🇳🇱 Enschede is a municipality and city in the eastern Netherlands in the province of Overijssel and in the Twente region. The eastern parts of the urban area reaches the border off the German city Gronau.
The municipality of Enschede consisted of the city of Enschede until 1935, when the rural municipality of Lonneker, which surrounded the city, was annexed after the rapid industrial expansion of Enschede which began in the 1860s and involved the building of railways and the digging of the Twentekanaal. The proposal for consolidation began in 1872, per the Tubantia newspaper article on 22 Jun 1872 that referenced a committee of 5 to oversee a study. They were: J. Mosman (Johannes Theodorus Mosman), H. Fikkert, H. G. Blijdenstein J. Bz., C. C. Schleucker, and G. J. van Heek.
In sports and culture, Enschede is perhaps best known for being home to football club FC Twente, one-time Dutch champions, and the University of Twente.
The municipality of Enschede works together in the Twente Region and has been a participant from the very beginning in the EUREGIO, the first regional cross-border partnership in Europe.
1Economy The city is a former centre of textile production. When this industry left the area for cheaper production centres in South-East Asia, Enschede became one of the poorest municipalities in the Netherlands. More educated and wealthy citizens have historically migrated to the Randstad region; decades of renovation work in the city centre have been carried out with the goal of making Enschede more attractive to this group.
Modern shopping centres and department stores that until recently were only found in much larger cities have been opened. Enschede is host to many yearly festivals and the Old Market Square is often the venue for events, live music and other activities on the weekend.
The proximity to Germany has, historically, been another major factor in the city's economic activity, ranging from the smuggling of coffee and tobacco in the 19th and 20th century, to large numbers of Germans, who visit the city's shops and weekly markets. Therefore, many natives of Enschede speak German more or less fluently.
The city is co-operating with the nearby municipalities of Almelo, Borne and Hengelo as Netwerkstad Twente. A draft law plan to merge Enschede with Hengelo and Almelo was defeated in parliament under the influence of opposition from the other towns.
Grolsch beer is brewed in Enschede, and the tyre manufacturer Apollo Vredestein B.V. head office and a factory is in the city. It is one of the most important employers of the region.
1Research, education and health care The Universiteit Twente (University of Twente), a university with mostly technical studies, is located in Enschede. It is one of the four technical universities in the Netherlands (besides Delft University of Technology, Eindhoven University of Technology and the Wageningen University and Research Centre). The Universiteit Twente is also the only large-campus university in the Netherlands. The university has courses in pure technical studies such as Applied Physics, Applied Mathematics, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Informatics/Computer Science and Industrial Engineering and also offers study programmes in Communication, Psychology, Economic Sciences, International Business Administration, Public Administration, Applied Medicine and Biomedical Technology; the latter attract a broader public. Since 2006, the programmes of European Studies, Advanced Technology, Creative Technology and ATLAS University College have been added to the university's offerings. The Faculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation of the University of Twente, with former name International Institute for Aerospace Survey and Earth Sciences, (known by its abbreviation ITC) runs MSc, Master's, Diploma and PhD courses in Geo-Information Science for developing countries. Students from all over the world attend the ITC. Enschede also has an academy of arts and design combined with a conservatory named ArtEZ.
Enschede is also home to one of the three campuses of Saxion University of Applied Sciences (Saxion Hogeschool Enschede), a polytechnical school offering internationally recognised Bachelor's degrees and Master's degrees in a wide range of fields, including engineering, economics, social work, investigations and health care. The other campuses are located in Deventer and Apeldoorn.
The Medisch Spectrum Twente (MST) hospital is one of the largest top-clinical hospitals of the Netherlands and features important tertiary care departments, fulfilling a supraregional role. It includes a level I trauma centre as well. The hospital is strongly involved in higher medical education, with up to 300 medical students following their internships in the hospital at any given time, closely working together with the University of Twente's Technical Medicine program training a new type of technically specialized doctors.
1Train Enschede is a terminus station of the Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS) railway lines from the west. Trains operate to Hengelo, Almelo, Zwolle, Deventer, Apeldoorn, Amersfoort Centraal, Hilversum, Amsterdam Zuid, Schiphol Airport, Utrecht Centraal and Den Haag Centraal.
