was made to prevent any cholera outbreaks that haunted Rotterdam in the 19^th century. These canals would help, because they were connected with the Maas so that enough clean water would be able to flow into the city. Between 1870 and 1900 there were mansions built at the canal. These are still to be seen today, because the Westersingel wasn’t hit by the bombardments.

Seen in cultural sense, the canal got interesting in 19898, when it became part of the sculpture route ‘Sculptures in the City’. This was a large open air exposition throughout the whole city. A few of these sculptures are still part of the current route. A few of these remaining sculptures are: De Kringloop van Frans en Marja de Boer Lichtveld and The Long Thin Yellow Legs of Architecture van Coop Himmelb(l)au.

In the year 2000 and 2001 the canal was renovated. They built a terrace where most of the current sculptures are placed on, hence its name: sculpture terrace. At the moment there are 17 sculptures on the Westersingel and is the perfect walking route for a lovely autumn day!

Would you love to live near the Westersingel in Rotterdam? Check our website DomicaRotterdam!

Rotterdam European City of Culture 2001

So Rotterdam has been chosen as European city 2015, which will obviously add to the tourism  of the city. However, it’s not the first time that the city obtains international recognition. This happened before in 2001 when the city, together with the city Porto, were chosen as European City of Culture 2001.

What is this European city of Culture?

This international title European City of Culture (ECOC) can be earned by cities that been through a large growth of cultural worth. Even though cities might have different motivations for obtaining the title, there is an overlapping motivation: the title always improves the international image of the city. This, in the end, will lead to growth of cultural activities which automatically leads to more visitors.

Rotterdam

So what has Rotterdam after having the title in 2001? The direct numbers after this year were 2.3 million visitors that joined the 524 activities that took place in that year. One in five day-visitors in that year came especially because of the title.

Next to that they have much cultural heritage left. Obviously this year didn’t only give a boost to the touristic numbers, but also to the cultural interest in the city. There were more sculptures placed in the public sphere, such as the sculpture route at the Westersingel.

But something also changed on emotional level, according to Bart van Meggelen, intendant during 2001. He says that the title has given the Rotterdammers confidence. The cultural year has worked as a symbolic completion of the reconstruction after the war. Perhaps this was exactly what was needed to become the European city of 2015!

Which Dutch city will follow?

Which Dutch city will be the next in obtaining the title European city of Culture? According to the latest news Leeuwarden(which is in the province Friesland) will be City of Culture in 2018.

Their cultural plan will be from 2014 up to 2019, with 2018 as peak year, in which they will have at least 40 large cultural events.

It’s definitely worth it to keep an eye on the festivities that will take place coming years in Rotterdam and Leewarden!

Would you love to live in Rotterdam? Check our website Domica Rotterdam

for your dream house!