The Rotte is a

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the ...

in the

Rhine The Rhine ; french: Rhin ; nl, Rijn ; wa, Rén ; li, Rien; rm, label=Sursilvan, Rein, rm, label=Sutsilvan and Surmiran, Ragn, rm, label=Rumantsch Grischun, Vallader and Puter, Rain; it, Reno ; gsw, Rhi(n), including in Alsatian dialect, Al ...

- Maas-delta in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. The Rotte is the

eponym An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Usage of the word The term ''epon ...

of the city of

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

: the city was founded in the 13th century when a dam was built along the river.

Etymology

The river was originally named Rotta, from ''rot,'' meaning "muddy" and ''aa'' meaning "water," thus "muddy water."

Geography

It rises in

Moerkapelle Moerkapelle is a small town in the Dutch province of South Holland South Holland ( nl, Zuid-Holland ) is a province of the Netherlands with a population of over 3.7 million as of October 2021 and a population density of about , making it the ...

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 Hillegersberg is a neighbourhood of Rotterdam, Netherlands. Primarily a green residential area with lakes, canals and parks, it was incorporated into the city of Rotterdam in 1941. History Hillegersberg was named after Hildegard van Vlaandere ...

, which was built on a sand dune and was one of the few places in the

marsh A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found a ...

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 .

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 . When the Luftwaffe bombed the city in 1940, this connection was also damaged. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, city planner 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'). Image: MolenDeOorsprong.JPG , Former Windmill "De Oorsprong" at the Rotte source Image: BeginVanDeRotte.JPG , The first meters of the Rotte from the perspective of the mill Image: Holvoeterbrug.JPG , Rotte near Hollevoeterbrug File:Rotterdam-Prins Alexander, de Rotte bij Hoogerbruggepad foto2 2016-05-01 18.16.jpg, The Rotte near Prins Alexander Image: Rotte_rotterdam.jpg , The Rotte near Rotterdam

References

* Eric van Hooydonk, Patrick Verhoeven: ''The Portable ports - Antwerp, Hamburg and Rotterdam'', Pandora Press, Antwerpen, , p. 340 ff.

External links

{{coord, 51.927, 4.4845, display=title Rivers of South Holland Geography of Rotterdam Zuidplas Rivers of the Netherlands