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Much of the port area was fi–
nally destroyed in 1944. Rotterdam
had to start all over after VE Day.
Within three weeks of the main
destruction
in
May 1940, its enter–
prising citizens were laying rough
plans for the reconstruction of the
city. Today it is a panorama of
buildings that make an impressive
sight from Euromast, a tower with
an excellent restaurant and view of
Rotterdam.
Today Dutch ingenuity has
made the port a complex network
of refineries, dry docks, grain ter–
minals, storage tanks and container
facilities. The port of Rotterdam
stretches for 25 miles along the
mouth of the Rhine River at the
North Sea. A ship either enters or
leaves the port area every 81h min–
utes.
And Now, Dutch·German
Cooperation
How ironic that the Germans and
tbe Dutch- former enemies in the
early I940s-are now models of
cobperation. They depend on one
another. Both are members of the
European Community (EC) or
Common Market.
Today Rotterdam and the Fed–
eral Republic of Germany enjoyan
enormously profitable business re–
lationship. More West German
tonnage passes through the port of
Rotterdam than the three leading
View inside busy control
room of the
port management
authority.
Rotterdam, at the combined
mouth of rivers
R~:,¡:d
Maas, ls a
tru/y E
an port. Red
areas desi
e primary port
and industrial areas.
A view of Eemhaven, one of
the many well-equipped
West German ports combined. Ac–
cording to
The lnternational Her–
ald Tribune
in December 1980:
"The city's geographical position at
the mouth of the Rhioe, which
i
made it
a gateway for waterborne
¡
traffic to West Germany,
is its
~
trump card" (emphasis mine).
o
...
Geography has been kind to Rot-
~~
terdam. Most European capitals
~ a:
and industrial centers are no more
~~
¡ O
than 600 miles away. Rotterdam
w::J
sees itself as Europe's port. The
g~
~l
city's newest development, nearest
~
to the North Sea, is called
Euro-
~¡
poort.
In Dutch the double
o
in
i~
Europoort
suggests " gateway"
~~o
rather than mere "harbor."
~
...
Rotterdam-gateway to Eu-
~~
harbors of Rotterdam, the busiest
port in the world.
Rallway fines (foreground) provlde al/ wharves
and warehouses wlth direct access to the
European raíl network.