鹿特丹（Rotterdam）
- Maximus Nostramabus
- 1天前
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已更新：4小时前
港口城市、风车、嘉年华和一现场建筑实验 - 金德代克-埃尔斯豪特的风车 818；范内勒工厂1441；磨坊主操作风车和水车的技艺 01265；鹿特丹夏季狂欢节 01870
什么和为什么
鹿特丹（荷兰语：Rotterdam）这座港口城市，从各个方面来说，都与欧洲截然不同。我最近结束邮轮之旅抵达鹿特丹，踏入这座城市的第一反应就是“哇，真是太夸张了！”。与大多数欧洲城市不同，即使是那些金融中心，也往往拥有中世纪或古老的核心区域，而鹿特丹却以其现代化的天际线脱颖而出：这座城市林立着各种现代建筑，而这些建筑风格我通常只会在迪拜（阿拉伯语：دبي）、新加坡（马来语：Singapura）或上海这样的人造城市中看到。事实上，我可以毫不夸张地说，鹿特丹是欧洲最具建筑特色和创新精神的城市之一，现代性与海洋遗产在这里完美融合。原来，在二战期间，鹿特丹曾遭受过类似勒阿弗尔（Le Havre）的“鹿特丹轰炸（Bombardement op Rotterdam）”，几乎被夷为平地。具有讽刺意味的是，这场破坏反而使这座城市得以重塑自我，成为现代建筑和城市规划的实验室，并完全专注于创新和实验。
在更广阔的背景下，这座城市通过其拥有的两处世遗—金德代克（Kinderdijk）风车和范内勒工厂（Van Nelle Fabriek）—将历史文化遗产与新颖创新融为一体。前者代表了荷兰（Nederland）的象征及其百年历史的水力技术，而后者则体现了工业现代主义（英语：modernism）及其开创性的建筑风格。
地名
鹿特丹这个名字源于罗特（Rotte）河，这座城市就发源于此。“dam”一词在荷兰语中的含义与英语完全相同。罗特河以前被称为“Rotta”，其中“rotte”意为“泥泞的”，而“aa”在荷兰语中意为“水”。因此，严格来说，“鹿特丹”的意思就是“泥水坝”。这座水坝实际上建于十三世纪，随着时间推移，这座城市发展成为世界上最大的港口之一。
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金德代克风车（Kinderdijkse molens）
众所周知，荷兰以其风车而闻名。在荷兰众多的风车中，金德代克风车无疑是最具标志性和最负盛名的。
金德代克在荷兰语中意为“儿童堤坝”，位于莫伦兰登（Molenlanden），这个地名本身就意味着“磨坊之地”，距离鹿特丹以东约十五公里。这十九座风车主要建于十八世纪中期，是当时一套复杂的水利系统的一部分，旨在防止圩田（一种通常被水坝或堤坝围起来的低洼土地）遭受洪水侵袭。众所周知，荷兰大部分土地低于海平面，因此需要不断创新水利和防洪技术，以确保土地能够继续耕作。在莱克河的汇合处金德代克，风车的设计初衷是为了将圩田中多余的水抽到地势更高的运河中，最终排入河流，而不是用来磨谷物或小麦。
到了十九世纪末，随着蒸汽机的出现，以及二十世纪初电气化的普及，这些风车逐渐被水泵取代，但它们一直使用到二战时期。二战期间，能源严重短缺，这些风车得以继续运转，直至战争结束。战后，它们全部退役，并被改造成旅游景点。
这些风车也是居民的住所，事实上，其中一些至今仍有人居住，游客可以爬进风车内部参观。这些家庭不仅居住在那里，还负责维护风车的正常运转。在十九座风车中，有两座对外开放参观。由于闭馆，我们这次未能入内，但从各种展品来看，风车居民的住所似乎相当宽敞！
原来住在磨坊里的这家人是真正的磨坊主，我们也得以了解一些磨坊主的生活。在荷兰，如今只剩下大约40位专业的磨坊主，他们懂得如何按照传统操作和维护风车。荷兰自然致力于保护这项传统，并成立了一个行会来传承这项技艺、知识和传统。
从技术层面来说，磨坊主的技艺是一门古老的工程职业，它融合了工程学、气象学、木工等多方面的知识。对风车及其运行的研究被称为磨坊学（molinologie）。
与水流相对稳定的水车不同，风向多变、随机且具有潜在危险性。因此，风车主像传统水手一样时刻保持警惕，不断寻找最佳风力。金德代克的风车顶部有一个中央旋转盖，可以改变风车叶片的方向。同样，就像水手一样，磨坊主必须根据风力大小来调整风车叶片上的风帆面积，以更好地利用风力；遇到暴风雨时，还要及时刹车。
众所周知，风车不仅用于磨面，还用于防洪。在金德吉克，这些技艺精湛的磨坊主兼任水利工程师，他们控制着水闸，在洪水期间疏导过多的水流，或在干旱时期将微弱的水流汇入水库。
另一方面，磨坊主们则接受过专业的磨石工艺训练。磨石上刻有精细的微槽，以确保小麦被切开而不是被碾碎。他们时不时地用一种叫做磨锤的钢锤来打磨磨石，以保持其锋利。久而久之，老磨坊主的手臂或房屋上常常会留下蓝色的颜料痕迹。这些是永久性的“纹身”或污渍，是由轧钢机上飞溅的细小钢片嵌入皮肤或血管壁造成的。
磨坊主的另一项精湛技艺在于磨盘的设计和操作。磨盘必须足够近才能磨碎谷物，但又不能太近。通常，磨出的谷物厚度只有一张纸那么厚！如果磨盘太近，就会产生火花，烧焦面粉，甚至引发粉尘爆炸，这在粉尘弥漫的磨坊中是常见的重大火灾隐患。传统的磨坊主会用手指触摸谷物的温度和质地，以此来判断磨盘是否处于良好的工作状态。
然而，历史上，磨坊主既受人尊敬，又令人怀疑。虽然他们显然是当地的主要技术人员和工程师，但他们常常会收取部分谷物作为报酬，有时甚至被指控偷窃谷物。他们也被视为某种意义上的“收税员”，并经常被指责狡猾奸诈。
