Wageningen (Dutch pronunciation:[ˈʋaːɣənɪŋə(n)]ⓘ) is a municipality and a historic city in the central Netherlands, in the province of Gelderland. It is famous for Wageningen University, which specialises in life sciences. The municipality had a population of 39,635 in 2021, of which many thousands are students from over 150 countries.
Demographics
Inhabitants by nationality
71,68% is Dutch, 28,32% has a migration background.
Geography
Wageningen is situated on the north bank of the Nederrijn (the Dutch portion of the Lower Rhine) part of the Gelderse Valley [fy; li; nds-nl; nl; zea] and the Veluwe, of which the southwest hill is called the Wageningse Berg. Wageningen can be reached by car from highways A12 via the N781, A15 via the N233 and N225, and A50 via the N225, and from the Ede-Wageningen railway station via a 20-minute bus drive to the Wageningen central terminal (see below).[6],[7]
Topographic map of the municipality of Wageningen, July 2013 (click to enlarge)
The oldest known settlements in the Wageningen area were located north of today's town centre.[1] They were mentioned as early as 828. During the early Middle Ages a small church was built on the hill east of the town. Several wood farms have been found near the top of the hill. In the twelfth century people settled at what is currently the Bergstraat. Close to Hotel de Wereld a stone floor has been found dating back to this period. After the construction of a dike to protect the city from the acidic water from the moors that then occupied the Gelderse Vallei (the current Hoogstraat), the oldest part of the present city was built to the south. The parts of the city north of the Hoogstraat were built later. Wageningen received city rights in 1263.[1] The city was protected by a city wall and a moat, and in 1526 a castle was built. The castle was dismantled during the 18th century, but the foundations of three of the towers and part of the wall remain visible today.
The people, city, and institutions of Wageningen suffered greatly during World War II. The central part of Wageningen was destroyed by artillery fire soon after the German invasion of the country in May 1940. The town is also famous for its role at the end of the war: Wageningen was the site of the surrender of Oberbefehlshaber Niederlande supreme commander GeneraloberstJohannes Blaskowitz, to I Canadian Corps commander Lieutenant-GeneralCharles Foulkes, on 5 May 1945, officially ending the war in the Netherlands. The generals negotiated the terms of surrender in the Hotel de Wereld, near the center of the city.[1] Now, each year on 5 May, celebrated as Liberation Day in the Netherlands, Wageningen hosts a large festival. On this occasion, veteran soldiers parade through the city and are honoured for their service, and around 120,000 people[8] visit the pop-podia around the city.[9]
In 1918 the town acquired its first institution of higher education, the Landbouwhogeschool Nederland (Netherlands Agricultural College), which was based on the previous agricultural college founded in 1876, and which later became Wageningen University.[10] This initiated the development from a small historical town into a modern technological community, a process which still continues today.
Today, Wageningen is also the central city in Food Valley,[11] the Dutch food & nutrition cluster concentrated around WUR, and comprising many institutes, companies and facilities in the food & nutrition field. Food Valley is regarded as the largest food & nutrition Research & Development cluster in the world. One such firm, Keygene, a plant research company in Wageningen, developed AFLP in the early 1990s and collaborated with Beijing Genomics Institute to sequence the entire genome of Brassica napus.
The city is also home to the largest Korfball club in the country, KV Wageningen.
Traffic and transport
Wageningen is situated on the N225 provincial road, between Driebergen and Arnhem. The N781 provincial road connects Wageningen to the A12 national highway, to the north of the city. A small ferry (for cars, bikes, and pedestrians) crosses the Nederrijn to the south of the city, at Lexkesveer; from there, drivers can connect to the A15 national highway, via the N836 provincial road.
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