Enschede

Sister cities

• Palo Alto
• Münster
• Dalian

History

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 around 1300 which were confirmed in 1325 by Bishop Jan III van Diest and henceforth was allowed to protect itself with a wall. Because a stone wall was too expensive (since stone had to be imported), Enschede had a system of ditches, palisades and hedges instead, which is still reflected in the street-names Noorderhagen and Zuiderhagen (North Hedge and South Hedge, respectively). The city plan of this era is still recognisable in the street-pattern. The city was spared destruction in 1597 at its capture during the Eighty Years' War when after a short siege, the Spanish garrison surrendered the city and the defences were razed. Because the medieval city was largely built of wood and stone houses were the exception, fire was a constant risk and a series of fires in 1517, 1750 and again on 7 May 1862 earned the people from Enschede the nickname Brandstichters (arsonists). The last fire coincided with the start of the growth of the city into a large production center for textiles, stimulating a large increase in population, which by 1894 had reached an estimated 18,267: nineteenth-century urban growth was at first rather chaotic. The names of the slums (like De Krim and Sebastopol) are still notorious, although they have long since been torn down. In 1907 the laissez faire mentality was dropped and Enschede was the first city in the Netherlands to draw up an official expansion plan, incorporating the surrounding…

Geography

Enschede lies in the eastern part of Overijssel and is the easternmost city of more than 140,000 inhabitants in the Netherlands. The city lies a few kilometres from Germany, which borders the municipality. A few small rivers flow through or surround the city, such as the Roombeek and Glanerbeek. Enschede contains five official city districts, which also include surrounding villages in the municipality: *Stadsdeel Centrum (Binnenstad, Boddenkamp, De Bothoven, 't Getfert, Hogeland Noord, Horstlanden-Veldkamp, Laares, Lasonder-'t Zeggelt) *Stadsdeel Noord (for example: Lonneker, Deppenbroek, Bolhaar, Mekkelholt, Roombeek, Twekkelerveld) *Stadsdeel Oost (for example: Wooldrik, Velve-Lindenhof, De Eschmarke, 't Ribbelt, Stokhorst, Dolphia, 't Hogeland and Glanerbrug) *Stadsdeel Zuid (Wesselerbrink, Helmerhoek and Stroinkslanden) *Stadsdeel West (Boswinkel, Ruwenbos, Pathmos, Stadsveld, Bruggert, 't Zwering, 't Havengebied, De Marssteden, Boekelo, Usselo and Twekkelo) Like most of the Netherlands, Enschede features an oceanic climate (Cfb in the Köppen classification), however, winters tend to be less mild than the rest of the Netherlands due to its inland location. Although the former military airport is derelict and plans to revive the place were canceled in 2012, the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute still maintains a weather station there.

Most-observed species

• Common Wood-Pigeon

  Columba palumbus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  21,811
• Eurasian Blue Tit

  Cyanistes caeruleus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  20,011
• Common Chiffchaff

  Phylloscopus collybita (Vieillot, 1817) · Aves
  19,719
• Great Tit

  Parus major Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  19,697
• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  19,208
• European Robin

  Erithacus rubecula (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  16,496
• Western Jackdaw

  Coloeus monedula (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  16,373
• Eurasian Magpie

  Pica pica (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  15,513

Most recent

• M 4.2 — 2011-09-08
  3 km ENE of Heijen, Netherlands
• M 4.1 — 2009-07-24
  2 km NW of Kamp-Lintfort, Germany
• M 3.2 — 2008-12-25
  6 km ESE of Rheinberg, Germany
• M 2.9 — 2008-12-23
  2 km ESE of Kamp-Lintfort, Germany
• M 3 — 2008-12-20
  5 km WNW of Beckum, Germany
• M 3.3 — 2008-12-10
  4 km WSW of Wesel, Germany