The town of Enschede, situated on the Twente Canal near the German frontier, is the center of the Dutch cotton industry and also an important cultural center in the eastern Netherlands. It is the largest town in Overijssel, with a Textile College, a University of Technology founded in 1961, an Academy of Art and there were
three celebrated museums. Two of the museums merged in 2007 to become Wave of Twente, housed in an old textile factory. Enschede also hosts the oldest marathon in the Netherlands and is the final stage in quite possibly the world's largest relay race. Industry began to develop in Enschede around 1830, and there was a rapid increase in the population of the town, which previously had been a place of no particular importance. Associated with the town's traditional cotton and woolen industries are spinning and weaving mills and bleacheries, as well as artificial fiber and clothing factories. Textile machinery and other equipment are also produced in the town. In recent years other branches of industry (chemicals, electrical products) have been established in Enschede in order to avoid the over-dependence on a single industry which would leave the local economy vulnerable in an economic crisis.
Enschede received its municipal charter in 1325. Much of the town was destroyed in a great fire in 1862. It suffered heavy damage in 1944 but was rapidly rebuilt and is now a modern industrial town with wide new streets.
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