Rotterdam (EN)

History

Around 800, the place where Rotterdam will later be created, is already inhabited. Around 1270, the dam in the river Rotte was built and in 1340 the settlement was granted city rights.

From 1575, Rotterdam expands towards the river Maas, creating the so-called city triangle. On the southeast side of the city, the Buizengat and Haringvliet are built, on the southwest side the Leuvehaven, Wijnhaven, Scheepmakershaven, Bierhaven and Glashaven.

During the 19th century, Rotterdam's port was in danger of silting up. Consequently, hydraulic engineer Pieter Caland develops a plan for a canal through the dunes of Hoek van Holland: the Nieuwe Waterweg. Work on this began in 1866 and was completed in 1872.

Around 1900, Rotterdam grew considerably. New ports were built on the left bank of the Maas. The population rises from just over 200,000 in 1890 to around 500,000 at the end of World War I.

On 14 May 1940, a German bombing ravages much of the city centre. More than 800 people are killed in the process.

Formerly independent municipalities

Rotterdam's growth is partly due to the annexation of some surrounding municipalities. In the course of time, the following towns merged into Rotterdam:

  • Charlois (1895)
  • Delfshaven (1886)
  • Hillegersberg (1941)
  • Hoek van Holland (1914)
  • Hoogvliet (1934)
  • IJsselmonde (1941)
  • Kralingen (1895)
  • Overschie (1941)
  • Pernis (1934)
  • Rozenburg (2010)
  • Schiebroek (1941)

Research in government archives

The Rotterdam City Archives has an extensive collection of archives of the City of Rotterdam, including:

In addition, the City Archives holds material from the municipalities annexed by Rotterdam.
For an up-to-date overview, go to the Archives search page.
 

Other archives, image material and literature

Stadsarchief Rotterdam also holds material from private individuals, companies and institutions that have been active in Rotterdam or the annexed municipalities. Go to the Archives search page.

Visual material is accessible via the Image bank.

Books and journal articles can be found in the library catalogue (publications from 1994 onwards).
Or in the card catalogue in the reading room (publications up to 1994).

Family tree research

The Genealogy page allows you to search the civil registration, Baptism, Marriage and Burial registers and the population registers. Many deeds have been made searchable in our database. Original deeds that are not in the database can be requested from the reading room at the city archive. Some deeds are not searchable.