
An inner-city packed with diverse architectural styles
The destruction of Rotterdam’s inner city in 1940 resulted in the patchwork of architectural styles that you encounter today. Here, icons of the Nieuwe Bouwen style (Sonneveld House, Van Nelle Factory) and typical post-war architecture (Het Industriegebouw, Rotterdamsche Bank) dazzle alongside ultramodern residential towers (De Rotterdam, Zalmhaventoren and The CoolTower). It is this variety that tells the story of the city. The city where, on a stroll through the centre, you will also come across monuments such as the City Hall, the Laurenskerk and the Schielandshuis: relics of pre-war Rotterdam. And the 45-metre-high Witte Huis (White House), built in 1898 – Europe’s first skyscraper – also survived the bombing. The Markthal, next to the Laurenskerk, tells its own story and heralds a new era in Rotterdam.