To the east there is a line to Gronau, Germany, which has two more stations in the Netherlands: Enschede De Eschmarke and Glanerbrug. The latter two have low ridership. The line is served by DB Regionalbahn Westfalen (part of the German Deutsche Bahn), to Münster and to Dortmund, each on an hourly interval and alternating half-hours in the service to Gronau.
There is no track connection between the two systems. The through line had been retained for eventual NATO use during the Cold War even after through passenger service was ended (September 1981), although it was in serious disrepair in later years. With the renewal of service to Germany (May 2001) the track was severed; there is a gap of about 30 centimeters between them. There is also Enschede Kennispark railway station, near the football stadium.
1Bus Enschede is situated at the south-east terminus of the Twentekanaal. There is also a network of bus lines connecting nearly every part of the city with the centre. Enschede also has bus connections to nearby towns and cities, like Hengelo, Oldenzaal and south towards Haaksbergen, Neede and Eibergen. The city lines are operated by Syntus, under the Twents-branche. The interlocal lines are exploited by Syntus and Arriva.
1Air Previously, Enschede had a combined regional civil airport, Enschede Airport, and Airbase Twenthe of the Royal Netherlands Air Force. The latter was closed in 2007; the former was closed in 2008. However, It remains in operation for business air traffic flying via a charter or private jet, and recreational flights.
1Roads Around the centre districts of Enschede is a complete ring road with a length of approximately 8 km, which is popularly called "de singel". This was constructed in the period between 1916 and 1929. Most major arterial roads connect to the canal. Enschede is connected to the national road network by means of the A/N35 and the N18. Below and on the edge of the centre are various parking facilities, the most famous and largest of which is the Van Heekgarage, which is located under the Van Heekplein. At the end of 2012, construction of an additional entrance and exit at Kuipersdijk was started as the South entrance. Van Heekgarage is the largest underground parking garage in the Netherlands with a capacity of 1650 cars.
1Enschede has a population of over 157,800 people. Enschede also forms the centre of the wider Overijssel Province which has a population of over 1,162,215 people. Enschede is the #322 hipster city in the world, with a hipster score of 2.4405 according to the Hipster Index which evaluates and ranks the major cities of the world according to the number of vegan eateries, coffee shops, tattoo studios, vintage boutiques, and record stores. Enschede is ranked #404 for startups with a score of 0.538.
To set up a UBI Lab for Enschede see: https://www.ubilabnetwork.org Twitter: https://twitter.com/UBILabNetwork
Twin Towns, Sister Cities Enschede has links with:
🇨🇳 Dalian, China 🇩🇪 Münster, Germany 🇺🇸 Palo Alto, USA🏴 Stratford-on-Avon 52.194
🇵🇱 Ożarów Mazowiecki 52.217
🏴 Stowmarket 52.19
🇵🇱 Mińsk Mazowiecki 52.183
🏴 Stratford-upon-Avon 52.183
🇩🇪 Kreis Herford 52.168
🇳🇱 Amersfoort 52.157
🇩🇪 Salzgitter 52.153
Locations Near: Enschede 6.8984,52.194
🇩🇪 Nordhorn 7.067,52.417 d: 27.3
🇩🇪 Borken 6.867,51.833 d: 40.2
🇩🇪 Coesfeld 7.167,51.95 d: 32.7
🇩🇪 Steinfurt 7.344,52.15 d: 30.8
🇩🇪 Bocholt 6.622,51.839 d: 43.8
🇩🇪 Lingen 7.317,52.517 d: 45.8
Antipodal to: Enschede -173.102,-52.194
🇹🇴 Nuku'alofa -175.216,-21.136 d: 16556.8
🇦🇸 Pago Pago -170.701,-14.279 d: 15793.8
🇼🇸 Apia -171.76,-13.833 d: 15747.8
🇵🇫 Papeete -149.566,-17.537 d: 15646.2
🇺🇸 Hilo -155.089,19.725 d: 11829.4
🇺🇸 Maui -156.446,20.72 d: 11747.7
🇺🇸 Maui County -156.617,20.868 d: 11734.8
🇺🇸 Wailuku -156.505,20.894 d: 11729.8