Private Rotterdam tour, the wonderful story of architecture and dockland redevelopment Private Rotterdam tour, the wonderful story of architecture and dockland redevelopment Dutch/Nederlandse version.
Panorama by Kaldenbach, see towards the north-west.
Boven: Hotel New York. Springplank voor emigranten. Foto Kaldenbach.
Building 'De Rotterdam', architect Rem Koolhaas.The largest edifice in The Nederlands. Photo Kaldenbach, 2016.
'De Rotterdam', architect Rem Koolhaas.Photo Kaldenbach, 2016.
'De Rotterdam', then the Harbour authority, 'Havengebouw', then the low Hotel New York and in the middle Montevideo. Photo Kaldenbach, 2016.
Speedboat in Rotterdam, for hire!
Seen from a water taxi at a cost of E 40 for 15 minutes of pure high speed exitement. Photo Kaldenbach, 2016.
Rotterdam: Both shores: Foto Kaldenbach, 2016.
HOW TO GET THERE
Rotterdam is easy to reach with public transport, by train. I hold a Dutch Railways rebate card. For this train tour I can offer you a special rebate of 40% for three separate adult railway tickets. This makes it economical for you as clients. I can join you from your hotel or from the Amsterdam train station. Various other options are open to you: a) You can hire a car and drive it yourself, and I will join you starting in Amsterdam and will advise you about the best route. b) We can hire a professional taxibus service at around E 70 per hour for about 4 to 5 hours. On top of that you will pay me as the specialist guide. This is the more expensive option.
Rotterdam has always been an important harbour town, a major gateway for the Rhine and Maas/Meuse area hinterland. Rotterdam is still one of the 10 major harbours in the world. A river boat tour by the Spido firm departing near the fabulous Erasmus bridge will show you some of the gigantic harbour facilities.
Sadly, Rotterdam was thoroughly flattened and destroyed by German bombers on the 4th day of the Nazi invasion of Holland. It was enough to result in surrender of the Dutch government, fearing the subsequent flattening of all Dutch major cities. In 1945 the large scale rebuilding started and instead of a finely divided network of pretty canals and age-old architecture you will see modernity and new ideas about city design and languages of architecture.
Around the central part of the river the dockland areas, formerly off-limits, have been reshaped into an exciting, thriving, new urban area with houses and shopping centers. Towards the west, the North sea, there is still mile upon mile of active but forbidding industrial land. Oil refineries with their pipelines and black coal mountains form the landscape.
Those interested in fine arts must visit the Boymans – Van Beuningen museum, counted as perhaps number 4 when it comes to the best Dutch painting museums in the Netherlands. Strong in painting and design.
Photo above : Hotel New York, where emigrants left for the USA. Photo by Kaldenbach.
Rotterdam is in the province of South Holland, situated southwest of Amsterdam, a good hours drive away from Amsterdam by train.
===
MUSEUM
This great port used to be rich in trade but poor in fine arts until the 1930’s when resources were pooled by local harbor tycoons and entrepreneurs to create the brand new Boijmans Museum, combining wonderful collections of painting, sculpture and the applied arts. In the present day situation I would classify this museum among the 4 or 5 great museum of fine arts in the Netherlands.
Pieter Breughel, Tower of Babel, in Museum Boijmans, Rotterdam.
In 1940 the center of commercially important harbor town of Rotterdam was largely destroyed by a sudden and unprovoked German air force bombardment. As a consequence, the inner city was 98% flattened and present day architecture in the center is mainly post-1945, with some isolated older buildings that were miraculously saved from destruction. It was an effective way for the Nazi Germans to break the willpower of the Dutch to fight on - as the same fate would await the other historic towns.
Photo above : The Hef bridge in front, a now obsolete but iconic railway bridge. Cables of the Erasmus bridge to the right. Photo Kaldenbach.
