Venlo facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Venlo
City and municipality
Venlo city centre
Flag Coat of arms
Location in Limburg
Venlo Location in Netherlands Show map of Netherlands Venlo Location in Europe Show map of Europe
Country	Netherlands
Province	Limburg
Government
• Body	Municipal council
Area
• Total	128.99 km2 (49.80 sq mi)
• Land	124.96 km2 (48.25 sq mi)
• Water	4.03 km2 (1.56 sq mi)
Elevation	21 m (69 ft)
Population  (May 2014)
• Total	100,369
• Density	803/km2 (2,080/sq mi)
Demonym(s)	Venloër, Venlonaar, Venloënaar, Venlonaer
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Postcode	5900–5951
Area code	077

Venlo is a city and a municipality located in the southeastern part of the Netherlands. It is very close to the border with Germany. You can find Venlo in the province of Limburg. As of January 2019, about 101,578 people lived in the municipality of Venlo.

History of Venlo

Early Days of Venlo

Map of the Venlo area around 1850

Ancient Roman and Celtic coins have been discovered in Venlo. Some people thought it might have been a Roman settlement called Sablones. However, there is not much proof to support this idea. A place called Blerick, on the west side of the river, was known as Blariacum in those times.

Venlo was first mentioned in old documents from the 9th century as a trading post. It grew to become one of the most important trading places in the Meuse-Rhine area. Venlo was given official city rights in 1343. Later, in 1375, it became a member of the Hanseatic League. This was a powerful group of trading cities in Northern Europe.

Because of its important location, the city of Venlo was attacked and surrounded many times. A very important attack happened in 1702. After this, Venlo became part of the United Provinces in 1713. After the Napoleonic Wars, it joined the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. From 1839 to 1866, Venlo was surrounded by German territory but was not part of the German Confederation.

Venlo During World War II

On November 9, 1939, an event known as the Venlo Incident took place here. This event was used by the Nazis as an excuse to invade the Netherlands later on, even though the Netherlands was a neutral country.

Venlo had important road and railway bridges over the Meuse river. The city was badly damaged by bombs between October and November 1944. Allied forces tried many times to destroy the bridges. They wanted to stop German supplies and prevent the German army from escaping. These attempts failed. In the end, the German troops themselves blew up the bridges as they retreated. Allied forces then freed Venlo by attacking from inside Germany.

About 300 people died because of these bombings. Many of Venlo's old buildings were also destroyed. However, some historic places, like the city hall (the 'Stadhuis') and the 'Römer' house, were not badly damaged.

Before the war, Venlo had a small Jewish community. In 1930, there were 86 Jewish people living there. This number grew to about 248 as German Jews came to escape unfair laws in Germany. After the war, and after some Jewish people moved to Israel, 32 Jewish people remained in Venlo.

Venlo After World War II

Topographic map of the city of Venlo, as of March 2014

In 2001, the nearby towns of Belfeld and Tegelen became part of the Venlo municipality. Tegelen used to be part of a different historical area, the Duchy of Jülich, while Venlo was part of the Duchy of Guelders. On January 1, 2010, the municipality of Arcen en Velden also joined Venlo.

In 2003, Venlo was named the "Greenest city of Europe." Venlo also hosted Floriade 2012, which is the world's largest show about gardening and plants.

In 2013, Venlo won the award for 'Best City Centre of the Netherlands'. The judges were impressed by all the new projects in the city. These included improvements to the Maas Boulevard, the railway station, a new tunnel, and the Maas bridge.

Culture and Fun in Venlo

City hall of Venlo

Venlo has many cultural places and events:

• Theatre "De Maaspoort" is a place to watch plays and shows.
• The Limburg Museum and Art Museum "Museum van Bommel van Dam" are great for learning about history and art.
• The Venlo Police Museum shows the history of policing.
• Grenswerk is a popular place for live music.

Venlo also has big yearly events:

• Carnival is called "Vastelaovend" here. It happens in February or March, six weeks before Easter.
• The Zomerparkfeest is a summer festival in August. It takes place in Venlo's main park and lasts four days. You can enjoy live music, movies, dance, and art.

