Surroundings, Arnhem

Some 2km/1.25mi east of the town center of Arnhem, on the south side of IJssellaan, is the Presikhaaf shopping center, which is patronized by German shoppers from the Ruhr area as well as by local people.

To the north of Arnhem station extends the wooded municipal park of Sonsbeek (500 hectares/1,250 acres), with the Belvedere, from which there are far-ranging views over the Betuwe, and the Witte Molen, a 15th century drainage mill (exhibition of objects relating to the miller's craft).

To the west of the Central Station, at Utrechtseweg 87, is the the former Arnhem Municipal Museum, today the Museum of Modern Art (Museum voor Moderne Kunst Arnhem), set in gardens on the Reeberg (fine views of the Rhine countryside). It occupies an old mansion which was converted to house the museum in 1918.The museum showcases modern and contemporary figurative art and early 20th Century decorative arts. Temporary exhibitions are also featured.

In the Arnhem suburb of Bronbeek, between Arnhem and Velp (Velperweg 147), is a former old soldiers' home, once occupied by army veterans and invalids from the Dutch East Indies. The souvenirs and mementos they brought back with them formed the basis of the Bronbeek Museum (Museum van het Koninklijk Tehuis voor Oud-Militairen).

On the western outskirts of Arnhem, at Heijenoordseweg 150, lies Het Dorp, a model settlement for the physically handicapped. The money for its construction was collected within 24 hours by contributions from viewers of a television program.

Some 500m/550yd west of Arnhem's Open-Air Museum is Burger's Zoo, with over 2,000 animals. Chimpanzees and gorillas can be watched from an observation post. Other attractions are the rich collection of birds, the wolves' forest, the small tropical house and the magnificent rock enclosures. Associated with the zoo is the Safari Park, which visitors can tour either in the "safari train" or in their own car, passing through an African-style savanna and observing lions, giraffes, rhinoceroses and cheetahs roaming around freely in an approximation of their natural habitat.

The medieval moated castle of Doorwerth in the Arnhem area is entered over a drawbridge. Originally built in the 13th century, the castle was enlarged in the 15th and 16th centuries, almost completely destroyed during the heavy fighting of 1944 and carefully restored between 1945 and 1982.Some people today claim the castle is haunted.

In Arnhem's residential suburb of Oosterbeek are the Airborne Monument and the Airborne Museum, housed in the former Hartenstein Hotel, which was the British commander's headquarters during the Arnhem operation.

Much of this garden was destroyed in World War II but the Agricultural University has since been planting an Arboretum in the western part of the park.

At this cemetery there are 1,748 Allied soldiers buried. Annual memorial services are held in September.