同样有趣的是，荷兰的风车磨坊主们发展出了一套独特的象征语言，他们利用风车进行交流。例如，如果刀片停在最高点之前，象征着新生；如果停在最高点之后，则象征着哀悼。如果刀片排列成完美的十字形，像一个加号“+”，则表示磨坊主正在休息。
这片区域的名字值得一提。1421年11月18日夜，一场巨大的风暴冲破了堤坝，引发了荷兰历史上最严重的洪水之一—圣伊丽莎白洪水（Sint-Elisabethsvloed），造成超过五千人丧生。一个著名的民间传说与这场洪水有关，也正是这个故事赋予了这片区域名字。据说，洪水过后，人们看到一个摇篮顺着堤坝漂流，里面有一个啼哭的婴儿。一只猫在摇晃的摇篮里来回跳跃，保持摇篮不倾覆，从而不仅保住了婴儿的生命，还让他感到舒适干燥。这个婴儿被收养，取名为 Beatrix de Rijke。这个故事被铭刻在金德代克的一座雕塑中，如下图所示。
很多人问我，为什么老式风车有四个或更多叶片，而现代风力涡轮机只有三个。风车使用四个或更多叶片是为了最大限度地提高研磨或抽水时的扭矩。它们的设计也基于轴对称性，因此老式风车通常有偶数个叶片。然而，叶片越多，阻力也越大，因此叶片越多，效率就越低。现代风力涡轮机采用空气动力学设计更优的三叶片，并且由于对流体力学和动力系统（英语：dynamical systems）的更深入理解，即使叶片数量较少也能获得良好的功率输出。三叶片也使得系统不稳定，从而导致不平衡，因此即使在非常微弱的风扰动下，它们也更容易转动。
范内勒工厂（Van Nelle Fabriek）
老城区的影子—金德代克（Kinderdijk）位于鹿特丹东端，现代鹿特丹建筑的代表—范内尔工厂（Van Nelle Factory）却位于城市西端。
这座工厂建于1925年至1931年间，被公认为世界上最重要的早期现代主义工业建筑之一。它由建筑师 Johannes Brinkman 和 Leendert van der Vlugt 为范内尔公司设计，常被认为是功能性原则（英语：functionalism）与国际风格融合的典范。事实上，当我第一次来到这里时，我甚至都没意识到眼前就是一座工厂，因为它看起来更像是一座现代商业建筑或酒店，而不是一座工厂。
这座工厂与欧洲典型的阴暗狭窄的工业空间形成了鲜明的对比。它的设计充分考虑了人性化因素。例如，工厂通过提供大量的开放空间，让自然光和空气充分洒满工作区域，从而革新了工厂建筑的设计理念。在设计阶段，功能性优先于美观性，再次强调空气、光线和空间才是主要材料，而非混凝土。建筑立面特意涂成白色，光亮如镜，并设有大量大窗户，营造出开放乐观的氛围。这座工厂的建筑风格树立了标杆，定义了被称为“新建筑（Nieuwe Bouwen）”的荷兰建筑风格。
这家工厂曾用于加工咖啡、茶叶、烟草，后来也加工口香糖，但它的意义远不止于此。这些元素与当时的进步理念不谋而合，即在保持工业生产力和效率的同时，兼顾现代化的理念、员工的福祉和幸福感。著名建筑师勒・柯布西耶（Le Corbusier，本名 Charles Jeanneret-Gris （法语））参观后，称赞这座工厂是“现代主义时期最美的景观”。它也常被誉为世界上最美的工厂。这让我想起了勒・柯布西耶本人设计的位于普瓦西（Poissy）的萨伏伊别墅（Villa Savoye）。
目前，这座建筑已被改造成创意和商业中心，多家公司入驻其中，组成联合办公空间。工厂也可用于举办会议、展览和活动。由于是办公场所，虽然走廊里仍有足够的空间供人自由走动，但游客不能随意在走廊里闲逛。如需全面参观工厂，必须预约导览。
City Hall (Stadhuis)
The City Hall (Stadhuis) of Rotterdam is a classical building built in the early 20th century. Honestly it is a bit unassuming as it is in the smack of the city centre surrounded by other larger buildings, particularly because it does not have a piazza in front of it. The building is one of the rare buildings that survived the bombing during World War II.
Erasmusbrug
Nicknamed 'The Swan (De Zwaan)' as the single base-frame resembles a swan with its head and neck raised, Erasmusbrug has literally become the occasional icon of the city, reflecting the city's innovation in architecture. The bridge was a relatively recent addition to the city skyline when it was completed in 1996 to reduce the traffic load crossing the Nieuwe Maas. The bridge is obviously named after the most influential Dutch scholar, philosopher, educationalist, humanist and theologist Desiderius Erasmus.
