In the 1960s, the seaport and industrial area of Vlissingen-Oost developed and flourished. The city was heavily damaged by shelling and inundation but was captured and liberated by British Commandos of 4th Special Service Brigade on 3 November 1944.

The Second World War interrupted this growth. After 1870, the economy revived after the construction of new docks and the Walcheren canal, the arrival of the railway and the establishment of the shipyard called De Schelde. The Napoleonic Wars were particularly disastrous. Vlissingen declined during the 18th century. Because of its strategic position at the mouth of the Schelde, the most important passageway to Antwerp, it has attracted the interest, at one time or another, of the British, the French, the Germans and the Spanish. The history of Vlissingen was also marked by invasion, oppression and bombardments. During the heyday of the Dutch Golden Age, ships from Vlissingen set sail for the various outposts of the Dutch colonial empire and contributed to the world power of The Seven Provinces. Under the Treaty of Nonsuch, English garrisons were stationed here and at Brill to keep these ports out of Spanish hands.

Over the centuries, Vlissingen developed into a hub for fishing, especially the herring fishery, commerce, privateering and the slave trade. The Counts of Holland, Flanders, and Zeeland had the first harbours dug. The fishermen’s hamlet that came into existence at the estuary of the Schelde around AD 620 has grown over its 1,400-year history into the third-most important port of the Netherlands. Vlissingen is mainly noted for the yards on the Scheldt where most of the ships of the Royal Netherlands Navy (Koninklijke Marine) are built. It is also known as the birthplace of Admiral Michiel de Ruyter. In the 17th century Vlissingen was a main harbour for ships of the Dutch East India Company (VOC). With its strategic location between the Scheldt river and the North Sea, Vlissingen has been an important harbour for centuries. Vlissingen is a municipality and a city in the southwestern Netherlands on the former island of Walcheren. Vlissingen - Smallekade - streetview - Google Maps

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