Enschede

Enschede began as a small settlement in the Middle Ages and was granted city rights in 1325. It grew as a regional centre for trade and agriculture before becoming a major hub of the textile industry in the 18th and 19th centuries. Until 1935, the municipality of Enschede consisted only of the city of Enschede, when the rural municipality of Lonneker, which surrounded the city, was annexed after the rapid industrial expansion of Enschede that began in the 1860s and involved the building of railways and the digging of the Twentekanaal.

Enschede is home to the football club FC Twente, a one-time Dutch champion; the University of Twente; Saxion University of Applied Sciences and the last Polaroid film factory.