Museumpark
The Museumpark is the cultural heart of Rotterdam, a beautifully designed urban space that connects several of the city’s most prestigious museums, reminding me of the Museum Island (German: Museumsinsel) of Berlin. Originally the private estate of the Van Hoboken family, it has been transformed into a museum area where art, architecture, and nature overlap. The park contains a number of world-class collection of institutions:
Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen: The centrepiece of the park which looks like a giant metal bowl, the museum is an art museum famous for its collection of more than 150,000 mediaeval and contemporary art. The bowl is actually only its storage facility with the real modest-looking museum sitting behind the bowl (as in the photograph) but honestly no one would notice. Even without entering, one has to admire the building itself, as the its bowl-shaped mirrored exterior reflects a stunning surrounding skyline and greenery. Apparently the building design was inspired by an IKEA aluminium bowl. The actual museum itself had been closed since 2019 for an ambitious renovation.
Natural History Museum Rotterdam (Natuurhistorisch Museum Rotterdam): Located in a historic villa, this museum is famous for its quirky exhibitions and its focus on urban wildlife.
New Institute (Nieuwe Instituut): The national museum for architecture, design, and digital culture: a must-visit for anyone interested in how was Rotterdam shaped.
Sonneveld House (Sonneveld Huis): A perfectly preserved modernist house from the early 20th century. The family museum showcases the Sonneveld family as a wealthy, forward-thinking family.
Kunsthal: An art space which does not own any permanent collection; instead it hosts otating exhibitions ranging rom photography and haute couture to contemporary art.
Chabot Museum: a museum in a modernist villa building dedicated to the Dutch painter and sculptor Hendrik Chabot.
We were only able to visit the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen due to our short time in the city.
Maritime Museum, The City Destroyed (Maritiem Museum, De Verwoeste Stad)
The Maritime Museum (Maritiem Museum) is a museum dedicated to the naval history and heritage of Netherlands. It also includes an open-air area with various historic vessels and machineries on display.
