The most historically significant building in Wageningen stands on the Markt square in the town centre. Hotel de Wereld — "Hotel The World" — is a modest four-storey townhouse-style hotel, nothing that would draw a second glance if you didn't know what happened inside it on 5 May 1945.
That morning, the German surrender of all forces in the Netherlands was signed here by General Johannes Blaskowitz and Canadian General Charles Foulkes, ending five years of occupation. A bronze plaque on the facade marks the event. The hotel still operates and the historic dining room where the signing took place can be visited; staying here is an oddly moving experience. Every year on 5 May — Bevrijdingsdag (Liberation Day) — Wageningen holds the national liberation celebrations and a large outdoor festival, and the hotel is at the centre of it all. The town takes this date seriously in a way that larger Dutch cities cannot quite match.