Zwolle


Zwolle is a city and municipality in the Northeastern Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of Overijssel and the province's second-largest municipality, after Enschede, and has a population of 132,441 as of December 2023. Zwolle borders the province of Gelderland and lies on the eastern side of the River IJssel.

History

findings indicate that the area surrounding Zwolle has been inhabited since ancient times. A woodhenge found in the Zwolle-Zuid suburb in 1993 was dated to the Bronze Age period. During the Roman era, the area was inhabited by Salian Franks.
The modern city was founded around 800 CE by Frisian merchants and troops of Charlemagne. Previous spellings of its name include the identically pronounced Suolle, which means "hill". This refers to an incline in the landscape between the four rivers surrounding the city, IJssel, Vecht, Aa and Zwarte Water. The hill was the only piece of land that would remain dry during the frequent floodings of the rivers. Zwolle was established on that incline.
A document mentions the existence of a parish church dedicated to St Michael. That church, the Grote of Sint Michaëlskerk, was renovated in the first half of the 15th century and exists to this day. The church contains a richly carved pulpit, the work of Adam Straes van Weilborch, some good carving, and an exquisite Baroque organ from 1721 designed by master organ builder Arp Schnitger and completed by his sons Franz Caspar and Johann Georg.
On 31 August 1230, the bishop of Utrecht granted Zwolle city rights. Zwolle became a member of the Hanseatic league in 1294, and in 1361 joined the war between the Hanseatic League and Valdemar IV of Denmark. In the 1370 Treaty of Stralsund that ended the war, Zwolle was awarded a vitte, a trade colony, in Scania, then part of Denmark. Zwolle's golden age came in the 15th century. Between 1402 and 1450, the city's Gross Regional Product multiplied by about six.
In July 1324 and October 1361, regional noblemen set fire to Zwolle. In the 1324 fire, only nine buildings escaped the flames.
Zwolle was also, with Deventer, one of the centers of the Brethren of the Common Life, a monastic movement. from Zwolle, on a slight eminence called the Agnietenberg, once stood the Augustinian convent in which Thomas à Kempis spent the greatest part of his life and died.
At least as early as 1911, Zwolle had a considerable trade by river, a large fish market, and the most important cattle market in the Netherlands after Rotterdam. The more important industries comprised cotton manufactures, iron works, boat-building, dyeing and bleaching, tanning, rope-making, and salt-making.
Image:Front of De Librije.jpg|thumb|left|De Librije
In World War II, Zwolle was single-handedly liberated from the Nazis by Canadian soldier Léo Major. He was made an honorary citizen of Zwolle on 14 April 2005, the 60th anniversary of his liberating of the city. He also has a street named after him, Leo Majorlaan.

21st century

In 2004, Zwolle's De Librije restaurant was honored with 3 stars by Michelin Guide; as of 2018, it is one of only three restaurants so honored in the entire country.
In 2023, Tewelde Goitom, an Eritrean convicted in Ethiopia of migrant smuggling, kidnapping in Sinai and human trafficking appeared at a pretrial hearing in Zwolle, which made international headlines.

Blauwvingers

Citizens of Zwolle are colloquially known as Blauwvingers. According to legend, the name dates back to 1682, when the St Michael's church tower collapsed. The authorities were strapped for cash and saw no option but to sell the church bells to the neighbouring city Kampen. To make sure that Kampen would not make too much profit from the deal, the local authorities asked a high price for the church bells. Kampen accepted, but when the bells arrived it became clear that they were too damaged to be played. In revenge, Kampen paid in copper coins of four duiten. Zwolle distrusted Kampen and wanted to be sure they truly paid the entire price. After the meticulous counting of the vast number of copper coins, their fingers had turned blue.
In reality, the name Blauwvinger stems from 1521, when the governors of Zwolle broke the oath of loyalty they made to the Duke of Gelre. The name Blauwvinger refers to the raised fingers with which the governors had promised their loyalty to the Duke at his inauguration. At that time, Zwolle and Kampen were embroiled in a dispute over toll collection on the IJssel River. Zwolle initially aligned with the Duke of Gelre, Charles of Egmont, but eventually returned to the Bishop of Utrecht. During this period of political unrest, Duke Charles of Gelre was captured when he entered Zwolle. Ultimately, he was allowed to depart under the condition that Zwolle would retain its independence. The name Blauwvingers stems from the fact that the residents committed perjury twice, first to the bishop and then to the duke.

Sites

The Grote of Sint Michaëlskerk has a baroque organ built by Arp Schnitger. The Roman Catholic Onze Lieve Vrouwe ten Hemelopneming-basilica dates back to 1399. The church tower, called Peperbus, is one of the tallest and most famous church towers in the Netherlands. The modernized town hall was originally built in 1448.
The Broerenkerk church was part of a Dominican monastery founded in 1465. The monastery was closed in 1580 and the monks were expelled. From 1640 until 1982 the church was used for Protestant services. Following a restoration in 1983–1988 it was used for cultural events and became a bookstore.

Image gallery

Notable residents

;Arts, culture, entertainment and the media
;Authors
;Business
  • Willem Jan van Dedem, landowner and founder of the canal and town of Dedemsvaart, Overijssel
  • Hendrikus Jacobus Gorter, ice skates manufacturer, cyclist and speed skater
;Religion
;Politics
;Sports
;Science
Zwolle is home to several universities of applied sciences and colleges:

Cycling

Nearly half of all trips in Zwolle were cycled as of 2013.

Road transport

The A28 serves Zwolle with 4 exits, and runs from Utrecht to Groningen. It was being widened to 8 lanes across the IJssel River and 6 lanes from Zwolle to Meppel in 2010 and 2011. The motorway initially opened between 1964 and 1970.

Rail transport

Twin towns—sister cities

Zwolle is currently twinned with:
In the past, Zwolle had partnerships with:
There is also a small rural town in the U.S. State of Louisiana named after Zwolle. The two cities maintain close informal ties.