The focus of the museum is actually not the artefacts or exhibits but the public sculpture outside. The sculpture by the French-Russian sculptor Ossip Zadkine (né Осип Цадкин (Russian), Osip Tsadkin) entitled 'The City Destroyed (De Verwoeste Stad)' is classified as a national monument. It commemorates the Rotterdam Blitz by expressing the human pain and grief towards war brutality. The prominent empty body symbolises the annihilation of the city centre.
Cube houses (Kubuswoningen)
As mentioned Rotterdam is a living architectural atelier and there are plenty of quirky or unusual buildings around the city. Amongst them the prime example is the Cube houses (Kubuswoningen) which was designed with a tilted cube standing on its corner and resting upon a hexagon-shaped pylon. While looking awkward outside, the interior is actually surprisingly regular.
Markthal
Opened in 2014, the Markthal, another example of spectacular architecture, is a horseshoe-shaped residential and commercial complex featuring a massive indoor food market where I had our lunch. Located at Blaak, it features over a hundred fresh food stalls, restaurants, and shops, along with a stunning, large-scale ceiling artwork of farm food called the 'Horn of Plenty (Hoorn des Overvloeds)'. The building is now regarded as the main meeting point of Rotterdamers.
Nieuwerkerk aan den IJssel
Slightly afield Northeast of Rotterdam lies the town Nieuwerkerk aan den IJssel ('IJ' is a ligature letter in Dutch). The town itself is uninteresting, but geographically it is rather significant. As we all know, much of Netherlands is low-lying and below sea-level. The small polder town, now roped under Zuidplas, is technically the lowest point of the country at -6.76 m. There is a huge ruler there in the city park to mark this particular location.
However compared to the world's deepest site, the shore of the Dead Sea (Arabic: اَلْبَحْر الْمَيْت, Al-Baḥr Al-Mayt) at -439.78 m, this is perhaps still considered relatively shallow. Just fun trivia for geeks like me.
Experience, Buy and Do
Summer Carnival (Zomercarnaval)
During our walk around the City Hall, we were shown the exhibition display of its Summer Carnival (Zomercarnaval). I have to admit I had absolutely no knowledge of this carnival. The only international one that I know is the Carnival in Rio de Janeiro (Portuguese: Carnaval do Rio de Janeiro). The Summer Carnival of Rotterdam is the largest of its scale in the Northern Hemisphere and is an ICH and to feel the core of it, the City Hall area is the ideal location as it is located in the main artery of the carnival proceedings.
Traditionally, the carnival in Netherlands fell at the end of winter, but the cold climate made the event unsuitable and unpopular to the many Caribbean and Latin American immigrants. In 1982, the first edition of the Summer Carnival was organised in Utrecht, primarily for the immigrants. It had then moved to Rotterdam because of its wide boulevard that favours street parade and it had gather so much momentum since that it is now attracted more than 1 million participants annually.
Amongst the many events like parades and markets during the week-long event, the highlight of it takes place a week before official start when the 'Queen' is elected. The Queen is the ambassador the Carnival for the year. The other major event is the Battle of Drums, which several brass bands compete to be named the official Zomercarnaval brass band and earn a leading spot in the street parade procession.
Although the carnival comes with an Afro-American and Caribbean backdrop, this is now a genuinely international festival with participants from every ethnic group in the country. This is also proudly viewed as a symbol and celebration of multi-ethnicity, diversity, inclusivity and harmony of Netherlands. Planning to come during summer to witness it first hand.
Eat and Drink
Gouda Cheese (Goudse kaas)
Gouda (pronounced /ˈɣʌudaː/) is one of the many traditional cheese of Southern Netherlands, as a matter of fact the namesake town Gouda is just 30 minute drive Northeast of Rotterdam. Interestingly, the cheese is not named after where it is made, but where it was historically traded only. In the Middle Ages, Gouda was one of the few Dutch cities granted with the staple right to trade cheese and that was how the cheese was standardised and named after.
What makes Gouda different from mainstream cheese is its washing process. During Gouda production, after the milk has curdled, some of the whey is drained and replaced with warm water. This washes away some of the lactose, and hence less lactic acid is available during ageing. This makes Gouda milder and sweeter than other aged cheeses.
One hallmark for good aged Gouda is the fine white specks found inside the cheese. These are not moulds or salts, they are tyrosine crystals, bits of crystallised protein developed during prolonged ageing.
I was told that locals eat their Gouda with mustard and a sprinkle of salt, I never tried it that way though. Most pair it with beer or port wine (Portuguese: vinho do Porto). Markthal is a convenient place to get cheeses. Enjoy!
