The Rotte () is a

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

in the

Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...

- Maas-

delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet * D (NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta"), the fourth letter in the Latin alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * Delta Air Lines, a major US carrier ...

in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. The Rotte is the

eponym An eponym is a noun after which or for which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. Adjectives derived from the word ''eponym'' include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Eponyms are commonly used for time periods, places, innovati ...

of the city of

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

: the city's name references a

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, aqua ...

(

Middle Dutch Middle Dutch is a collective name for a number of closely related West Germanic dialects whose ancestor was Old Dutch. It was spoken and written between 1150 and 1500. Until the advent of Modern Dutch after 1500 or , there was no overarching sta ...

: ''dam'') which local inhabitants built across the river in the 13th century CE.

Etymology

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

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 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. Settlement around its Hillegonda church was first established ...

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

marsh In ecology, a marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous plants rather than by woody plants.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p More in genera ...

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 The Nieuwe Maas (; "New Meuse") is a distributary of the Rhine River, and a former distributary of the Meuse (river), Maas River, in the Netherlands, Dutch Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland. It runs from the confluence of th ...

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 Heineken Lager Beer (), or simply Heineken (), is a Dutch pale lager beer with 5% alcohol by volume produced by the Dutch brewing company Heineken N.V. Heineken beer is sold in a green bottle with a red star. History On 15 February 1864, ...

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 (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, 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').

Gallery

File:MolenDeOorsprong.JPG, Former windmill ''de Oorsprong'' File:Rotterdam terbregge prinsesirene brug.jpg, Prinses Irenebrug near Terbregge File:Rotte_rotterdam.jpg, The Rotte at

File:Holvoeterbrug.JPG , The Rotte near Hollevoeterbrug File:Rotterdam-Prins Alexander, de Rotte bij Hoogerbruggepad foto2 2016-05-01 18.16.jpg, The Rotte near Prins Alexander File:Rotterdam noorderbrug.jpg, Noorderbrug at Crooswijk File:Rotterdam de rotte.jpg, Viewed from the Admiraal de Ruyterweg in Rotterdam File:De Rotte tussen Rijn en Maas.jpg, River flow of the Rotte in 1300

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