Vroesenpark, Rotterdam

The Vroesenpark is a city park in Rotterdam-North. The park is located in the triangle between the Kanaalweg, the Vroesenlaan and the Stadhoudersweg in Blijdorp. The park was laid out from 1929 onwards to a plan by city architect W.G. Witteveen and was realized partly as a work relief project.

The part of the park south of the Stadhoudersweg became part of Blijdorp Zoo from 1940. In the remaining part of the park, the wooded area was cut down by local residents during the Hunger Winter.

In 1948 a completely new plan for the Vroesenpark was made by landscape architect J.T.P. Bijhouwer. The park was no longer laid out as an ornamental park, but as a park for users. Tennis courts were added to the western part. The renovated park was reopened in 1958.

The park was officially called Blijdorp Park until 1977, but in popular speech it was called Vroesenpark. In 1977 the name officially became Vroesenpark, named after the Vroesen family, several of whose members were members of the Rotterdam Vroedschap and mayor of the city in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and after whom the nearby Vroesenlaan is also named.

From 2009 to 2018, the park hosted a multi-day festival Duizel in the Park every August. Since 2015, the Vroesen Pavilion has been located in the southwest of the park.