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Koninklijke Bibliotheek
The Hague,
Netherlands

 

View of Rotterdam Harbour 
1694

The Netherlands has always been a strong trading nation, assisted by its ideal position on the North Sea and its good connections with Germany over the Rhine. By the end of the nineteenth century, the port of Rotterdam had become the most important port in the Netherlands; after the Second World War it grew to be the largest port in the world.


click to zoomJohannes de Vou
Rotterdam met al syn gebouwen net op haer maet geteekent en gesneden  1694
1044 B 21
Courtesy of Koninklijke Bibliotheek, The Hague

Though by no means as extensive as it is now, Rotterdam was an important harbour in the seventeenth century. In 1694 the City Council commissioned the Rotterdam artist and map-maker Johannes de Vou to make a large map of the city. Included in the map were a view of the city from the river Maas; 12 depictions of important buildings; and a strip with the arms of Rotterdam, its ten manors, and its (then) four Mayors, its Pensionary and the Town Secretary. The map was etched by the famous Dutch artist Romeyn de Hooghe. Around 1778, pictures of the arms of all members of the City Council, and of the Pensionaries and Secretaries since 1573 were added.

The map and accompanying engraving can be found in three representations: as loose leaves, mounted as a wall map (with or without the additions of 1778), and bound as a book. In the book version, the leaves of the map, the view and the arms are each pasted together, while the engravings of the buildings and the loose arms (added later) have been pasted on leaves of paper. From 1744, these atlases were compiled for presentation to members and relations of the City Council. This copy is bound in vellum, with the arms of Rotterdam, gold-tooled, in the centre.

Many of the Dutch emigrants to Australia after the Second World War left the Netherlands by boat from Rotterdam Harbour. In the late 1940s the view would have looked very different though—in 1940 the city centre of Rotterdam was largely destroyed by German bombing.