Timeline until 1970
A good overview of the most important events in Rotterdam after the war and the buildings from the post-war reconstruction period in the eastern part of the city centre.
1968
Rotterdam builds a metro
On 9 February 1968 the Rotterdam metro officially opened, with as very first passengers Princess Beatrix and Prince Claus.
- General
Weenagebouw met Parkeergarage
- Buildings
Gemaal Parksluizen
- Buildings
- Municipal Monuments
1966
The Doelen opens
On the 18th of May 1966 The Doelen opens on construction day. The pinnacle of the first twenty years of post-war reconstruction.
- General
- Buildings
- National Monuments
Kantoorgebouw Marconihuis (Overbeekhuis)
- Buildings
Klooster Una Sancta
- Buildings
- Municipal Monuments
1964
3e Chr. Technische School "De Poort"
- Buildings
Centraal Bureau voor de Arbeidsvoorziening SVZ
Toen de Centrale voor Arbeidsvoorziening werd gesticht en er tussen havenwerkers en het havenbedrijf een andere verhouding ontstond ontstonden plannen voor een kantoorgebouw. Vlakbij het hoofdkantoor van de SVZ aan de Pieter de Hoochstraat, om de hoek aan de Westzeedijk werd in 1964 het Centraal Bureau geopend.
- Buildings
1963
Belichaamde Eenheid
The artwork Corporate Entity decoreated the entrance of the new building of Unilever near the Rochussenstraat. The sculpture made by Wessel Couzijn has been moved tot the Weena together with its owner Unilever.
- Art
Hilton Hotel
Late 1953 newspapers announced that the famous Hilton Hotel Organization decided to build a hotel in Rotterdam.
- Buildings
- National Monuments
Jeugdherberg "De Windroos"
- Buildings
‘Vooruitgang’ bread factory and confectionery
‘Vooruitgang’, the Rotterdam Cooperative Bakery and Consumer Association, was founded in 1898 to provide good-quality bread and other foodstuffs to working class people at an affordable price.
- Buildings
1962
Kramer and Röder's Ironware and Tools
The building for Kramer and Röder, a wholesalers that traded in ironware and tools, was built at the same time as the premises for another firm of wholesalers, De Lange and Reek.
- Buildings
1961
Savoy Hotel
The Savoy Hotel on the corner of Hoogstraat and Kipstraat was an initiative from Wereldhaven.
- Buildings
Kantoorgebouw NV Levensverzekeringsmaatschappij 'De Utrecht'
- Buildings
Corso
- Buildings
- Municipal Monuments
1960
Sint Dominicus Catholic Steiger Church
The Steiger Church was intended as a place of silence and contemplation in the bustling city centre.
- Buildings
- National Monuments
Grotiushuis
- Buildings
- Municipal Monuments
Poortgebouw Progress (Müller Thomsen)
- Buildings
- Municipal Monuments
Euromast
The Euromast of architect Maaskant is in 1960 a symbol of progress, after the extension with the space tower in 1970 it remained the highest building in Rotterdam
- Buildings
- National Monuments
Floriade
After the succesfull events Ahoy' and E55, Rotterdam asked Mr. Kleiboer to organize another. The Floriade was the first international horticulture exhibition to be held in Rotterdam in 1960.
- General
1959
Traffic intersection
The reconstruction of Rotterdam was an excellent opportunity to tackle the flow of traffic in the centre.
- Infra
Uitbreiding Unilever
Unilever N.V. bouwt achter haar bestaande gebouw bij de Rochussenstraat een vijftig meter hoge kantoorflat wegens nijpend ruimtegebrek. Het gebouw wordt in 1959 opgeleverd maar huist tegenwoordige de Hogeschool Rotterdam.
- Buildings
Railway post office
The former station's post office in Rotterdam designed by the Kraaijvanger brothers has become a national monument.
- Buildings
- National Monuments
De Heuvel building
De Heuvel was an initiative by the CHJ, an organisation that offered spiritual and social training to secondary level pupils, students and working youths.
- Buildings
- Municipal Monuments
1958
Market on the Binnenrotte
The best-known market in Rotterdam is the weekly market at Binnenrotte, with 465 stalls and an average of 70,000 visitors.
