Ede, Netherlands


Ede is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of Gelderland. municipality had 123,532 inhabitants, and as of 1 January 2023 the city had 79,435 inhabitants.

Population centres

Community:
The town itself is situated halfway between the larger cities of Arnhem and Utrecht, with direct rail and road connections to both cities. There are no connections to any water nearby; however, there also is a direct road connection to the city of Wageningen which hosts a small industrial port on the river Rijn and a direct road and rail connection to the city of Arnhem, which features a larger port at a greater distance. The environment is clean and green because Ede is partly built in a forest and partly on the central Dutch plains in the national park called Nationaal Park "De Hoge Veluwe".

Economy

Economically, the town of Ede is doing fairly well thanks to the proximity of major highways and railways which offer fast connections to the port of Rotterdam, Schiphol airport and the Ruhr Area in Germany. The main sources of employment used to be a factory belonging to the Dutch Enka company and the three military bases situated in the east of the town. The factory, however, has been closed and the military bases are largely underused since conscription was abolished. The town's economy is lately becoming more focused on national tourism from the more densely populated western cities like Amsterdam and The Hague, and on education such as local colleges and the large Wageningen University in the city of Wageningen.
Some of the more notable or larger companies and other employers in and around Ede are:
Ede is situated along the A12 motorway and has a direct link to the A1 via the A30.
There are two railway stations in Ede: Ede-Wageningen railway station and Ede Centrum railway station. Ede-Wageningen is the main station with services to Alkmaar, Amersfoort, Amsterdam, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, Arnhem, Barneveld, Den Helder and Utrecht.
Ede Centrum is served by trains from Amersfoort and Barneveld to Ede-Wageningen.

Education

There are four secondary schools in Ede: Marnix College, Pallas Athene College, two divisions of Het Streek, and Aeres VMBO. In addition, Ede has a university of applied sciences, the Christian [University of Applied Sciences Ede].
Recently, a primary college focused on the equivalent of basic education named Technova College has been gaining interest and popularity since renovations started in 2015.

Social life

Each year, in the last week of August, there is a municipality-wide celebration called Heideweek. It largely involves traditional Dutch festivities, along with local customs. During the week, a Queen of the heather and a Princess of the heather are elected from several candidates and will be the representative for the municipality of Ede on various other festivities, until next year when a new queen and princess are elected.

Notable residents