Arnhem

Arnhem grew up not on the Rhine but slightly higher, beside the Sint-Jansbeek stream, where the road between Nijmegen, Utrecht and Zutphen split; it was first mentioned in 893, and only a change in the river's course in 1530 brought the town to the water. Count Otto II of Guelders granted it city rights and fortified it in 1233, and it joined the Hanseatic League in 1443. Burgundy, the dukes of Guelders and Charles V fought over it until it joined the Union of Utrecht in 1579, and Dutch and English troops took it from Spanish forces in 1585.

The French occupied Arnhem in 1672–74 and again from 1795 to 1813. In the 19th century the town grew strongly and spread into the hills; of its medieval walls only the Sabelspoort survives. It became a genteel resort known as the "Little Hague of the East", favoured by wealthy former planters and sugar barons from the Indies, and it is still known for its parks.

On 17 September 1944 British airborne troops landed west of the city in Operation Market Garden to seize the Rhine bridges, with Polish paratroopers following. Only a force under Lieutenant Colonel John Frost reached the road bridge, holding the north end until it was overwhelmed on 21 September; the remaining forces withdrew on 26 September. The Germans then forcibly evacuated the population, and the city was liberated in April 1945. Rebuilding lasted until 1969. Arnhem hosted the 1980 Summer Paralympics, and in March 2025 a major fire destroyed some 25 historic buildings in the old centre.

The battle shapes Arnhem's place in the world's memory. It was dramatised in the 1946 film Theirs is the Glory and in A Bridge Too Far in 1977 — whose bridge scenes were shot in Deventer, since Arnhem had changed too much — and the rebuilt bridge was renamed after John Frost. Each September, from the 17th to the 26th, the Airborne commemorations in Arnhem and Oosterbeek bring walks and services.

The city is also a centre for art and design. ArtEZ Institute of the Arts trains designers and artists, the Modekwartier in Klarendal grew out of that fashion scene, and Park Sonsbeek has hosted the Sonsbeek sculpture exhibitions since 1949. The dance company Introdans is based here and is part of the national cultural infrastructure. Summer brings free Sunday performances in Sonsbeek, the Sonsbeek Theater Avenue and Hoogte 80 theatre festivals, and the World Statues Festival of living statues.

Sport matters too. Vitesse play at the GelreDome, a stadium with a sliding pitch built for Euro 2000, and won the national cup in 2016–17, while Papendal, the national Olympic training centre in the Veluwe woods outside the city, is the home base of the national Olympic committee. The local dialect is called Ernems.

About 172,000 people lived in the municipality in January 2026, around 80,000 of them south of the Rhine in Arnhem-Zuid. In 2024 just over a third of residents had at least one parent or grandparent born abroad. As the provincial capital, Arnhem is home to the Gelderland government, the Hogeschool van Arnhem en Nijmegen and ArtEZ, and the KEMA tower, a 140-metre television mast, is its tallest structure.

The city's districts differ sharply. The Burgemeesterswijk, the Spijkerkwartier and newer Schuytgraaf have long been the better-off areas, while Klarendal, Presikhaaf and Malburgen housed people on lower incomes. Klarendal saw a local uprising against drug nuisance in 1989; since then it has been renewed and partly gentrified, and is now socially mixed. The German border is only about 15 kilometres away, and some people who work in Arnhem live in villages just over it in Germany.

Getting around is shaped by the trolleybuses, unique in the Netherlands, and by cycle highways such as the 17-kilometre RijnWaalpad to Nijmegen.

Arnhem's own speciality is the Arnhemse meisje, "Arnhem girl", a local biscuit sold in its bakeries, and stroopwafels are sold by many shops and stalls in the centre. Otherwise the city eats in the national way: bread with cheese at lunchtime, bitterballen and kroketten from snack bars, and in winter stamppot — mashed potato beaten with kale, sauerkraut or endive — with Gelderse rookworst, the smoked sausage of the province, and thick pea soup.

Eating out centres on the old town. The Korenmarkt, the former corn market, and the Varkensstraat are lined with grand cafés and big terraces, and the Rijnkade along the river sets out tables in summer. Restaurants also cluster around the Markt and the Eusebius church, and in the Modekwartier cafés and a small brewery sit among the boutiques.

Beer is a strong suit. In the old post office a bar lets drinkers pour their own from more than a hundred beers, and at least one brown bar serves Grolsch — brewed in Enschede, in the east of the country — in swing-top bottles alongside craft beers. The Open Air Museum demonstrates traditional beer brewing among its old workshops.