- General
Parkflat Residential Building
At the corner of the Westzeedijk and Kievitslaan, close to Parc Zocher, is the Parkflat residential building, designed by architect Groosman in 1958.
- Buildings
- Municipal Monuments
Ben Maltha Garage / Sint Lucia Female Teacher Training College
In 1958 a remarkable and unusual combination on a remarkable and unusual site, right behind Lijnbaan opens. Garage Ben Maltha is topped by a catholic teacher training college St. Lucia. The building has its main facade and entrance onto a service street.
- Buildings
- National Monuments
Police station Hudsonstraat
At the Marconiplein the first post war police station arises. The fifth department houses in a design of municipal architect Voskuyl.
- Buildings
- Municipal Monuments
R.A.C, Garage (Rotterdam City Archives)
The Rijks Automobiel Centrale (RAC) was founded in 1936 to operate the fleet of vehicles of the national postal service.
- Buildings
1957
Mariniersweg housing
The Mariniersweg housing block forms a single entity with the housing and shops on Pannekoekstraat at the rear.
- Buildings
- Municipal Monuments
Grieks-Orthodoxe kerk St. Nikolaos
Achter Museum Boymans wordt in 1957 een Grieks-Orthodoxe kerk gebouwd. De architecten, ir De Jongh, Taen en dr ir Thomas Nix, laten in de opzet iets van de Grieks-Orthodoxe religie zien.
- Buildings
- Municipal Monuments
Gabo's Untitled
- Art
- National Monuments
Spaarbank
The head office of the Verenigde Spaarbank on Botersloot was badly damaged by the bombardment.
- Buildings
- Municipal Monuments
- National Monuments
Bank voor Handel en Scheepvaart
- Buildings
The Prow
The Prow monument of 1957 for the seamen who lost their lives during the Second World War. It is the work of sculptor Fred Carasso who originally didn't win the competition. The sculpture group was added 8 years later.
- Art
Bijenkorf department store
Bijenkorf department store moves after the war into a new building of architect Breuer at the Coolsingel
- Buildings
- National Monuments
Grain Warehouse
The Grain Warehouse, opening in 1957 at the corner of Wijnharbour, Posthoornstreet, housed the companies Comittee of Graintraders, several trading companies and a the extension of ICI.
- Buildings
Keuchenius School
In 1958, the Society for the Foundation and Maintenance of Schools for Reformed Advanced Primary Education in Rotterdam applied for permission to construct a new school building.
- Buildings
1956
Galeries Modernes opens
On 8 November 1956 the new building of Galeries Modernes was officially opened.
- Buildings
Lijnbaan apartment buildings
The layout of the Lijnbaan, which separates shops and apartments, paved the way for a new concept of urban living: high-rise blocks arranged around green courts.
- Buildings
- National Monuments
Shell office building
Floors one to four were occupied by Shell Tankers, five and six by Shell Nederland, and seven and eight by the regional office for the Dutch gas company (Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij).
- Buildings
1955
Groenendaal Housing
The Groenendaal Housing project illustrate well the confrontation between two styles of architecture that dominated the post-war period in the Netherlands.
- Buildings
- Municipal Monuments
Shop and enjoy in the Twaalfprovinciënhuis
With a sense of bravura similar to the completion of the Market Hall in October 2014, the Twaalfprovinciënhuis shopping centre opened in 1955.
- Buildings
A new event: E55
The central theme of E55 was ‘the reconstruction of the destroyed city and the desire to overcome difficulties.
- General
Branch of De Nederlandsche Bank
Het Bijkantoor van de Nederlandsche Bank sneuvelde tijdens het bombardement in 1940. Het duurde tot 1955 voordat het nieuwe gebouw aan de Boompjes gereed was, tegenwoordig rijksmonument.
- Buildings
- National Monuments
Bongers Tearoom (Pancake pavilion)
The Bongers Tearoom on Meent is such a familiar Rotterdam building that few people realise it was designed by an architect.
- Buildings
- Municipal Monuments
Thalia Theater
A Jew from Poland, Abraham Tuschinski (1886‒1942) departed for the United States, but only got as far as Rotterdam. In 1911 he opened his first cinema, Thalia, on Coolvest.