Stay
We came from the cruise ship MSC Poesia, with the cruise port terminal right in front of the Eramsusbrug. The cruise terminal is roughly 1 km walk from the city centre. The terminal can be very busy at times, after all the port of Rotterdam was the world's busiest port until 2004, but is now the 11th in the world in the latest ranking list.
Travel Suggestions and Logistics
To reach Kinderdijk, the best way is the take the Waterbus from Erasmusbrug and this will lead you directly to the entrance of the site, whilst enjoying the river sceneries during the journey. When we visited Rotterdam, the Kinderdijk museum was closed (it closes between November to February), but the site is an open-air museum so one can still visit the place withoutbarrier. During the time of museum closure, the Waterbus will not be serving Kinderdijk, and hence we took a Uber, which is just a 15-minute ride.
All the other sites in this blog is within the urban precinct which is easily accessible by trams or metro, or maybe as local by bicycle. I would have hoped that we could have spend at least three days in the city.
UNESCO Inscriptions
The outstanding contribution made by the people of the Netherlands to the technology of handling water is admirably demonstrated by the installations in the Kinderdijk-Elshout area. Construction of hydraulic works for the drainage of land for agriculture and settlement began in the Middle Ages and have continued uninterruptedly to the present day. The site illustrates all the typical features associated with this technology – dykes, reservoirs, pumping stations, administrative buildings and a series of beautifully preserved windmills.
Van Nellefabriek was designed and built in the 1920s on the banks of a canal in the Spaanse Polder industrial zone north-west of Rotterdam. The site is one of the icons of 20th-century industrial architecture, comprising a complex of factories, with façades consisting essentially of steel and glass, making large-scale use of the curtain wall principle. It was conceived as an ‘ideal factory’, open to the outside world, whose interior working spaces evolved according to need, and in which daylight was used to provide pleasant working conditions. It embodies the new kind of factory that became a symbol of the modernist and functionalist culture of the inter-war period and bears witness to the long commercial and industrial history of the Netherlands in the field of importation and processing of food products from tropical countries, and their industrial processing for marketing in Europe.
The craft of the miller operating windmills and watermills involves the knowledge and skills necessary to operate a mill and maintain it in a good state of repair. With a declining number of people earning their livelihood from the craft, millers today also play a key role in transmitting the cultural history of the practice. There are currently approximately forty professional millers; together with volunteers, they keep the miller’s craft alive. The Guild of Volunteer Millers has around 105 instructors in the field, and 11 Master Millers are now active in the Netherlands. Mills, and therefore the miller’s craft, play a significant social and cultural role in Dutch society and have an iconic value, contributing to a sense of identity and continuity. Various safeguarding activities are undertaken, including training, support and capacity building, educational activities in schools and traineeships. Traditionally, the miller’s craft was transmitted from master to apprentice but since the establishment of the Guild of Volunteer Millers in 1972, almost 2000 volunteers have obtained a miller’s qualification; anyone interested in the craft can apply for training. The Guild offers millers support in keeping their knowledge up-to-date, for example through excursions to mills, evening theory classes, conferences and meetings.
The Rotterdam Summer Carnival is a multicultural celebration that unites participants from the Caribbean and European Netherlands, as well as ethnic minority groups from Central and South America and Africa living in the Netherlands. The event includes a street parade, a brass band competition and a festival market featuring Caribbean food. The practice is transmitted informally through participation in the carnival and preparations. Carnival groups come together to prepare floats, music and decorations based on a specific theme. The preparations take place at the home of a group leader or in a community centre, and the music and dance styles chosen are closely connected to the countries of origin of the participants. The floats and costumes are constructed in a large, shared space, allowing the groups to exchange and transmit knowledge and skills related to welding, carpentry, design, and recycling materials. Several workshops, such as on how to become a carnival queen, organize a carnival group and raise funds for the event, also exist. The Rotterdam Summer Carnival is tied to people’s cultural roots and their emancipation, bolstering individuality, expression and self-worth. By uniting groups of different backgrounds, it also fosters acceptance of and respect for diverse cultural traditions, promoting dialogue and social cohesion.
References
Comments
Please share your thoughts and comments about the blog. If you need suggestions to build a travel itinerary, please let me know. More than willing to help. I would also like to build a bespoke-in-depth travel community around UNESCO WHS and ICH.
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