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About Dutch Echo

Dutch Echo is more than a magazine – it is a living archive of voices, visions, and experiences that connect Rotterdam to the wider world. Born from the restless energy of a city that has always looked outward, Dutch Echo blends local memory with global reflection.

At its heart lies Rotterdam: the port city shaped by workers, migrants, and dreamers. For fifty years, the children of the Rotterdammers met de pet – the last generation of the traditional working class – carried the rhythm of the docks, the football fields, and the street corners. Today, the worker as we once knew them has disappeared, replaced by automation and, increasingly, artificial intelligence. Dutch Echo preserves their stories, not as nostalgia, but as testimony to resilience, solidarity, and transformation.

We publish in English to reach both a global audience and the newcomers in Rotterdam who navigate their lives more easily in English than in Dutch. This choice reflects our mission: to make Rotterdam’s culture, history, and identity accessible to anyone who seeks to understand it, while also situating the city within the currents of world politics, economics, and art.

Dutch Echo also speaks to those abroad who dream of the Netherlands with hope – people who aspire to something better than what their homeland currently offers. For them, our stories provide a window into how Rotterdam works: its culture, its history, and its evolving social fabric. By sharing the lived experiences of the city, we help future newcomers prepare for the rhythms, challenges, and opportunities that await them.

Our content ranges from sharp geopolitical analysis – oil, migration, and the dollar’s dominance – to cultural portraits of icons like Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Cliff, and Peter Tosh. We explore philosophy and history, from Spinoza to Sukarno, while also addressing contemporary challenges such as housing crises, digital manipulation, and the shifting meaning of community. Each article is both a mirror and a window: a mirror for Rotterdammers to see themselves, and a window for the world to glimpse the city’s soul.

In a time when peace feels fragile and identity is contested, Dutch Echo insists on remembering, questioning, and creating. Rotterdam is our compass, but the world is our horizon.