- Buildings
- National Monuments
Het Vrije Volk office building (Slaakhuys)
Former office building of the newspaper Het Vrije Volk, the Slaakhuys at the Slaak Rotterdam
- Buildings
- National Monuments
Citrusveiling
Aan de Marconistraat verrees in 1953 een groot veilingcomplex, dat gebouwd wordt voor de pas gestichte N.V. Rotterdamse Citrusveiling en uitgewerkt werd door de architecten Van Tijen en Maaskant.
- Buildings
- National Monuments
1954
Huf shop
The Huf shop was a shoe shop by Anton Hof on the Hoogstraat since 1924.
- Buildings
- National Monuments
Holbeinhuis
- Buildings
Boekman & Sons commercial building and conference centre
In November 1954, the well-known Rotterdam architect Hugh Maaskant designed a four-floor cube-shaped commercial building that aligned with the other structures on Delftsestraat.
- Buildings
Nillmij office building (Schieblock)
The initial plan was to terminate the block of commercial premises along Delftsestraat with two buildings at Schiekade.
- Buildings
1953
Stadstimmerhuis Meent
For a long time Stadstimmerhuis meent has been the name given to the building that houses city departments that deal with construction.
- Buildings
- Municipal Monuments
Zeemanshuis Stella Maris
- Buildings
- Municipal Monuments
R.V.S.-flat
- Buildings
- Municipal Monuments
Housing, Mathenesserweg 136-218
At the south west end of the Mathenesserweg three angled blocks contain vertically stacked maisonettes.
- Buildings
Jungerhans
Het familiebedrijf Jungerhans was een begrip in Rotterdam. Na de oorlog werd door de gebroeders Kraaijvanger een nieuwe chique winkel voor huishoudelijke artikelen tussen de Rotterdamsche bank en De Klerk gebouwd. Het gebouw is inmiddels gesloopt en herbouwd.
- Buildings
Groothandelsgebouw
The Groothandelsgebouw is the symbol of the reconstruction of Rotterdam.
- Buildings
- National Monuments
I.C.I. Office Building
In 1953 Imperial Chemical Industries built a new Dutch headquarter at the Leuve-harbour. Cornelis Elffers designed this building and the Grain-warehouse next door. For years the chemical barrels of ICI 'decorated' the cay.
- Buildings
- Municipal Monuments
Lijnbaan shopping precinct
In the post-war years the Lijnbaan marked a revolution in urban design. Instead of shops with housing above along both sides of a street of traffic, such as Hoogstraat, the Lijnbaan shops lined pedestrian promenades.
- Buildings
- National Monuments
Hoogstraat shops
The Hoogstraat Shops were three retail buildings opened one after another in quick succession on Hoogstraat.
- Buildings
- Municipal Monuments
Unveiling of The Destroyed City
This sculpture is intended to preserve for eternity the memory of one of the worst events points in the history of our city and our people.
- Art
- Municipal Monuments
Pannekoekstraat commercial building
The Pannekoekstraat commercial building is a double building with retail space on the ground floor.
- Buildings
- Municipal Monuments
Scots Church
On both sides of the Schiedamse Vest two churches are located. One of them is the post-war Scots Church.
- Buildings
1952
Van Stolk Royal Traders
Located on the corner of Delftsevaart and Lombardkade is the building of Van Stolk Royal Traders.
- Buildings
Institution for the Blind
The ‘Work Institution for the Blind People in Need’ was a society set up in 1851.
- Buildings
- Municipal Monuments
De Nederlanden van 1845 office building (Café Dudok)
Café Dudok was the office of life assurance company De Nederlanden van 1845.
- Buildings
- Municipal Monuments
Restoration of the Laurenskerk
The Laurenskerk was badly damaged by the bombing of May 1940, though the spire itself remained largely intact.
- General
1951
Doopsgezinde Kerk
Te midden van kantoren, winkelpanden en overheidsgebouwen wordt aan een stil water in 1951 de nieuwe Doopsgezinde kerk van architect Kuiper gerealiseerd.
- Buildings
Goudsesingel Industrial Building
The architects Hugh Maaskant and Willem van Tijen built in post-war Rotterdam the Industrial Building at the Goudsesingel.
