Alongside the Willems Bridge, the Erasmus Bridge is the second bridge over the Nieuwe Maas in the center of Rotterdam. It is named after the Dutch humanist Erasmus. The bridge connects the Kop van Zuid district with the city center on the north side of the river. Queen Beatrix performed the official opening of the new river crossing between Rotterdam North and South on September 4, 1996. In 2021, the bridge celebrated its 25th anniversary. In this blog, you will find everything about the history of the bridge and how the Erasmus Bridge is used as part of Rotterdam as a festival city and sports city.

Design and build

The Kop van Zuid was originally used as a port area. With the shift of the Port of Rotterdam to the west, this area was redeveloped in the late 1980s based on a plan by Riek Bakker and Teun Koolhaas. An important part of this plan was a new bridge ('Nieuwe Maasbrug') intended to connect the Kop van Zuid to the city center. Teun Koolhaas's designs already featured a bridge with a single pylon. 

Ultimately, the municipal council could choose from three designs for the bridge by Messrs. Struijs, Quist, and van Berkel. This fact caused friction among them, which also ended up in the press. Struijs argued that the van Berkel design resembled the Alamillo Bridge in Seville by architect Santiago Calatrava too closely. The Erasmus Bridge was designed by Ben van Berkel and was completed in 1996. The Erasmus Bridge is 34 meters high (seven elephants stacked on top of each other) and also 34 meters wide, and 808 meters long, of which 89 meters can be raised to allow larger ships to pass through. The bridge deck that opens and closes is called a bascule bridge. This bascule bridge is the largest and heaviest bascule bridge in Western Europe. 202 cars can stand one behind the other on the entire bridge. The Erasmus Bridge weighs a total of 6800 tons (1700 elephants). It is a cable-stayed bridge, which means it has a large steel pylon in the middle with strong metal wires (stays) attached to it. As a result, the road deck hangs from the pylon. The Erasmus Bridge has a 139-meter-high bent pylon, which is why the bridge is also called 'The Swan'.

Beautiful Netherlands

In 2005, PostNL released the long-running series Mooi Nederland. The series started in February 2015 with the sheet of Nijmegen; the second sheet was of the city of the Netherlands, and the third sheet was of Rotterdam. The Mooi Nederland series ended in May 2019.

In 1996, the 'Oeververbindingen' series was issued, consisting of three 80-cent stamps. The third stamp is the Erasmus Bridge.

European Capital of Culture 2001

Since 1985, a city has held the title of European Capital of Culture every year; since 2004, it has been two cities each year. It is determined in advance which two countries are next in line to nominate a city. A competition is usually held within a country. In 2001, it was the Netherlands' turn. Rotterdam was chosen as the European Capital of Culture. PTT Post chose the Erasmus Bridge as the design for the special stamp for the European Capital of Culture, Rotterdam. In his policy plan, Rotterdam Alderman Kombrink also mentioned Ben van Berkel's bridge: 'The new Erasmus Bridge will be in place by then, the Kop van Zuid will have reached its initial stage of development; elements that can give the events new impulses and strength'. Besides Rotterdam, Porto was also the European Capital of Culture in 2001. Portugal issued a sheet of six stamps to commemorate the year. The bridge also featured prominently in the field margin and FDC.

Tour de France

On Saturday, July 3, 2010, the Erasmus Bridge was part of the route of the prologue of the Tour de France 2010The following day, Sunday, July 4, the official start of the first stage of the Tour was given on the Erasmus Bridge. For the 102nd edition of the Tour de France 2015 The prologue started on July 4 in Utrecht. PostNL has issued a set consisting of a sheet with three stamps and three picture postcards. These depict the first two stages of the cycling race: the 'Grand Départ' at the Dom Tower in Utrecht, the intermediate sprint on Sunday at the Erasmus Bridge in Rotterdam, and the finish across the Oosterscheldekering towards Delta Park Neeltje Jans.

Rotterdam Marathon

Events such as the Red Bull Air Race (in 2005 and 2008) and the World Port Days take place around the bridge. The bridge has also been part of the marathon course since 1996.

Fireworks show