The Rotterdam Harbour: The Connection with the North Sea and Europoort

Abstract

Rotterdam, located on the most northern branch of the Rhine—Meuse deltaic system, existed already as a fishing village in the 11 th century A.D. and as early as 1100 A.D. was protected by (low) dykes. Flooding was a regular threat: in 1164 the entire village was destroyed during a flood and again in 1421. The nucleus of the present town existed from the 15th century on and gradually developed into a sea port. The first, small, harbour had been made in 1350 (van Dam, 1990) and the connection with the North Sea was along the main river branch that passed Rotterdam towards the west and opened in a funnel-shaped mouth towards the North Sea. The shifting sand banks and narrow channels were not a large problem as long as the ships were small. They were more vulnerable to stormy weather: the harbour, some 35 km inland, provided a better shelter than would have been provided by a harbour on the coast. At those times such harbours did not exist on the North Sea coast: fishing ships were drawn high on the beach.