According to clothingexpress, Arnhem is a big, lively and interesting city, with a rich history and many places and opportunities to spend time with benefit and pleasure. Only an hour away from Amsterdam, it is undeniably worth visiting for at least a day. At least in order to admire the originals of the cult works of Rodin, Monet, Van Gogh. Or for the military legacy of the city as the site of one of the most massive Allied operations at the end of World War II. Or for the largest musical event in the country and Europe for lovers of hard electronic music. However, in a one-day trip all this is no longer possible to accommodate.
The Kröller-Müller Art Museum is located in the middle of a beautiful national park and is famous for having the second largest Van Gogh collection in the world.
How to get to Arnhem
The most convenient way is by direct train from Amsterdam. Trains run every half an hour on weekdays, travel time is about an hour. In addition, trains to Arnhem run from Utrecht, Tilburg, Rosendaal, Zwolle and Schiphol Airport.
History
The settlement in these places appeared much earlier, but Arnhem received the official “urban” status in the first half of the 13th century. In the 15th century, Arnhem became a member of the Hansa, which gave a powerful impetus to its further development as a major trading city. For a short time, then Arnhem belonged to Burgundy, later a couple of times fell under the rule of the French, but not for long. By the 19th century, the ups and downs of the transition from hand to hand were completely forgotten, and Arnhem flourished as a popular resort. Colonial planters and other wealthy citizens built summer residences here. At this time, green gardens and luxurious mansions appear in Arnhem.
Entertainment and attractions of Arnhem
As elsewhere in the old cities, the heart of Arnhem is the Grotemarkt market square. Here you can see at least one curious mansion, a must-see city landmark. This is the Devil’s House Davelshuis, with which many medieval legends are associated. The house was built in the 16th century as a private mansion of the famous military leader Rossum, and from the 19th century it became the premises for the city government. Its façade and entrance are adorned with numerous sculptures of human heads and figures of goat-legged satyrs, which, apparently, gave reason to call it so gloomy.
3 things to do in Arnhem:
- Take advantage of the only chance in the Netherlands to ride a trolleybus.
- Take a picture of the “monkey mountain” – a red post office building, the facade of which is decorated with monkey figurines.
- Buy as souvenirs “Arnhem Girls” – special rich livers that have been produced in the city since 1829.
St. Yevsey Cathedral began to be built in the middle of the 15th century and completed more than a century later. This is a late Gothic church with a belfry over 90 m high, one of the highest in the Netherlands. During the Second World War, the church was badly damaged, and many fragments of the interior decoration were lost forever. Nevertheless, inside today you can see a beautiful Renaissance tombstone of the Duke of Guelders from the middle of the 16th century. The restoration was completed 20 years after the end of the war. Today, tourists are lifted up to a height of 73 m by a glass elevator, and along the way they can see the largest carillon in Europe.
An interesting church is Kepelchurch, built in the 13th century for the monastic order of St. John. And near the church you can see another beautiful old building: St. Peter’s Guesthouse, built at the beginning of the 15th century. Once upon a time, a coin minter lived here, and the building itself was also called “monetary” – “altmeinte”.
A striped black and white barge is moored on the river. It is specifically designed for homeless people, drug addicts and alcoholics, so it’s best to stay away.
Corn Square Korenmarkt is very picturesque. In the Middle Ages, it was the center of farm trade. Near the square, the remains of the medieval fort Sabelsport have been preserved; built in the 15th century, it has seen a lot in its lifetime, but today only the main gate has been preserved from the old fortress.
You can not ignore the newer city landmark – John Frost Bridge. During a key Dutch Allied operation codenamed “Market Garden” in 1944, the bridge was destroyed. It was restored 6 years later, having received its name in honor of the commander of the British troops. Near the bridge there is a corresponding monument with a memorial plaque. And in the suburb of Arnhem, Oosterbeek, in the former building of the headquarters of the British command, there is a large museum dedicated to the operation itself and the airborne assault. There is also a large memorial cemetery.
Audrey Hepburn studied at the Arnhem Conservatory during the war years.
Arnhem has its own fashion district, Modequartier. The city is considered one of the top 10 shopping destinations in the country. And in the Fashion Quarter, there are about 35 boutiques and shops where you can find anything – from haute couture clothes to streetwear, accessories and more. Almost all items are original and mostly handmade. It is also home to many independent restaurants and cafes, as well as the most stylish design hotel in the city, Modez.
The bustling shopping streets of Arnhem hide underground dungeons that are already 36 centuries old. All of them were restored and combined with each other in 2001. You can go through the dungeons with an organized tour or on your own for a small fee.
There are enough interesting museums in Arnhem. The Kröller-Müller Art Museum is located in the middle of a beautiful national park and is famous for having the second largest Van Gogh collection in the world. Here you can see the masterpieces of Picasso, Mondrian, Monet. The park around the museum also deserves the closest attention: it has more than 160 sculptures by Rodin, Moore, Dubuffet and other famous artists. And the entire national park as a whole occupies 5400 hectares of territory, on which a great many inhabitants live, including those listed in the Red Book.
The art and history museums combined together today make up the single city museum of Arnhem, although they still occupy two buildings. The collection contains an excellent selection of works by artists who worked in the genre of magical realism, contemporary painting, especially women artists, and a stunning collection of jewelry. The expositions of the Bronbeek Museum are dedicated to the colonial past of the Netherlands. Here you can see samples of weapons and uniforms, archival and photographic materials related to the eastern colonies of the Dutch in India. And you can visit the trolleybus museum for free.
There is also the Netherlands Wine Museum in Arnhem, which is sure to please adults, and the Netherlands Water Museum, more suitable for children. Arnhem Zoo “Burgers” is especially famous with a real tropical oasis, which is created here in a glass pavilion. Pleasant impressions: on a rainy Dutch day, stroll through this kind of greenhouse with a view of giraffes and other animals roaming freely around the territory with birds.
Outskirts of Arnhem
On the outskirts of the city lies Huys Zipendaal, a classic rural estate built in the second half of the 18th century. It is surrounded by the beautiful hills of the Siependaal Landscape Park. The rooms, including the Red Painting Room and the Gentlemen’s Room, are decorated as before, with beautiful furnishings, valuable portraits and gizmos of the time.
In the urban suburb of Osterbeek is one of the oldest churches in the country – it is called, “Old Church”. The original building dates back to the 10th century, although in the 12th century the church was rebuilt, giving it Romanesque features, and in the 14th century a Gothic tower was added. The events of World War II severely damaged the building, but it was later restored.
And in the suburbs of Shelmseweg there is an open-air museum “Openluchtmuseum”, very popular with both locals and guests of Arnhem. It is something like a model village where you can get acquainted with the life and traditional crafts of local peasants. The buildings in the Openluchtmuseum are real: shops, residential buildings, mills and workshops were brought here from different parts of the Netherlands.
Arnhem events
Every September, Arnhem celebrates the anniversary of the liberation military operation of the Second World War – Market Garden. The center of the celebration is the John Frost Bridge, where military ribbons are twisted right in the air.
The annual November festival of hard electronic music Qlimax takes place in Arnhem. This is one of the most important hardstyle concerts, which is accompanied by powerful light-laser support.
And from June to August, free open-air concerts take place every Sunday afternoon in the central city park, Sonsbeekpark. Citizens come to listen to them with their own sun loungers and folding chairs.
