Website: www.schiedam.nl

Schiedam: old at heart, young of spirit.

Schiedam, a city in the Netherlands with a population of 75,000 is above all well-know for its Jenever (Gin). The charm of the largest historic town centre in the Greater Rotterdam Region is less well known, but that very town centre with canals and the world’s largest windmills makes Schiedam so attractive when you compare it with Rotterdam or other surrounding municipalities.
Schiedam has a well developed transport infrastructure and is a key transport intersection, which makes the city easy accessible.
A beautiful, vital municipality is our goal, where everyone feels at home, citizens and visitors.
Among our key challenges: creating a more attractive city centre, support entrepreneurship, transition of the waterfront area, developing the tourism industry (including water tourism), upgrading industrial & business parks and citizen participation.

History

Schiedam has city rights since 1275. At that time it was a busy gateway to the rest of the Netherlands thanks to its strategic site at the Meuse and Schie rivers. Schiedam flourished as a trading town.
Since 1500 Schiedam has a Jenever (gin) industry. Once there were 180 distilleries, these days there are just a few but still succesful onces (export of Vodka worldwide for example).
From the 19th century the shipbuilding drove the local industry. In the 1970/1980’s most shipyards went bankrupt because of the competition with low-wage countries in Asia.
The historical centre is based on an old urban design. In the city centre you will find canals, windmills, monuments, leisure activities & culture and bars, restaurants and shops.

Location

Schiedam is the neighbour of Rotterdam, the largest port in Europe and the gateway to northwestern Europe. The Hague is 30 km and Amsterdam 70 km. Rotterdam airport is just right beside Schiedam. Schiedam is easy accessible by train, metro, bus, tram, bicycle or car being a key interregional transport intersection in the Netherlands.

Population

Schiedam has a diverse population of 75,000.

Tourism & culture

Owing to the heydays of the Jenever (gin) and shipping industries, Schiedam’s city centre has a wealth of stories. In fact, it has the biggest historical city centre of the Greater Rotterdam region. No other city in the Netherlands has a history quite like it. Built by prosperous distillers, the 225 national monuments in Schiedam have a history you can taste and nostalgia you can feel.

Voyage of discovery

The city centre offers many possibilities for a real voyage of discovery. A city tour takes you along the harbours, the six highest mills in the world, and distilleries and malthouses. You can also follow the footsteps of Saint Liduina, one of the most famous Dutch saints, by admiring her beautiful relics, located in the Liduina Basiliek. The museums, galleries, workshops and specialty shops are definitely worth a visit.
Moreover, throughout the year, the city centre is the backdrop for a large number of public events and has wonderful parks to settle on. Schiedam can also be discovered from the water: from April till October you can take a tour on the Fluisterboot. There are also various mooring points for cruises in the city centre.

The story of the city

The museums of Schiedam tell the story of the city. Relive the olden days in the old grocer’s shop of the Nationaal Coöperatie Museum or in the Jenevermuseum Schiedam, where you can still have a sip of old Jenever or corn spirit. In the Windmill Museum De Nieuwe Palmboom you can see the miller at work and exhibitions showing the milling history of Schiedam.
In the Stedelijk Museum Schiedam you can enjoy Dutch modern and contemporary art, with Post War as the main exhibition theme. The museum is located in the restored Sint Jacobs Gasthuis and has a wonderful permanent collection of over 250 Cobra works.

Culinary surprises

With a voyage of discovery through Schiedam, there are also culinary surprises not to be missed. Many restaurants and cafés are situated in special locations such as monumental warehouses, or malt-houses or mills. Colourful cultures, history and modern times come together in the building, interior and cuisine of the restaurants. With its many restaurants, cafés and terraces, the Grote Markt is one of the liveliest squares in the region. If you would rather be near the water, then take your place on the floating terrace, which has an endless view over the Lange Haven.
There are many ways to discover Schiedam. You will find everything about art, culture, events and the best shops, galleries, cafés and restaurants at www.ontdekschiedam.nu where you can plan your ideal itinerary for the day.

Local economy

Current number of jobs: 30,000. The number of businesses is 2,700; mainly trade, transport, building sector, industry. The commercial services sector is also big and still growing. The distributed area of business parks is 300 ha.
Schiedam is member of the G-27 organisation, a policy and knowledge network of the 27 biggest cities in the Netherlands (selected by the Dutch government), with many different urban programmes subsidized by the Dutch government. Within the G-27 Schiedam is leading on the theme “support entrepreneurship”.

Schiedam & Europe

Schiedam made the choice to be actively involved with the European Union (EU). The EU creates access to knowledge and funds. Cooperation within Europe is a must: together we can make a difference.
From 2003-2007 Schiedam was a partner in the Waterfront Communities Project which had as theme “waterfront regeneration”. This Interreg 3B North Sea Region project was led by Edinburgh, other partners were Oslo, Hamburg, Hull, Gateshead/NewCastle, Goteborg, Aalborg, Odense. www.waterfrontcommunitiesproject.org

Schiedam will get EU/ERDF 2007-2013 budget (2.5 million), to finance huge glass walls along motorway and railway for better environmental conditions which enables Schiedam to develop a larger area around the Central railway Station Schiedam (offices, leisure, schools, retail).

Schiedam is partner in a new approved Interreg IV A project “integrated approaches for sustainable development” , starting in 2009. The project fits into the EU 2 mers/seas cross border programme (N-W France, S-E England, W Belgium, S-W Netherlands).