Enschede

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Template:Infobox Dutch municipality 2

Image:Ltspkr.pngEnschede is a municipality and a city in the eastern Netherlands, in the province of Overijssel, in the Twente region. The municipality of Enschede consisted of the city of Enschede until 1935, when the rural municipality of Lonneker, which completely enclosed the city was annexed after the rapid industrial expansion of Enschede, which had begun in the 1860's and involved the building of railways and the digging of the Twentekanaal. Latitude and longitude = 52° 22' north 6° 89' east

Contents

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Population centres

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The city of Enschede

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History

Enschede was granted city rights in 1325.

The city center of Enschede was destroyed by fire on May 7, 1862. The fire coincided with the start of the growth of the city into a large production center of textiles and earned the people from Enschede the nickname Brandstichters (arsonists).

On May 13, 2000, a fireworks factory in Enschede exploded, destroying an entire neighbourhood and killing 23 people, including 4 firemen. This catastrophe is known in the Netherlands as the Vuurwerkramp, Dutch for fireworks disaster.

In 2001 a referendum confirmed the proposal of the city council to expand the built-up area into the Usseler Es, an area of some historic (agri-)cultural importance.

On September 30, 2004, two police officers were shot (one fatally) by a German drugdealer.

In 2005 large scale construction and renovation activities in the city center, which had stretched for over a decade, were almost completed.

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Economy

The city is a former centre of textile production. When this industry left the area for cheaper production centers in South-East Asia, Enschede became one of the poorest municipalitites in the Netherlands. The biggest challenge of the city is to prevent higher educated (wealthy) citizens from moving to the west (Randstad). Decades of renovation work in the city center have been carried out with the goal of making Enschede more attractive to this group. Modern shopping centers and department stores that until now 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. After some hesitation on the part of the city council, Enschede was able to host Roze Zaterdag in the summer of 2004 which was a huge success. This not only gave the local economy a boost, but also drew positive attention to Enschede's gay community, the largest in the east of the Netherlands. In many aspects, Enschede is admittedly trying to present itself as the Amsterdam of the east.

The city is cooperating with the nearby municipalities of Almelo, Borne and Hengelo as Netwerkstad Twente. A governmental plan to merge with Hengelo was discarded by local opposition.

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Education

The Universiteit Twente, a university with mostly technical studies, is located in Enschede. It is one of the three technical universities in the Netherlands (besides Delft University of Technology and Eindhoven University of Technology) and there are plans to merge them for cost saving reasons. The university both has courses in pure technical studies such as Mechanical Engineering, Electronical Engineering and Chemical Engineering, but also courses in Communication, Psychology, Applied Medicine and Biomedical Technology which attracts a broader public.

Enschede is also home to one of the three campuses of Saxion University (Saxion Hogeschool Enschede), a polytechnical school offering internationally recongnized Bachelors and Masters degrees in a wide range of fields including engineering, economics and health care. The other campuses are located in Deventer and Apeldoorn.

The International Institute for Geo-information Science and Earth Observation (known by its abbreviation ITC) is famous for its MSc, Masters, Diploma and PhD courses in Geo-information Science for developing countries. Students from all over the world are attending ITC.

Enschede also has a conservatory and an academy of arts and design.

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Transport and airbase

Enschede is a terminal station of the NS railway network on the west.

On the east there is a line to Gronau, Germany, with two more stations of the latter in the Netherlands: "Enschede De Eschmarke" and "Glanerbrug". The line is served by:

See also de:Bild:Dortmund-Gronau-Enschede.gif and railway services in Nordrhein-Westfalen 407 and 412.

Enschede has a combined regional civil airport, Enschede Airport, and Airbase Twenthe of the Royal Netherlands Air Force. The latter will be closed in 2007; whether the former can remain open is under consideration. Enschede is situated at the south-east terminus of the Twentekanaal.

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Culture

Enschede is well-known for its local association football club, FC Twente. There are several museums in Enschede, among them the Rijksmuseum Twenthe for art, a museum of natural history and a museum dedicated to the history of the textiles industry.

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See also

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External links

Template:Province Overijsselda:Enschede de:Enschede es:Enschede fy:Enskede id:Enschede it:Enschede li:Ensjedee nl:Enschede pl:Enschede ro:Enschede ru:Энсхеде fi:Enschede sv:Enschede

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