Enschede

Enschede or Eanske in the local dialect (Twents) is a municipality and a city in the eastern Netherlands, in the province of Overijssel, in the Twente region. The municipality of Enschede consisted of the city of Enschede until 1935, when the rural municipality of Lonneker, which completely enclosed the city was annexed after the rapid industrial expansion of Enschede, which had begun in the 1860’s and involved the building of railways and the digging of the Twentekanaal. Latitude and longitude = 52° 22’ north 6° 89’ east.

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 in 1325 by Jan van Diest, the Bishop of Utrecht and henceforth was allowed to protect itself with wall. Since a stone wall was too expensive (Stone had to be imported) Enschede had a system of ditches, palisades and hedges instead, which is still reflected in the street-names Noorder-hagen and Zuiderhagen (North Hedge and South Hedge, respectively). The city plan of this era is still recognisable in the street-pattern.

On May 13, 2000, a fireworks factory in Enschede exploded, destroying an entire neighbourhood and killing 23 people, including 4 firemen. This catastrophe is known in the Netherlands as the Vuurwerkramp, Dutch for 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 some historic (agri-)cultural importance. On September 30, 2004, two police officers were shot (one fatally) by a German drug dealer. In 2005 large scale construction and renovation activities in the city center, which had stretched for over a decade, were almost completed.