The Maas riverfront now boasts expressive and spectacular modern architecture and we also notice various bridges built during the last 150 years. The sleek lines of the latest huge swan neck Erasmus bridge designed by UNstudio and erected for E 165 million has become the new logo and trademark of the town. Another element of harbor architecture not to be missed is the grand Art Deco café New York from which emigrants sailed for the New World.
Nearby is the Museum Harbour, a historic open-air areahow with commercial and military ships from various ages and some of these museum ships can even be visited.
Photo above : Cables of the Erasmus bridge. Photo Kaldenbach.
Rotterdam is easy to reach with public transport, by train. I can join you from your hotel or from the Amsterdam train station. Various other options are open to you: a) You can hire a car and drive it yourself, and I will join you starting in Amsterdam and will advise you about the best route. b) We can hire a professional taxibus service at around E 70 per hour for about 4 to 5 hours. On top of that you will pay me as the specialist guide. This is the more expensive option.
As an art historian based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, I can meet you in Rotterdam for a personalized guided tour of art museums and the historic center.
Together we will experience the beauty and history . Enjoy yourself and learn about history while strolling and discussing the country's history, art and culture. In doing so, we may touch many bases - spanning not only fine art and architecture but also the city's history and current social issues. See client testimonials.
Read a biography.
Drs. Kaldenbach is chairman of the Circle of Academic Tour Guides of the Netherlands and Flanders (CATON)
Starting at your hotel I will take you on a wonderful private cultural walking tour of your choice. My guided itinerary offers you accessable informative conversation in English, Dutch, or German (my French and Italian are more limited).
You may also arrange this VIP treatment for business contacts or friends. Our cultural tour organisation office will take care of a unique and memorable experience.
Drs. Kees Kaldenbach is your private "scholar-lecturer on culture tours" *.
*Martha Gellhorn, Travels with Myself and another, p. 182.
Please contact me for time and fees of the tailor-made tour you ar interested in.
These tailor made tours are available upon request - please contact me to book a date. Minimum group size: 1 person. Maximum group size is limited to about 10 persons. With a megaphone I can also manage larger groups on the streets.
Endorsements
The Rijksmuseum has done me the honor of linking the main Rijksmuseum site to my website. Start at www.rijksmuseum.nl and select Collection. Then choose 'Digital Collaboration' and the 'Digital Vermeer House'.
I conduct Rembrandt walks in Amsterdam for the Netherlands Bureau of Tourism, London and New York City offices. Their clients include important journalists.
The travel site www.luxurytraveler.com has devoted a main feature to my tours and walks.
Read further client testimonials.
Read a biography.
Drs. Kees Kaldenbach has been featured in television and radio documentaries, including BBC2 TV, NTV Japan, Danish TV and Radio Netherlands World Service. In July 2004 he was interviewed about rotterdam artists by Tetsuya Tsuruhara for the leading Japanese newspaper The Yomiuri Shimbun. In 2004 and 2005 he acted in an advisory role to additional BBC teams. Kaldenbach has written extensively on Vermeer and 17th century rotterdam, on Vincent van Gogh and on other art history topics.
Drs. Kees Kaldenbach is your private "scholar-lecturer on culture tours".
Further information is available on his encyclopedic web site: www.johannesvermeer.info
Contact
information:
Drs. Kees Kaldenbach , kalden@xs4all.nl
Haarlemmermeerstraat 83 hs
1058 JS Amsterdam
The Netherlands
telephone 020 - 669 8119 (from abroad NL +20 - 669 8119)
cell phone 06 - 2868 9775 (from abroad NL +6 - 2868 9775)
Reaction, questions? Read client testimonials.
Open seven days a week.
Member of the VVV Tourist information and the Amsterdam Chamber of Commerce (Kamer van Koophandel).
Email responses and bookings to art historian Drs. Kees Kaldenbach.
This page forms part of the 2000+ item Vermeer web site at www.xs4all.nl/~kalden
Launched April 15, 2006. Updated 27 October 2016. Updated 14 february, 2017.
Complete Listing of tours