Imagine living there right now: Rusland. And no, we don't mean the country, but the street in the city centre. We wrote a short piece about it before the war between Ukraine and Russia, but given the news we are now digging deeper into how the street called Rusland (Dutch for Russia) came to be.
For many former students the street name Rusland will ring a bell straight away. For a long time there was a building of the University of Amsterdam on the corner with Kloveniersburgwal. Rusland is a fairly unique street for the city centre: it is very wide and surfaced with asphalt. It has always been a striking street name, but with the news being what it is, the name now raises a few eyebrows. Isn't it time to give this street a different name?
That would be odd, because Rusland has absolutely nothing to do with the country Russia. The first time Rusland appears is in a deed from 1403. Back then the name was 'Willem Ruusschentuin'. Over the years the street name was mangled quite badly and lost a good deal of its glory along the way. The known spellings are 't Ruyssenlandt, 't Russeland and 't Ruslant. Always spelled in full with an article in front. So although 't Rusland would ultimately have made more sense, it simply became Rusland.
Whether the street name will be changed after all because of the war the country is waging against Ukraine remains unclear. It is a tricky choice that involves a lot of administrative hassle. On top of that you have to ask yourself what the point would be in this case, as the name is not a tribute to the country. Of course, street names that need explaining or that carry an unpleasant aftertaste have been changed more than once in the city's history. You can read much more about that in our series Vanished Street Names.