Education in Venlo

Venlo is a city with over 100,000 people, so it has many schools for both younger and older students. It is also a center for higher education in the southern Netherlands.

Here are some of the higher education institutes in Venlo:

• Fontys University of Applied Sciences (International Campus Venlo)
• HAS University of Applied Sciences (Venlo branch)
• Maastricht University Campus Venlo (which includes University College Venlo)

Getting Around Venlo

Venlo is well-connected to Germany by two major highways (Bundesautobahn 40 and Bundesautobahn 61). You can reach cities like Düsseldorf and Cologne in about an hour.

Venlo railway station is an important train hub. You can take trains to Dutch cities like Eindhoven, Roermond, and Nijmegen. There are also international trains to Germany, stopping in places like Kaldenkirchen and Mönchengladbach on the way to Düsseldorf.

Sports in Venlo

VVV-Venlo is a football (soccer) club that is over 100 years old. They play their games at De Koel Stadium. The club was started on February 7, 1903. VVV-Venlo has sometimes moved between the top Dutch football league (the Eredivisie) and the league below it. They won the Eerste Divisie in 2009 and 2017, which helped them get promoted to the Eredivisie.

Geography and Climate

Climate in Venlo

Economy and Business in Venlo

Many important companies have their main offices in Venlo. These include Océ, which makes printing equipment and is now part of Canon. Cimpress, the company behind the Vistaprint brand, also has its headquarters here. The European offices of Amway (a direct selling company) and Office Depot (an office supply company) are in Venlo too. In 2017, the online shop vidaXL also moved its main office and warehouse to Venlo.

Greenport Venlo is one of the five special "Greenports" in the Netherlands. It is the second largest area for horticulture (growing plants and flowers) in the country. If you include the nearby German region of Niederrhein, Greenport Venlo becomes the largest in Europe. This area is a unique network of businesses, researchers, universities, and politicians. They work together to encourage new ideas, create good places to live and work, and develop the region. This network helps the "green market," which includes food, fresh produce, and logistics. The goal is to boost the economy of the North Limburg region.

Venlo's International Connections

Venlo is twinned with several cities around the world. This means they have special friendly relationships and often share culture and ideas.

Famous People from Venlo

Geert Wilders, a politician

Hubert Goltzius, a painter

Chriet Titulaer, an astronomer

Carla Beurskens, a long-distance runner

Rick Hoogendorp, a football player

Many notable people have come from Venlo or the surrounding area. Here are a few:

People in Public Life

• Gertruid Bolwater (died 1511) was a legendary hero from Dutch folklore. She was known as the Defender of Venlo.
• Willem Hubert Nolens (1860–1931) was a politician and a Roman Catholic priest.
• Charles van Rooy (1912–1996) was a politician and served as the Mayor of Venlo from 1952 to 1957.
• Geert Wilders (born 1963) is a well-known politician. He has been a member of parliament since 1998 and leads the PVV.

Artists and Performers

• Hubert Goltzius (1526–1583) was a Renaissance painter, engraver, and printer.
• André van den Heuvel (1927–2016) was an actor.
• Paul Cox (1940–2016) was a Dutch-Australian filmmaker and director.
• Huub Stapel (born 1954) is an actor.
• Chantal Janzen (born 1979) is an actress, singer, and TV presenter.
• Boris Titulaer (born 1980) is a soul singer-songwriter. He won the Dutch talent show Idols.
• Lotte Verbeek (born 1982) is an actress, model, and dancer.

Scientists and Business Leaders

• Cor Herkströter (born 1937) used to be the chairman of Royal Dutch Shell and the ING Group.
• Chriet Titulaer (1943–2017) was an astronomer and a popular TV personality.
• Jo van Nunen (1945–2010) was an engineer and a professor who taught about logistics.

Sports Figures

• Bart Carlier (1929–2017) was a football player.
• Jan Klaassens (1931–1983) was a football player who played many games for his club and the national team.
• Carla Beurskens (born 1952) is a famous long-distance runner.
• Jos Luhukay (born 1963) is a football coach and former player.
• Rick Hoogendorp (born 1975) is a former football striker.
• Angela Steenbakkers (born 1994) is a handball player for the Dutch national team.

See also

In Spanish: Venlo para niños