Double street map Rotterdam 1939/Now by Frans Blok - photos, art and other wall decoration

No city has changed so much over the last hundred years as Rotterdam. Already in the 1930's the city planners started making breakthroughs in the medieval center of the city. The German Luftwaffe did a more thorough job in 1940: in the bombing on the 14th of May, the old city was almost completely destroyed.

The Basic Plan for the Reconstruction by Cornelis van Traa laid the foundation for an entirely new city. The pre-war city was not rebuilt and the street plan was changed drastically, apart from a few important lines like Coolsingel, Goudsesingel and Binnenrotte. As a result, you can say that in Rotterdam there are in fact two cities, separated by time.

This double plan 1939/Now shows those two cities. The large blocks of modern Rotterdam are projected over the finely meshed pre-war town. Also the change in the watercourses is visible. The map also demonstrates how many old streetnames returned in the new city, although often on rather different locations.

The map includes the area within the fire limits of May 1940. Also the attachment points between the old and the new city are indicated the 19 buildings that not only survived the bombing but also the postwar demolition drive.