During the Carnival festivities, which take place in February or March, Enschede is temporarily renamed Krekkelstad, after a local biscuit.

Although the former military airport is derelict and plans to revive the place were canceled in 2012, the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute still maintains a weather station there.

The name of this settlement is mentioned as Anescede or Enscede meaning either "near the border" (with Bentheim) or "near the Es" and sported a church, a marketplace and a fortified aristocratic house.

[10] Enschede was granted city rights around 1300 which were confirmed in 1325 by Bishop Jan III van Diest and henceforth was allowed to protect itself with a wall.

[citation needed] In 1907 the laissez faire mentality was dropped and Enschede was the first city in the Netherlands to draw up an official expansion plan, incorporating the surrounding municipality of Lonneker.

This higher survival rate is attributed to three members of the Jewish Council of Enschede, Sig Menko, Gerard Sanders and Isidoor Van Dam who took the initiative, against the advice of the Jewish Council of Amsterdam, of urging their community to go into hiding and not to answer the call-up of the Germans for "labour in the East."

[citation needed] The latter mission named Enschede as a target of opportunity during Big Week after bombers had been recalled due to adverse weather.

On 13 May 2000, a fireworks storage depot in Enschede exploded, destroying part of the neighborhood of Roombeek and killing 23 people, including 4 firemen.

Today there are three Syriac Orthodox Churches in the city which meet the spiritual needs of Enschede's more than 10,000 Assyrians.

When this industry left the area for cheaper production centers in South-East Asia, Enschede became one of the poorest municipalities in the Netherlands.

More educated and wealthier citizens have historically migrated to the Randstad region; decades of renovation work in the city center have been carried out with the goal of making Enschede more attractive to this group.

Modern shopping centres and department stores that until recently were only found in much larger cities have been opened.

Enschede is host to many yearly festivals and the Old Market Square is often the venue for events, live music and other activities at the weekend.

[citation needed] The city is co-operating with the nearby municipalities of Almelo, Borne and Hengelo as Netwerkstad Twente.

A draft law plan to merge Enschede with Hengelo and Almelo was defeated in parliament under the influence of opposition from the other towns.

Grolsch beer is brewed in Enschede, and the tyre manufacturer Apollo Vredestein B.V. head office and a factory is in the city.

De Museumfabriek (formerly TwensteWelle) is a museum in the Roombeek district that arose from a merger of three institutions: Natuurmuseum Enschede, Van Deinse Instituut and Fabriekcomplex Jannink.

The German-Dutch relationship is characteristic of music culture, which arose through cooperation in the border region and the dominant textile industry in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Especially during the period of reversal after the World War I, a close German-Dutch cultural cooperation developed in Gronau and Enschede, which became increasingly important from string quartets, salon orchestras and hot dance music bands to symphony orchestras and an operetta company ("Enschedesch Opera en Operette Gezelschap") with their own performances.

A new large theatre, pop stage Atak, the ArtEZ Conservatory, the Orkest van het Oosten (now the Dutch Symphony Orchestra), the Twente Music School, the Nationale Reisopera (now the Nederlandse Reisopera) and Podium Twente (now Wilminktheater en Muziekcentrum Enschede) have settled in this dominant building opposite the Central Station in Enschede.

Enschede is also home to one of the three campuses of Saxion University of Applied Sciences (Saxion Hogeschool), a polytechnical school offering internationally recognized Bachelor's degrees and Master's degrees in a wide range of fields, including engineering, economics, social work, investigations and health care.

[citation needed] The line is served by DB Regionalbahn Westfalen (part of the German Deutsche Bahn), to Münster and to Dortmund, each on an hourly interval and alternating half-hours in the service to Gronau.

The through line had been retained for eventual NATO use during the Cold War even after through passenger service was ended (September 1981), although it was in serious disrepair in later years.

Enschede also has bus connections to nearby towns and cities, like Hengelo, Oldenzaal and south towards Haaksbergen, Neede and Eibergen.

However, it remains in operation for business air traffic flying via a charter or private jet, and recreational flights.

[24] Around the center districts of Enschede is a complete ring road with a length of approximately 8 km, which is popularly called "de singel".