Rotte (river)

Not to be confused with Rivers named Rott.
Rotte
Location of the Rotte
Location
CountryNetherlands
StateZuid-Holland
CitiesRotterdam
Physical characteristics
SourceKruisweg
MouthNieuwe Maas
 • location
Zuid-Holland, Netherlands
Length22 km (14 mi)

The Rotte (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈrɔtə] ⓘ) is a river in the Rhine-Maas-delta in the Netherlands. The Rotte is the eponym of the city of Rotterdam: the city's name references a dam (Middle Dutch: dam) which local inhabitants built across the river in the 13th century CE.[1][2]

Etymology

The river was originally named Rotta, from rot, meaning "muddy" and aa meaning "water," thus "muddy water."[citation needed]

Geography

It rises in Moerkapelle in the so-called Green Heart. It used to drain the Zuidplas lake until it was reclaimed in 1840.

It flows past Bleiswijk and Bergschenhoek; and then the village of Hillegersberg, which was built on a sand dune and was one of the few places in the marsh land that could be permanently settled before the dikes were constructed. In the churchyard there are the ruins of a 13th-century castle whose origins probably date back to the Roman Empire. Originally it flowed into the Nieuwe Maas in Rotterdam; however, the lower reach of the river was dammed off and the water now flows to the Nieuwe Maas via several man-made canals.

On the outskirts of Rotterdam, the Rotte merges with the Crooswijksesingel. Here, there is an old factory building of the Heineken brewery, which was brought here in the city due to the efforts of Lodewijk Pincoffs [nl].

Inner Rotte

The Inner Rotte, that is, the part of the river in the Rotterdam city area, had to give way in 1869–1871 to the construction of the "Luchtspoor", an elevated section of the railway line. The river water was diverted via the Stokvisverlaat, the Delftse Vaart and Vlasmarktsluis to the Leuvehaven [nl]. When the Luftwaffe bombed the city in 1940, this connection was also damaged. During the Second World War, city planner Willem Gerrit Witteveen [nl] created a new connection to Leuvehaven. After the war, the Rotte was no longer used for freight transport.

The construction of the east–west line of the Rotterdam Metro interrupted the direct connection between the Rotte and Nieuwe Maas. Since then, the river water flows through an underground channel to the Oostplein.

In 1993 the elevated section of the railroad was demolished; trains now use the "Willemspoor" tunnel. Plans were made to dredge the old river bed and fill it with water. These plans were never implemented. The Inner Rotte is now a wide avenue, where events such as markets can be held. The former dam was situated where today the Inner Rotte crosses the Hoogstraat ('High Street').

  • Former windmill de Oorsprong
    Former windmill de Oorsprong
  • Prinses Irenebrug near Terbregge
    Prinses Irenebrug near Terbregge
  • The Rotte at Hillegersberg
    The Rotte at Hillegersberg
  • The Rotte near Hollevoeterbrug
    The Rotte near Hollevoeterbrug
  • The Rotte near Prins Alexander
    The Rotte near Prins Alexander
  • Noorderbrug at Crooswijk
    Noorderbrug at Crooswijk
  • Viewed from the Admiraal de Ruyterweg in Rotterdam
    Viewed from the Admiraal de Ruyterweg in Rotterdam
  • River flow of the Rotte in 1300
    River flow of the Rotte in 1300

References

  1. ^ "Rotterdam Magazine, Volumes 3-4". City of Rotterdam. Retrieved 2 July 2024. In mediaeval times, the Rotte ran across the marshes into the much wider River Meuse (Merwe). About 1260, the low-lying lands bordering upon this charming stream were protected by dykes. A dam was built across the Rotte and supplied with locks. Near the dam fishermen, skippers and merchants settled; this group of houses was soon called Rotterdam [...].
  2. ^ Farinelli, Jill (5 September 2017). The Palatine Wreck. Seafaring America. Hanover: University Press of New England. p. 49. ISBN 9781512601176. Retrieved 2 July 2024. Rotterdam began in the 1260s as a tiny settlement of herring fishermen located where the Rotte Riiver drains into the Maas (at that time called the Merwe). To control flooding and reclaim land from the surrounding peat bogs, the inhabitants built a low earthen dike along the north bank of the Maas and a dam across the Rotte.
  • Eric van Hooydonk, Patrick Verhoeven: The Portable ports - Antwerp, Hamburg and Rotterdam, Pandora Press, Antwerpen, ISBN 90-5325-250-9, p. 340 ff.

Media related to Rotte at Wikimedia Commons

51°55′37″N 4°29′04″E / 51.927°N 4.4845°E / 51.927; 4.4845