Editing Enschede (section)

== History ==
=== Preindustrial era ===
[[File:Stadhuis.Enschede.Hek1.jpg|thumb|right|Balcony of the city hall depicts Enschede received its city rights]]
[[File:Enschede jvd.jpg|thumb|Map of Enschede in 1570]]
The early history of Enschede is largely unknown, but a settlement existed around the Old Marketplace in early medieval times. The name of this settlement is mentioned as ''Anescede'' or Enscede meaning either "near the border" (with [[County of Bentheim (district)|Bentheim]]) or "near the Es" and sported a church, a marketplace and a fortified aristocratic house.<ref>[http://www.enschede-stad.nl/geschiedenis.htm enschede-stad.nl] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150214142158/http://enschede-stad.nl/geschiedenis.htm |date=2015-02-14 }}</ref>

Enschede was granted [[City rights in the Netherlands|city rights]] around 1300 which were confirmed in 1325 by Bishop [[Jan III van Diest]] and henceforth was allowed to protect itself with a wall. Because a stone wall was too expensive (since stone had to be imported), Enschede had a system of ditches, palisades and hedges instead, which is still reflected in the street-names ''Noorderhagen'' and ''Zuiderhagen'' (North Hedge and South Hedge, respectively). The city plan of this era is still recognisable in the street-pattern. The city was spared destruction in 1597 at [[Capture of Enschede (1597)|its capture]] during the [[Eighty Years' War]] when after a short siege, the Spanish garrison surrendered the city and the defences were razed.

Because the medieval city was largely built of wood and stone houses were the exception, fire was a constant risk and a series of fires in 1517, 1750 and again on 7 May 1862 earned the people from Enschede the nickname ''Brandstichters'' (arsonists).

=== Industrial era ===
The last fire coincided with the start of the growth of the city into a large production center for textiles, stimulating a large increase in population, which by 1894 had reached an estimated 18,267:<ref>The Century Cyclopaedia of Names, coordinated by Benjamin E Smith and published by the [[Theodore Low De Vinne|De Vinne Press]], New York 1894 (Page 363)</ref> nineteenth-century urban growth was at first rather chaotic. The names of the slums (like ''De Krim'' and ''Sebastopol'') are still notorious, although they have long since been torn down.{{cn|date=January 2023}} In 1907 the ''laissez faire'' mentality was dropped and Enschede was the first city in the Netherlands to draw up an official expansion plan, incorporating the surrounding municipality of [[Lonneker]].{{cn|date=January 2023}}

Textile production, originally a cottage industry, reached an industrial scale at the start of the 19th century. In particular, ''bombazijn'' (a mixture of cotton and linen) proved a successful export. One such factory to have produced textiles in the late 19th century is the [[Hardick & Seckel Factory]].{{cn|date=January 2023}}

=== World War II ===
[[File:Britse soldaten van het Seventh Hampshire Regiment rukken op van Enschede naar H, Bestanddeelnr 900-2374.jpg|thumb|British troops advancing from Enschede, April 1945]]
During [[World War II]], Enschede was one of the first Dutch cities to be captured by German troops due to its proximity to the German border. Resistance members helped many of the Jews from Enschede to hide on farms in the vicinity. Out of approximately 1300 Jews in Enschede, 500 were saved (38.5%), compared to less than 20% in the rest of the Netherlands. This higher survival rate is attributed to three members of the Jewish Council of Enschede, Sig Menko, Gerard Sanders and Isidoor Van Dam who took the initiative, against the advice of the Jewish Council of Amsterdam, of urging their community to go into hiding and not to answer the call-up of the Germans for "labour in the East." Another notable hero of the era was Enschede Pastor Leendert Overduin, who saved hundreds of Jewish children and adults, with help from his sister and others, through a network of safehouses in and around Enschede.{{citation needed|date=March 2022}}

Enschede was bombed on several occasions, most notably on 10 October 1943, and 22 February 1944. During the first raid the [[Enschede Airport Twente|nearby airport]] (then ''Fliegerhorst Twente'') was a target of opportunity for the [[Eighth Air Force|VIII Bomber Command]] during a raid on rail- and waterways in [[Münster]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://paul.rutgers.edu/~mcgrew/wwii/usaf/html/Oct.43.html |title=USAAF Chronology |access-date=2016-05-10 |archive-date=2020-07-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200714053330/http://paul.rutgers.edu/~mcgrew/wwii/usaf/html/Oct.43.html |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.americanairmuseum.com/mission/1509 |title=American Air Museum in Britain, mission 114 |access-date=2016-05-10 |archive-date=2016-06-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160610105249/http://www.americanairmuseum.com/mission/1509 |url-status=live }}</ref> 141 people died and many houses were damaged.{{cn|date=October 2022}} The latter mission named Enschede as a target of opportunity during [[Big Week]] after bombers had been recalled due to adverse weather.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.americanairmuseum.com/mission/790 |title=American Air Museum in Britain, 8th Air Force 230 BIG WEEK – DAY 3 |access-date=2016-05-10 |archive-date=2016-06-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160610110811/http://www.americanairmuseum.com/mission/790 |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== The end of the industrial age ===
In the 1960s, the textile industry was completely lost, at the cost of approximately 30,000 jobs. Most of the large factory complexes were demolished in the 1970s and 1980s, some were renovated and given a new purpose. For example, homes were built in the former factories of Jannink and Van Heek. In addition, part of the Jannink complex was converted into a [[museum]]. Enschede developed into a service city.

In the 1970s the textile production in Enschede came to a halt, due to fierce competition from mainly the [[Far East]]. This had a profound effect on the populace. Enschede became one of the poorest municipalities in the Netherlands and went bankrupt. Large areas of industrial wasteland came to mark the city. With the support of the national government, this property was acquired and rebuilt. The city center was rendered a [[car-free zone]].

[[File:Fireworks disaster monument.jpg|thumb|220x220px|Monument commemorating the [[Enschede fireworks disaster]]. The inscription says, "The vanished house between heaven and earth."]]In 1961 it was announced a third technical university would be founded, placed on an estate on the western border of Enschede. This green campus called Drienerlo was donated by the city of Enschede. Building was complete in 1964, when the first and only full-facility university of the Netherlands was realised.

On 13 May 2000, a [[fireworks]] storage depot in Enschede [[Enschede fireworks disaster|exploded]], destroying part of the neighborhood of [[Roombeek]] and killing 23 people, including 4 firemen. In 2001 a [[referendum]] confirmed the proposal of the city council to expand the built-up area into the [[Usseler Es]], an area of historic cultural significance and of geological importance, as it was here that the [[Usselo#Usselo Soil|Usselo horizon]] was discovered. The renovations at Roombeek were finished in the year 2012. The place where the factory used to be is now a monument.

The Alpha Tower was completed in 2008 and this tower block with 91 apartments spread over 29 floors, with a height of 101 meters, is the tallest building in Enschede and the whole province of Overijssel. In the period 1995–2010, Enschede grew by approximately 10,000 inhabitants, but since then the growth has stagnated.<ref>{{cite web |title=CBS Statline |url=https://opendata.cbs.nl/statline/#/CBS/nl/dataset/70072NED/table?dl=25421 |access-date=2021-07-19 |website=opendata.cbs.nl |language=nl |archive-date=2019-07-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190725200732/https://opendata.cbs.nl/statline/#/CBS/nl/dataset/70072NED/table?dl=25421 |url-status=live }}</ref>