In 2010, the Rotterdam Municipal Archives decided to work on a timetrip in 3D, showing the development of the city Centre of Rotterdam in 4 fases: about 1930, just after the bombing of May 1940, the rebuilding after the war ca 1950 and a model of the actual situation. Reason was the fact that Rotterdam misses a historical centre like cities as Amsterdam, Utrecht and Haarlem.

The work was tedious, because the centre of the city consists of over 8000 buildings in 1930 to round about 2000 in 1950. Furthermore the modelling tools and techniques changed over the years, soo we had to start over time and again.

In 2015, 75 years after the bombing raid, the Municipal ARCHIVES and other partners organised a large exhibition and we delivered our 1940 model for this occasion, so visitors could get an impression of what had happened in the city centre. The other models are still work in progress.

You can download the model here