Foto: Gemeentearchief Rotterdam
The fire border marks the area where the German bombardment did its devastating work. Rotterdam city council decided in 2006 to permanently mark the fire border in the streetscape, as a place of remembrance and to help tell the city’s story. In doing so, it would make clear in one stroke why Rotterdam has a modern city centre.
In May 2010, the marking of the fire border was completed. The marking consists of lamps in the pavement that are illuminated at night. In it, burning Rotterdam can be seen, a German bomber and the sculpture The Destroyed City by French-Russian sculptor Ossip Zadkine (1890 – 1967).
In the oral history project, 54 eyewitnesses recount what they saw, what they heard, what they felt.
The German bombing of Rotterdam in 1940 completely wiped out Rotterdam’s city centre. What remains of the old city? An audio tour along the fire line gives an insight into Rotterdam life before and during the war.
LUISTERBOEK Langs de Brandgrens
ISBN 9789081060233