| Rotte | |
|---|---|
 | |
 Location of the Rotte | |
| Location | |
| Country | Netherlands |
| State | Zuid-Holland |
| Cities | Rotterdam |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | Kruisweg |
| Mouth | Nieuwe Maas |
• location | Zuid-Holland,Netherlands |
| Length | 22 km (14 mi) |
TheRotte (Dutch pronunciation:[ˈrɔtə]ⓘ) is ariver in theRhine-Maas-delta in theNetherlands. The Rotte is theeponym of the city ofRotterdam: the city's name references adam (Middle Dutch:dam) which local inhabitants built across the river in the 13th century CE.[1][2]
The river was originally named Rotta, fromrot, meaning "muddy" andaa meaning "water," thus "muddy water."[citation needed]
It rises inMoerkapelle in the so-calledGreen Heart. It used to drain theZuidplas lake until it wasreclaimed in 1840.
It flows pastBleiswijk andBergschenhoek; and then the village ofHillegersberg, which was built on a sand dune and was one of the few places in themarsh 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 theNieuwe 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 theCrooswijksesingel. Here, there is an old factory building of theHeineken brewery, which was brought here in the city due to the efforts ofLodewijk Pincoffs [nl].
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 theLeuvehaven [nl]. When the Luftwaffe bombed the city in 1940, this connection was also damaged. During theSecond World War, city plannerWillem Gerrit Witteveen [nl] 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 theRotterdam 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 theHoogstraat ('High Street').
In mediaeval times, the Rotte ran across the marshes into the much wider River Meuse (Merwe). About 1260, the low-lying lands bordering upon this charming stream were protected by dykes. A dam was built across the Rotte and supplied with locks. Near the dam fishermen, skippers and merchants settled; this group of houses was soon called Rotterdam [...].
Rotterdam began in the 1260s as a tiny settlement of herring fishermen located where the Rotte Riiver drains into the Maas (at that time called the Merwe). To control flooding and reclaim land from the surrounding peat bogs, the inhabitants built a low earthen dike along the north bank of the Maas and a dam across the Rotte.
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