A Dutch National Monument or Rijksmonument is a designation for buildings and structures of special importance in the Netherlands. Lately, one of the six hundred nineteen such buildings in Rotterdam has been the centre of controversy. The Koningshaven Bridge, or De Hef as most locals call it, has been caught up between a rock and a hard place. Specifically, between a massive $637M superyacht and Jeff Bezos. The 46-metre-tall structure stands between the open sea and Oceanco’s shipyard in Alblasserdam. The problem can be traced back to the tip of the yacht’s massive masts which exceeds the height of the bridge and the inevitable physical properties of solid materials that prevent the union of boat and billionaire in the current state of things. Naturally, unless someone invents a way to phase through steel, the boat or the bridge will have to lose the staring contest when it comes to it. This led speculators to guess that the bridge would have to be partially dismantled in order to make way for Bezos’ vessel. When reports of this started floating around and Rotterdammers caught word of it, is when the controversy started.
Six hundred and nineteen may seem like a lot of National Monuments for just a city but make no mistake, Rotterdam has a surprisingly low number of them if you consider its size. For comparison, Leiden has a thousand two hundred and forty-two of them while being five times smaller than Rotterdam in terms of population. Den Haag has a thousand hundred and sixty-three and Amsterdam holds more than seven thousand monuments in the national register. If you know the basics of Rotterdam's recent history, you may get an idea of why this is the case. Most of these monuments consist of old historical houses and other buildings which can be found by the thousands in cities like Leiden or Amsterdam but are hard to come by in Rotterdam since the second World War. Couple this with the fact that it’s much harder for modern buildings to gain the National Monument status and you may now start to understand why the people of Rotterdam may not be willing to compromise its integrity lightly. De Hef as we know it now opened in 1927 and was the first bridge of its kind in Western Europe. After being decommissioned in 1993 it underwent renovations from 2014 to 2017 after Rotterdammers vehemently opposed its demolition. Since then, its mobile part has been sitting at the top of the bridge, allowing for boats to pass through with no incidents.
Back to the present, the bridge is under the spotlight again. Even though there has still not been any formal application for the removal of the top of De Hef, it seems only a matter of time if no alternative is found by the ship makers. The story, however, has already struck a chord with the local activists who have organised an egg-throwing event to the superyacht whenever it happens to be released into the wild. This event can be found on Facebook and the date is set for June 1st although this is probably just provisional as the process has not even started as of now. Fears of this group involve that this process becomes normalised and dismantling the bridge becomes a normal occurrence.
It is important to note that not all Rotterdammers have reacted this way, with many seeing it as just a normal transaction where everyone gains something. Mr Bezos or Oceanco’s will pay the amount that the municipality requires them to, jobs will be created by the work on the bridge and the city will be richer for it. In the end, the bridge will be re-assembled, and life will go on as it did before.
In these two groups, we see the duality of Rotterdam at its best. On one hand, Rotterdam is a culturally rich city, proud of its history marked by the reconstruction in the 20th century. A centre for creativity and art. On the other side, Rotterdam is the most important international commerce hub of Europe, a city that has shown economic resilience and prowess. It is hard to argue that the former could exist without the latter or vice versa.
So, take your pitchforks and protest the excess and lavish lifestyle of the super-rich as they force their way through important historical monuments, or acknowledge and take advantage of the economic benefits that investments, jobs and capital can bring to your city. Whatever you choose, history is on your side.