Arnhem is a city in the east of the Netherlands, located on the Rhine and the capital of the Gelderland province. Arnhem had a 2000 population of 136,762, most of whom were Dutch.

The municipality also comprises the following towns, villages and townships: Elden, Malburgen, Schaarsbergen.

Arnhem has an electric trolleybus system, the only one in the country.

History

Arnhem, first mentioned in 893 as Arnoldi Villa had its real origins in 1233 when Otto II, count of Gelderland, conferred municipal rights on the town, which had belonged to the abbey of Prum, settled in and fortified it. At a later period Arnhem entered the Hanseatic League. In 1473 it was captured by Charles the Bold of Burgundy. In 1514 Charles Egmont, duke of Gelderland, took it from the Spaniards; in 1543 it fell to the emperor Charles V. It joined the Union of Utrecht 1579, and came finally under the effective government of the Estates-General in 1585. The French occupied the town 1672 - 1674 and dismantled its strong fortifications; Sabelspoort (Sabresgate) is the only remaining medieval gate. In 1795 - 1813 it was reoccupied by the French, this time Revolutionary and Imperial.

In the 19th century Arnhem was a genteel resort town famous for its picturesque beauty.

In World War II, during Operation Market Garden (September 1944), the British 1st Airborne Division and Polish 1st Parachute Brigade were given the task of securing the bridge at Arnhem. The units were parachuted into the area on September 17 and later. The bulk of the force was dropped rather far from the bridge and never met their objective. A small force 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 SS Panzer Division, which unbeknownst to the Allied commanders had been stationed in and around the city. The British force at the bridge eventually surrendered on September 21 and a full withdrawal of the remaining forces was made on September 26. Dramatised in A Bridge Too Far (http://en2.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Bridge_Too_Far).

The Groote Kerk (St Eusebius), built 1452 - 1560, lost its tower during World War II, which has been reconstucted to a modern design.

The palace of Maarten van Rossum, Duke Charles van Gelre's general 1545 has been the town hall since 1830: the satyrs in its Renaissance ornamentation ornamentation earned for it the name Duivelshuis ("devil's house").

Arnhem was the birthplace of physicist Hendrik Lorentz. Here the English poet Sir Philip Sydney died in 1586.

"Arnhem" is also a march composed by A.E. Kelly.