52°00N 5°53E, pop (2000e) 139 000. Capital city of Gelderland province, E Netherlands; on the right bank of the lower Rhine, 53 km/33 mi SE of Utrecht; seat of the law courts, several government agencies, and the provincial government; on the site of a Roman settlement; charter, 1233; heavily damaged in World War 2; scene of unsuccessful airborne landing of British troops (Sep 1944); railway; tin-smelting, artificial fibres, salt, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, engineering; Grote Kerk (15th-c), town hall (1540), St Walburgisbasiliek (1422), Dutch open-air museum (N), safari park, Burgers Zoo.
Coordinates: 51°59′N 5°55′E
| Arnhem | |
| Country | Netherlands |
| Province | Gelderland |
| Coordinates | 51°59′ N 5°55′ E |
| Area | 101.53 km² |
| - Land | 98.25 km² |
| - Water | 3.28 km² |
| Population (3.2006) | 142,162 |
| - Density | 1,447/km² |
Arnhem is a municipality and a city in the east of the Netherlands, located on the Lower Rhine, and the capital of the Gelderland province.
Population centres
The municipality of Arnhem consists of the city of Arnhem, and the following surrounding suburbs and former villages:
Elden (Netherlands) (former village) Elderveld Malburgen Rijkerswoerd Schaarsbergen SchuytgraafHistory
Arnhem, first mentioned in 893 as Oppidium Arnoldi Villa had its real origins in 1233 when Otto II, count of Guelders from Zutphen conferred city rights on the town, which had belonged to the abbey of Prüm, settled in and fortified it.
In the 19th century Arnhem was a genteel resort town famous for its picturesque beauty.
The Battle of Arnhem
See Main Article: Operation Market Garden
In World War II, during Operation Market Garden (September 1944), the British 1st Airborne Division and the Polish 1st Independent Parachute Brigade were given the task of securing the bridge at Arnhem.
The British force at the bridge eventually surrendered on September 21 and a full withdrawal of the remaining forces was made on September 26. (The bridge scenes in the movie were shot in Deventer, where a similar bridge over the IJssel was available, as the area around Arnhem bridge had changed too much to represent WWII era Arnhem).
The current bridge is the third almost identical bridge built at the same spot.
A second battle of Arnhem took place in April 1945 when the city was liberated by I Canadian Corps of the First Canadian Army.
Places of interest
The Groote Kerk (St. Eusebius), built 1452–1560, lost most of its tower during World War II, of which a part has been reconstructed to a modern design and opened in 1964.
The house of Maarten van Rossum, a general serving Duke Charles van Gelre, has been the town hall since 1830: the satyrs in its Renaissance ornamentation earned for it the name Duivelshuis ("devil's house").
The John Frost Brug is the bridge reconstructed after WWII on the site of the original "Bridge Too Far" destroyed during the war.
The Gelredome, the home field of Vitesse, the city's Eredivisie side in football, is a unique facility that features a retractable roof and a slide-out grass pitch.
Transport
Arnhem has a major railway station, which is serviced by several intercity lines and the ICE to Düsseldorf and further on to Frankfurt. Arnhem has three other stations, namely: Arnhem Velperpoort, Arnhem Presikhaaf and Arnhem Zuid.
Arnhem is unique in the Netherlands with its trolleybus system. Dutch water polo player Rik Toonen, winner of Olympic bronze in 1976, was born in Arnhem Cirque du Soleil artist (Love, 2006) Goos Meeuwsen was born in Arnhem. Arnhem and the John Frost bridge were featured in the game, Medal of Honor: Frontline.
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