- Buildings
- National Monuments
Warenhuis Ter Meulen/Wassen/Van Vorst
In 1951 the firms Ter Meulen, Wassen and Van Vorst moved into a building with a facade almost 100 metres in length at the Binnenwegplein. The three collaborating shops had been housed in the Dijkzigt temporary retail complex. In the new building three sections beneath one roof will be separated by removable glazed partitions.
- Buildings
PTT Office
The new telephone building on Botersloot opened its doors in 1951. For over a century, Botersloot was the centre of telephony in Rotterdam.
- Buildings
1950
Ahoy'
Ahoy’, held in 1950, was intended to present the rebuilt port to the world.
- General
Woongebouw Touwslagerflat
- Buildings
Blaak bank buildings
In the early years of reconstruction three banks were build on the Blaak.
- Buildings
- National Monuments
1949
Machinistenschool
De School voor Scheepswerktuigkundigen, de Machinistenschool, verloor tijdens het bombardement van 1940 zijn gebouw aan de Schiedamsevest en kreeg als eerste in 1949 een nieuw gebouw aan de Willem Buytewechstraat.
- Buildings
Rotterdamsche Bank
Before the war, the Rotterdamsche Bankvereeniging (known as Robaver) and Amsterdamsche Bank were located close to each other on Coolsingel, on the site of what is now the Bijenkorf department store.
- Buildings
- National Monuments
Bouwcentrum
In the Bouwcentrum, professionals and interested parties could go for exhibitions and objective information about building and living.
- Buildings
- National Monuments
Kantoor en Pakhuis Blaauwhoedenveem-Vriesseveem
De firma Blaauwhoedenveem-Vriesseveem liet een kantoorgebouw en pakhuis bouwen aan de St-Jobsweg voor de handel in koffie, peulvruchten en zaden. Architect Kanters ontwierp het pand reeds in 1940 maar de bouw was pas in 1949 gereed.
- Buildings
- Municipal Monuments
Orthodox Reformed Church
Surrounded by the imposing buildings of the Nationale Levensverzekerings Bank and the Technikon school, between Waterplein and a car park, lies this modest church building.
- Buildings
Nationale Levensverzekerings Bank office building
The Nationale Levensverzekering Bank building on Boompjes was only slightly damaged in the war, but it was still decided to build a new structure on Schiekade.
- Buildings
Eye Hospital
The Eye Hospital of architect Van der Steur at the Schiedamse Vest looks like a Italian palazzo.
- Buildings
1948
GEB local electricity substation
The GEB local electricity substation was needed to supply electricity to the shops and businesses in the centre.
1947
Construction Day
An annual Construction Day was held in Rotterdam every year starting in 1947. On that day the reconstruction of the city was celebrated.
- General
Esveha office building
The offices of the paper wholesaler Esveha on Botersloot were totally destroyed in the bombardment.
- Buildings
1946
Reconstruction Ride
From the spring of 1946 on, so-called Reconstruction Rides (‘Wederopbouwritten’) took groups on bus tours to building projects.
- General
The Basic Plan by Van Traa
In the Basic Plan the idea of the old city triangle was abandoned more fully.
- General
Hofplein
In the pre-war Rotterdam, Hofplein was a complicated intersection where fourteen wider and narrower streets, three waterways and two intersecting railway lines converged.
- Infra
1943
First pile of Wereldhaven
During a speech by Johan Ringers on 15 April 1941 the first pile went into the ground for the Wereldhaven housing complex.
- General
- Buildings
1942
Urban agriculture during the war years
Urban agriculture today makes us think of hipsters growing organic vegetables, the showpiece being the roof garden on the Schieblock building. But urban agriculture also existed during World War II out of sheer necessity.
- General
Minervahuis
The Minerva House on Meent is part of a block largely completed during the period of reconstruction.
- Buildings
1941
Expeditiehoven en straten
In opdracht van de dienst Stadsontwikkeling van de Gemeente Rotterdam heeft Platform Wederopbouw Rotterdam een verkenning van de Rotterdamse expeditiehoven en –straten uitgevoerd.
- General
1940
Plan Witteveen, the first reconstruction plan
The Plan Witteveen was made by the engineer Willem Gerrit Witteveen four days after the bombardement.
- General
Restaurant 'Old Dutch'
- Buildings
- Municipal Monuments