"Venlo" a Venlo Travel Page by OlafS

Venlo's history started in Roman times, when it was a centre of trade, the importance of which grew in the Carolingian period. In 1343 the place was chartered by the duke of Gelre, to which the town belonged for the next few centuries. In 1481 Venlo joined the Hanseatic League. In the 16th and 17th century the town was of strategic importance. Occassionally both Spain and the Republic were forced to leave the town to their opponents. In 1715 Venlo became part of the Republic permanently. Until 1867 the town remained a fortress. In the final months of World War Two the old centre was largely destroyed. Soon after the war reconstruction and restoration began. Today Venlo is the most important city of the northern part of Limburg.

It was a beautiful day in December 2002. The sun was shining, the sky was blue and as I had been so bored the day before I decided to go to Venlo to make some missing pictures for my website. Unfortunately it was also an extremely cold day. As it was a Monday most shops didn't open until the afternoon, and the streets were mostly empty. Perhaps for the better; I've heard that on warmer days the city is crowded with Germans who come to shop for bargains (bargains? In The Netherlands?) and buy some crappy "Holland" souvenirs. But the lack of people must also have added to the cold feel of the place. Empty streets often are windy streets.
I had to wear gloves all day, even when I wanted to take pictures, and that wasn't easy. Whenever I tried to clean the lense of my camera my handkerchief almost froze to it. As I had never been in Venlo before I occassionally had to check a map to find my way. Not easy wearing gloves! Eventually, after I had made the most needed pictures, I went back to the station, abandoning my plan to see one or two places in the neighbourhood as well. Perhaps I will return one day. It's not a spectacular place, but it has some very nice spots. It's nice to see that rebuilding after the war was mostly done in good taste. Nijmegen could have been like this, for instance. There even was some quality modern architecture, but of course I didn't think about making pictures of that until I was back home again.