Every design for Wageningen

Wageningen sits on the north bank of the Nederrijn, the Dutch stretch of the Lower Rhine, where the Wageningse Berg rises as the south-western hill of the Veluwe above the Gelderse Vallei. It is famous for Wageningen University, which specialises in the life sciences and brings in many thousands of students from more than a hundred and fifty countries. It is famous, too, for one moment in history: in the Hotel de Wereld, German and Canadian generals negotiated the surrender that officially ended the war in the Netherlands.

On Liberation Day the whole town seems to hold its breath and then celebrate. Veterans parade through the streets, stages fill the squares and some hundred and twenty thousand visitors come for the music. On ordinary days the feeling is quieter: bikes outside lecture halls, the hill behind the old centre, and the remains of a castle whose tower foundations still show.

The Nationaal Bevrijdingsmonument Wageningen marks why this small city matters to the whole country, and that is a story worth carrying with you.