Mug Shot — «Arnhem - John Frost Bridge»

From Arnhem, Netherlands

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Mug Details #4051

Starbucks City Mug Arnhem - John Frost Bridge
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Arnhem is a city and municipality, situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland and located on both banks of the river Nederrijn as well as on the Sint-Jansbeek, which was the source of the city's development. Arnhem has more than 150,000 residents as one of the larger cities of the Netherlands. The municipality is part of the city region Arnhem-Nijmegen, a metropolitan area. Arnhem was first mentioned as such in 893 as Arneym or Arentheym. Traces of human residence date back much further, however. The earliest settlement in Arnhem dates from 1500 BC, where traces have been found on the Hoogkamp, where the Van Goyenstraat is currently located. In the inner city, around the Sint-Jansbeek, traces of settlement have been found from around 700 BC, while the first traces south of the Rhine have been found dating around 500 BC, in the Schuytgraaf. The city of Arnhem had its real origins in 1233. As capital of the so-called "Kwartier van Veluwe" it joined the Union of Utrecht in 1579 and became part of the Republic of the Seven United Provinces of the Netherlands in 1585. The French occupied the town 1672–74; from 1795 to 1813, it was reoccupied by the French, by both revolutionary and imperial forces. In the early 19th century, the former fortifications were almost completely dismantled, to give space for town expansion. The Sabelspoort is the only remaining part of the medieval walls. In the 19th century, Arnhem was a genteel resort town famous for its picturesque beauty. It was known as "The Little Hague of the East", mainly because a number of rich former sugar barons or planters from the Indies settled there, as they did in The Hague. Even now the city is famous for its parks and greenery. The urbanization in the north on hilly terrain is also quite unusual for the Netherlands.

John Frost Bridge - in World War II, during Operation Market Garden (September 1944), the British 1st Airborne Division and the Polish 1st Independent Parachute Brigade were given the task of securing the bridge at Arnhem. The units were parachuted and glider-landed into the area on 17 September and later. The bulk of the force was dropped rather far from the bridge and never met their objective. A small force of British 1st Airborne managed to make their way as far as the bridge but was unable to secure both sides. The Allied troops encountered stiff resistance from the German 9th and 10th SS Panzer divisions, which had been stationed in and around the city. The British force at the bridge eventually ran out of ammunition and were captured on 21 September, and a full withdrawal of the remaining forces was made on 26 September. These events were dramatized in the 1977 movie A Bridge Too Far. As a tribute, the rebuilt bridge was renamed 'John Frost-bridge' after the commander of the paratroopers. The official commemoration is 17 September. The current bridge is the third almost-identical bridge built at the same spot. The Dutch Army destroyed the first bridge when the Germans invaded the Netherlands in 1940. The second bridge was destroyed by the US Army Air Forces shortly after the 1944 battle. A second battle of Arnhem took place in April 1945 when the city was liberated by the British 49th (West Riding) Infantry Division of the First Canadian Army. Just outside of Arnhem, in the town of Oosterbeek the Commonwealth War Graves Commission built the Arnhem Oosterbeek War Cemetery which contains the graves of most of those killed during the September landings, and many of those killed in later fighting in the area.

photo by lucky robles
edited by mobydick74

  Netherlands, Arnhem, MIT, MIC, MIC/MIT

Karma: 14 Added by argicgr 23 Comments

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